Informational interview

Informational interview - the most popular type, aimed at collecting material for the news. Due to stringent time standards, this interview has a very dynamic pace. For example, to cover the disaster of national importance, a television film crew in just one hour manages to interview more than a dozen people. In a situation where you need to figure out the strength of the explosion and the estimated number of victims, the journalist, of course, does not always have time for all stages of communication, in particular, for the etiquette recommended to start a “warm up” conversation. However, despite the tight time constraints, the spirit of dialogue and respect for the interlocutor in creating the conditions for answers should be created.

The backbone of a typical informational interview is a key question for a journalist: who? what? Where? when? why? what for? As experience shows, they are quite enough for gathering actual information. However, journalists resort to other, for a more subtle study of the plot, questions that clarify or filter information. “Did you really see how the plane exploded?” The journalist asks the witness of the plane crash. At the same time, the frame needs not idle, accidentally turned out to be near the place of shooting and subordinated to the general emotional excitement of the onlooker, ready to answer any questions before the camera.

To leave for an interview on the occasion of the event, usually due to lack of time, they rarely prepare. Therefore, in formulating questions, a journalist, when examining a situation and its causal relationships, more often relies on his observation.

Caught with a film crew at the scene of a fire, the journalist notices that the extinguishing hoses are drawn not to the nearest fire hydrant, but almost through the whole quarter. He asks a question to the head of the fire brigade: “Why is the nearest faucet not used?”. It turns out not only its malfunction, but also the fact that almost half of the fire dampers in the city are in the same condition. So, next to the event associated with extinguishing a fire, there is a problematic story about the fire service of the city.