Questions for Sarah

Questions for Sarah

Questions for Mandy

Interviewee 2 - Sarah Firth - ex drug abuser

Sarah Firth is a 26 year old woman from Norwich who used to take drugs when she was teenager. She has now stopped taking drugs and is now a carer for her Grandma at her Norwich home.

Interviewee 1 - Mary Gaylard; College Councillor

Mandy has a BA (Hons) Psychology and a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. She is an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. She has been a counsellor since 2000 and has been working at the college from March 2009.

Interview Topic - Drug Abuse

Drug abuse, also known as substance abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a drug in order to elicit pleasure or escape from problems or reality.

Drug abuse, affects people's relationships as well as day to day functioning at work, home or school. It also leads to poor health and can affect the users mental health. Most drug users don't realise that they will become dependant on the drugs and that it is a long term problem. Drug addiction can be both physical and psychological.

The physical addictions are the users body craving the drug to feel the initial buzz or high. When users stop taking drugs they get withdrawl symptoms and want to take more to keep feeling happy or well.

The psychological addictions of drug abuse are when the user feels that they need the drug to be happy. For example, taking drugs to relax or numb the pain of a difficult situation you are in are all sign of psychological dependance.

It is important to emphasize the fact that the more drug abuse begins to affect and manipulate an individual’s life, the more probable it is that he or she has a drug problem that eventually can become full-blown addiction.
Regrettably, the people who are actively involved in drug abuse are frequently the last persons to identify their own symptoms of abuse and addiction and their negative drug-related behavior.

Inerview Comparison

TV Interviews

Questioning Styles Used

• Suggestive
• Interrogation
• Emotional
• Open Questions

Purpose of TV Interviews

• To find out information and opinions

Differences Between Online, Print Media And TV Interviews

Elements Of Importance In TV Interviews

Online Magazine

What Is An Online Magazine?

Content In Online Magazines

• Specialist on audience

Examples Of Online Magazines

• Rhythm Circus
• College Humour
• Escapist

Differences Between Online And Print Media

• Online Magazines tend to be more specialist

Genres Of Online Magazines

• Fashion
• Sport
• Current Affairs
• Industrial
• TV
• Film
• Games
• Radio
• Music
• Technology
• Lifestyle
• Comedy
• Weddings
• Politics
• Gardening
• Animals

And many more! Online Magazine cover every genre.

Interview Styles Used

Radio Interviews

Types Of Shows That Use Interviews

• Music
• Current Affairs
• News
• Entertainment
• Factual

Genres

• Emotional
• Music
• Life Stories

Content

• Music
• Features
• Consumer Issues
• Sexual Health
• Politics
• Mental Health
• Economical

Interview Styles Used

• Informal
• Open Questions
• Emotional

How Does This Appeal To The Audience

• Very specific

Exploring other interview techniques in the media

Interview Techniques

Communication Skills

• Smile
• non aggressive tone of voice
• respecting space
• eye contact
• being able to talk to people

Questioning

• Leading Questions
• Closed Questions
• Open Questions - to get more information
• Suggestive Questions - to see if they have the same opinion as you
• Multiple
• Satire

Effect Of Body Language

• Engage with interviewee
• Smile and nod - show interest
• Don't be too tense
• Don't be too relaxed
• Don't to too enthusiastic
• Don't be lethargic

Purpose Of Interviews

• The audience
• To get information
• To promote

Journalistic Context

• Make sure you are well researched

Research

Interview 1 - Christina Aguilera and Jon Stewart Interview



Jon Stewart has a very informal technique and is very relaxed when interviewing his subject. He uses humour to help to relax the interviewee and ask question from things say when answering questions.

My three minute interview script in the style of Jon Stewart.

Interviews - The Do's And Don'ts

Preparation

Before doing an interview of any kind it is most important that you have prepared your questions in advance and know who the person is you are interviewing and what the topic that you are going to be talking about will be. It is most important that you know this as the theme of the interview needs to be clear to your audience.

It is important that you know the name of the person you are going to interview. It is also good to find out if the person prefers to be called by a nickname as this may make the interviewee feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Types Of Interviews

Informative - The aim is to let the 'expert' explain an issue or event.

Your job is to present the known facts

Challenging - The aim is to get the guest to explain, defend, or comment on an issue.

Your job is to challenge the guest to defend thier stance opinion


Emotional - This is a tricky one to attempt and if done badly can be a disaster. However, if its done well it can be the best kind of interview. Your job is to sensitively and tactfully draw your guest into talking about thier anger, fear, disappointment, grief, disbelief etc...

Entertaining - All forms of interviews should be 'entertaining' in that they keep people interested and listening, but there are some interviews that are primarily to entertain. The topic will generally not be very serious.

Techniques

There are a series of questions that all interviews revert to and use as the basis for any interview...
What/Who/Why/Where and How
The other thing you need to remember is to ask OPEN questions can't be answered with Yes/No.

Typical OPEN questions are;
What is your opinion of...?
Why do you...?

CLOSED questions are;
Do you think that...?
Is it true that...?
Are you happy that...?