There too many big name reporters who try to put words in their interviewees’ mouths.
In case you’re unfamiliar with her, Lesley Stahl is a longtime CBS news correspondent who reports for 60 Minutes.
Take this interview Stahl did with Yarden Roman-Gat, an Israeli who was taken hostage during the October 7 attack.
Stahl was asking Roman-Gat about the hijab her captors gave her to wear.
Stahl: "You could feel hidden a little bit behind that formless…"
Roman-Gat: "The word hidden has no place. I was watched and seen at all times. I was not hidden. Not for a moment. They could do anything to me."
Later, Stahl asks her, "Do you think that at some level you just shut down? You know -- just almost as if it was happening to another person?"
Roman-Gat: "No. It was happening to me."
(If you’d like to see these exchanges, you’ll find them at about 6:30 and 7:30 into the interview.)
Wow. All I can say is wow.
Whatever Stahl’s motivation, it was as though she had a pre-formed notion of how a hostage should feel.
Luckily, Roman-Gat gently stood up for herself and gave much more intriguing and thought-provoking answers.
It takes hard work and practice to become a good interviewer.
First and foremost, of course, you have to become a good listener.
There are plenty of big name correspondents who are lousy interviewers because their interviews are as much about them as about their interviewees.
And I resent that.
How much truth, how much nuance, gets lost along the way?
I think a good interviewer:
Lets the interviewee speak for him/herself.
Asks open-ended questions.
Listens for subtext.
Tries to ask one question at a time.
Allows the interviewee to think, even if it means a little dead air (although if the interview is being recorded, it can be edited out).
What makes for a good interview to you?
Who are your favorite interviewers and why?
As always, thanks for reading!
