Reporter's attitude: Something you either have or don't?

That's interesting because I've had the exact opposite happen. I never had problems talking to grieving families, cops, reluctant politicians. However, I feel I have trouble working with the high schools -- especially the ones that have been conditioned to talk to adults in mumbles and nods. I think it may be the setting. Most of the time it is before or after a practice.

 

Man-in-the-street interviews should be banned, and any editor who tries to assign one to a reporter should be shot and pissed on.

 

I'm in the "loved the writing, hated the gathering" crowd, and it's one reason I went into editing. Fortunately, making the transition works better that way. It's harder if you don't know how to write. With regard to reporting, just because I didn't like doing it doesn't mean I don't know how. But yes, I know exactly how this feels.

Oddly, as I'm getting older, I'm starting to not give a shit enough that I'd probably be a semi-decent reporter, too.

 

Oddly, it didn't bother me till I got out of school and got a little older. It felt like a subtle shift when the "adults" I was covering looked at me as a peer and not a kid.

 

I'll second the advice to prepare your ass off, as then the nervousness dissipates quickly. If it's a relatively big-time athlete who's ready to unload cliches, one of the best ways to start off the conversation is to jump right in with a question pegged to your reporting - "I was talking to your teammate/high school coach/assistant coach and he said you used to have/still have this interesting habit/unusual tendency/funny tic..." (or, alternately, just ask about the tendency without revealing your source, as then they'll immediately want to know how you knew the information)

This accomplishes a number of things. It usually surprises them, leading to an interesting response. It brings in someone they like/trust to the conversation so, in a way, they're responding to that person and feel more comfortable. It vouches for you as a reporter, proving you did your homework, and lets them know this won't be the same boring interview. And, finally, it shifts the spotlight from you (standing there nervously asking question) to them (forced to think on their feet). This works especially well if you can dig out a nugget from their childhood - "I was talking to your sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Floppisham, and she told me you used to draw pictures of yourself as an NBA player during class..." - as this triggers instant nostalgia and, most likely, will provide an anecdote right off the bat ("Yeah, she was always taking those away from me and when she did I'd offer to sign them for her, you know, for when they'd be valuable").

 

I was talking to your parole officer and he recalls the ankle bracelet causing a rash ....

Seriously, Ch.B is right on. The more you can prepare, the better.

You're looking for insightful quotes, right? So it really helps to come to the table with some insight yourself.

Nothing is worse than going into an interview realizing you are not prepared to ask meaningful questions -- or to realize you completely did not know about some key information that you really needed to ask about.

 

I've only had to interview normal people, fans, a few times and it is very degrading. You find out what the general public thinks of the print news media. Now if you have a TV camera with you that's a different story. People detest print reporters.

 

I really wish you'd quit pulling punches and tell us how you really feel.

 

i find "normal" people pretty interesting to talk to. as for people "detesting" print reporters: sorry, i've never picked up on that. this is not a rip on you, frederick, just an observation from my experiences, but i think people respond mostly to the energy you put out there. walk up with body language of, 'oh, fuck, i'm a detestable print reporter and i hate this part of the job', and you're all but asking to be treated as such.

 

Then there's always the folks who just hate "the media," as if its all one thing of one mind.

I fall into the "loved the writing" crowd. Some people I love interviewing, but I always, always seem to procrastinate interviews until I absolutely have to. Still don't know why. When I'm there, it always goes reasonably well, sometimes great. And usually, the earlier before deadline I do it, the happier I am because I have more time to play with the story and call for followups and work my new questions and their answers into the piece.

I love the writing. I even like researching pretty well. But the interviewing....it's definitely been a learned skill.

 

The better one is doing a man on the street and then the person asking when they will be on TV

 

Me too, and sometimes I think it does turn off some of the people I interview.

It's not that I won't ever get into small talk with a coach or athlete, but I draw a very clear line between doing that and interviewing them.