The Pitch
As with all articles, pitch your interview to the editor. A good pitch explains why the subject is interesting or important to the reader, your focus, maybe a key question or two. A good pitch has a good headline and lead sentence.

Two kinds of interviewing: 1) interviewing one or more people  to gather information and comments for a news or feature article, and 2) interviewing one person, either for a profile about that person or for an in-depth discussion of an issue. These notes focus on profiles, but some of the suggestions, especially the section below, “Conducting the Interview,” apply to information-gathering for news reporting as well.

Form
There are, mainly, two formats for interviewing: the narrative/feature article or the Q and A. You can find good examples of the first in the New Yorker or the NY Times, and good examples of the Q and A in magazines such as Art in America.

Beware of the Q and A — it seems easier, but it is hard to do well. Resist the temptation to simply transcribe the entire conversation. (You’re not a court reporter and unless there is a clear purpose to verbatim transcript, prioritize readability.) Instead of verbatim transcription, think about the conversation as critically as you would think about all the material you gather for a feature article — only include what is worth your reader’s time, and rearrange the dialogue so that it reads coherently. (If appropriate, you can make clear in a note that you are editing the transcript.)

In the feature article format, you write a profile or narrative and use extensive direct quotes from your interview, mixed with paraphrase, background, context, explanation and interpretation. The article will be even better if you talk to other people besides your profile subject, gathering information and opinion from them and quoting them as well.  As in all feature writing, remember to do story-telling — little stories, longer ones. Try to get the stories from the people you talk to, but also from your research.

One practical reason to write a feature rather than a Q and A: It doesn’t take as long. With a Q and A, you need to transcribe the interview and then edit it — rearranging sections, deleting some, to make the interview readable. For the feature article, you only need to transcribe the parts you are quoting.

If you do a Q and A, be sure to include an introductory paragraph which has an engaging lead and  gives some background on your subject and establishes her importance or interest to the reader.

E-mail interviews
E-mail interviews do not read like conversations. They often read like collections of scattered comments and the responses are often inappropriately formal writing. If possible, meet in person or talk on the phone. Best to use the email exchanges as material for a narrative/feature article. If you do an email interview, consider emailing additional follow-up questions.

The audio recorder                                    

Record your interview, but also take notes. Record for accuracy and also so you can say, if the subject claims you misquoted her, that you used a recording. But take notes so that you can write your article without listening to the interview over and over. Recommended: an audio recorder with a numerical counter.  Note the number when you come to a comment you may want to quote; then you can find your quotes without listening to the whole interview.

Obvious, but often neglected: Test your recorder before beginning the interview, and also when you begin. Test for battery strength or electrical power connection; test for sound levels.

Conducting the interview
Read. Read anything you can find about your subject before the interview. Surf the web; search in your library’s article databases, such as LexisNexis and Newspaper source, and, for academics, JStor.

Prepare questions. Make a list of questions you want to ask.

Identify the real story. Don’t just list questions — you need to be analytical. You need to get clear on what the real story is — what makes your interview subject interesting or important, why the reader should care.

Think about your goal.  You need to be aware of whether your goals are the same as your subject’s goals. They may be quite different — this is often the case when you are doing news reporting.  So, for example, if you are interviewing officials, they may wish to shape your coverage and may refuse to answer questions you feel are important to the story. Since they can end the interview abruptly if uncomfortable, save the challenging questions for last.

Generic vs. particular questions. Some generic questions, questions which you might ask of most interview subjects, may be appropriate. For example,  Describe how you came to make this work/write this book, what artists/writers especially influenced you. But most of your questions should be particular to the person you are interviewing, questions you ask based on that person’s work, ideas and history. And avoid the silly questions you find in some newspaper and, especially, TV interviews.

The follow-up question. Follow-up questions are essential to good interviewing. They make the interview seem more like a conversation. More important, with follow-up questions, you can make sure there are no ideas that are left obscure or unexplained, and no generalizations or claims that aren’t elaborated or supported. Remember to ask your subject for examples, illustrations, explanations, stories. If you’re lucky, you will get her to tell some stories. Good conversationalists are story-tellers, and readers want to hear stories.

Don’t be a fan! You will lose the reader’s respect if you are in awe of your subject. Don’t flatter, don’t be impressed, be inquisitive. Remember, you’re a reporter and not a fan. The reader doesn’t care about your feelings, only about your subject.

Contacting your subject. Remember that you have to contact your subject well in advance of your deadline. You may play phone tag, your subject may not respond immediately, may set up a time and then cancel. If you only want to ask a few questions, make sure your subject understands you are only asking for a few minutes of her time. Have a plan B in case you don’t get response.  Tell your subject you may want to contact her later to clarify a comment or detail. (These reminders apply to all the people you interview, not just the main subject of your article.)

Writing the interview
Everything you learned about good journalism applies.

1. You need a good headline and lead which will grab the reader and describe your subject. You may have a good lead which prepares for the delayed “nut,” a paragraph which justifies the article, explains why it matters.
2. Direct quotes. Use many direct quotes, but don’t let your article seem like a string of quotes. Mix your quotes with paraphrase, background, context, explanation.
3. Avoid the first person. This is a stylistic preference, but you might want to ask the question, why should the reader care what I feel or what I think?
4. Probe. If this is a “journalism watchdog” interview for a news story, you need to put your readers’ interest first and push for answers to tough questioning. Profiles have a different purpose, but you still want to ask revealing questions and bring out difficult issues related to the subject’s work or public persona. This is the area where honest journalism separates from PR.
5. If your subject asks to see your interview before publication, politely decline.  Assure your subject that you will be careful to be accurate and check with her if there is any detail you need to clarify. If accuracy of a particular quote concerns you, you can read back the quote. (Not like this is a “rule.” Some journalists are OK with reading the interview back to their subjects  — Ben Joravsky, for instance. The only “rule” is telling a truthful and accurate story.)

Note: Remember the extravagant praise for Oprah’s interview with Prince William and Meghan Markle? Here’s my alternative take on it: Oprah let her subjects do the framing of the story — SOP in celebrity interviewing, but this was also going to break front page news. My article: “Meghan, Harry, Oprah and the media: Unasked questions in ‘the best interview ever.’ “