Comments on: Q: Audio, photo, interview all at once? HOW?!

By: Isolde

Isolde — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:20:52 +0000

I think you have to do what feels right to you. Back when I’d try to do everything at once, it was pretty clear to my sources that I wasn’t fully engaged — my eye was constantly darting to the red light on the audio recorder and the video camera or I was taking a photo when I should have been jotting something down in case the whole operation went kaput.

In terms of scripted, not at all! The point is to conduct an interview in which you are entirely emotionally and physically engaged without being distracted by too many devices. But like I said — figure out what works for you. Let me know what you ended up doing and how that worked out.

By: Eric Perrenoud

Eric Perrenoud — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:23:44 +0000

I feel like this is asking far too much from someone that we’re interviewing. Isn’t it our journalistic responsibility to try as hard as possible to get things right the first time?

This approach makes sense, but it also sounds like your promoting us to script the interview, rather than let it happen naturally.

If I was being interviewed, I would think the journalist to be incompetent if they repeatedly asked the same questions over and over, and then need a second interview just to clarify the first one?

Shouldn’t we try and nail the audio and video the first time?

thanks

-Eric