The Media Interview

Came across this great anecdote in an article on interview techniques by Deborah Potter, Executive Director of NewsLab. It’s a perfect example of how narrow, closed questions can keep you from getting the information you need.

Robert Siegel, who works for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., tells the story of an interview he did with a Turkish diplomat after Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by a Turk in Rome. His first question, “Do you know any details about this man, Mehmet Ali Agca; where he lived in Italy, what he did there, what kind of visa the Italians gave him?” The answers were all no. After several more tries, Siegel paused, about to give up. And the diplomat filled the silence with this, “… except that he is the most famous convicted murderer in Turkey, who escaped from prison after assassinating the editor of one of our major newspapers.” Siegel says he almost lost a good story by asking questions that were too narrow. He acknowledges that a better way to open the interview might have been, “Tell me about this man.”