Can I use answers to questions asked by other interviewers?

[jasonjones]

Hi,
I'm a journalism student and was lucky to interview a football player last weekend.

I interviewed him with 3 other journalists in a group setting, with each of us getting to ask two rounds of questions.

I am now currently writing the article from this interview.

Questions:
1. From a legal standpoint, can I use the football player's answers to questions asked by other journalists (verbatim)? And them mine?
2. What are the ethical standards in writing an article about interviews in a group setting?
3. What is the typical approach in writing an article from this situation?

I have not experienced this before, so I have been searching the internet on how pros write their articles when their materials come from other interviewers in the same interview session, but have not found much.

Hope the kind souls would give me some advice.
Thanks in advance!

 

[SFIND]

1. From a legal standpoint, can I use the football player's answers to questions asked by other journalists (verbatim)? And them mine?
2. What are the ethical standards in writing an article about interviews in a group setting?
3. What is the typical approach in writing an article from this situation?

1. Yes.
2. Have you ever read anything that came from a press conference?
3. You should know this before you ever interview. Ask a professor during office hours.

You are not "lucky" to interview an athlete. If you want to be a journalist, it is your job. It's no luck, it's a requirement.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

1. Yes, you can, but make it clear that he was speaking to a group of reporters.

"I'm just taking it one game at a time, and the Good Lord willing, I can contribute," said Johnny Touchdown to a group of reporters Tuesday.

2. Nothing unethical about it, just as long as you make it clear that he spoke to more reporters than just yourself. Look at a Sean Spicer press conference. Multiple reporters get just one question, maybe a second follow-up. They're not just writing a story off their question.

They'll write: President Trump has full confidence in Michael Flynn, said spokesperson Sean Spicer at his daily press conference Wednesday.

3. Write your story, but make it clear in the first quote that he's talking to a group of reporters.

 

[Batman]

Oh, the young'uns. How much they have to learn.
As you go through your career, you'll not only realize that anything from press conferences like this are fair game, you don't even need to be at the press conference to use them. Press conference quotes are generally considered public domain. Colleges and pro teams will put out transcripts of the press conferences as news releases, or as videos on their web sites, and whoever needs them is free to use them. I've written tons of stories based off of these, including a recent one about a local guy playing in the Super Bowl. We obviously couldn't get to Houston, and the player was a bit in demand as a starter so a phone interview for a small paper 1,500 miles away wasn't feasible. So the team sent me five pages of his quotes from media sessions during the week. Problem solved, everybody's happy.
I've regularly done similar things with some of our state colleges that are several hours away. Those stories don't get a byline is the caveat, and you make it clear that the quote is from a news release or a press conference.

The only thing I would consider bad form is to craft a story around a quote that's obviously geared toward a specific feature story. The coach or player talking about playing Podunk State this week is probably answering a question several people would have asked anyway. The coach answering a question about the backup guard, where the answer wouldn't make it into anything else anyone in the room is writing, indicates a local angle the reporter is probably working on. I'd steer clear of using those unless there was a good reason to. If it means that much to you or it's interesting, ask your own question.
And, as an aside, that's why you don't ask those questions in an open press conference. You handle those one-on-one if you can.

 

[JCT89]

I actually don't think it's necessary to specify that it came in a group reporter setting. I think it's kind of an old school thing that doesn't have any value to the reader.

 

[jasonjones]

Oh wow lots of great advice here to consider.
Thank you all! I will keep them in mind.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I actually don't think it's necessary to specify that it came in a group reporter setting. I think it's kind of an old school thing that doesn't have any value to the reader.

Agree. I catch guys after practice, sometimes alone, sometimes with a hoard of media. I don't hardly every write that I was alone or there were others there. Same for press conferences. If they said it, they own it, whether it was to me or a throng of media. I may be old school on most things, but this is not a rule a subscribe to. Readers don't care who they said it to or who asked the question. My job is to get the story, not tell how I came about getting the story .

Now, if you're lifting it from someone's work, of course you would attribute that information to the original author.

 

[jasonjones]

Agree. I catch guys after practice, sometimes alone, sometimes with a hoard of media. I don't hardly every write that I was alone or there were others there. Same for press conferences. If they said it, they own it, whether it was to me or a throng of media. I may be old school on most things, but this is not a rule a subscribe to. Readers don't care who they said it to or who asked the question. My job is to get the story, not tell how I came about getting the story .

Now, if you're lifting it from someone's work, of course you would attribute that information to the original author.

I guess when I said by "group setting", I meant round table setting.

Wouldn't the "rules" in that chaotic setting you described be different from a round table type where interviewee sits down with 3 or 4 invited journalists?

The article I'm planning to write is a Q & A type of all the questions + answers (all 8 of them) with a short intro.
In this particular style, would it be unethical to use other interviewer's question + answer verbatim, without crediting their names?

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I might have incorrectly described by dilemma on my op.

 

[SnarkShark]

I once experienced a reporter bitchfest, because somebody else used his angle from a conference call interview. It was hilarious. This guy thinks that just because he asked a question, the 15 other reporters listening in are a part of some sort of tacit agreement not to use the angle that he so transparently revealed when delivering the question.

 

[SnarkShark]

The only thing I would consider bad form is to craft a story around a quote that's obviously geared toward a specific feature story. The coach or player talking about playing Podunk State this week is probably answering a question several people would have asked anyway. The coach answering a question about the backup guard, where the answer wouldn't make it into anything else anyone in the room is writing, indicates a local angle the reporter is probably working on. I'd steer clear of using those unless there was a good reason to. If it means that much to you or it's interesting, ask your own question.
And, as an aside, that's why you don't ask those questions in an open press conference. You handle those one-on-one if you can.

This is what I'm talking about. It's silly. If you don't want your super-secret angle taken, ask for a private interview. If you blurt out your angle for everyone to hear, you have nothing to complain about.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I guess when I said by "group setting", I meant round table setting.

Wouldn't the "rules" in that chaotic setting you described be different from a round table type where interviewee sits down with 3 or 4 invited journalists?

The article I'm planning to write is a Q & A type of all the questions + answers (all 8 of them) with a short intro.
In this particular style, would it be unethical to use other interviewer's question + answer verbatim, without crediting their names?

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I might have incorrectly described by dilemma on my op.

Under this situation, I think it would probably be appropriate to acknowledge that individual sat down with several reporters for a Q&A. That would be fair for all involved.

I was under the impression that you were going to write a story with your own ideas, details, research material and thoughts with these quotes sprinkled in to qualify your points. However, since it's just a Q&A, you probably should acknowledge the contributions of others but I don't think you need to name the other reporters.

 

[jasonjones]

Under this situation, I think it would probably be appropriate to acknowledge that individual sat down with several reporters for a Q&A. That would be fair for all involved.

I was under the impression that you were going to write a story with your own ideas, details, research material and thoughts with these quotes sprinkled in at to qualify your points. However, since it's just a Q&A, you probably should acknowledge the contributions of others but I don't think you need to name the other reporters.

Cool, this is what I want to get some clarity on. Thank you!