There are, obviously, several types of interviews and each type calls for a special technique. There is the interview with the man in the street—the so-called common man, though there is little common among common men. There is the casual interview, the personality interview, the news interview and the telephone interview. Some of these types are intended for a news story; others for the making of “feature.” For both type, elaborate preparation is necessary. Even the casual interview needs some pre-knowledge of the kind of information sought.
Casual Interview The casual interview can take place almost by accident. A news source and a reporter happen to meet on the street or at a luncheon or cocktail party. Something that is said, often without premeditation or design, arouses the curiosity of the reporter.
The personality interview The personality interview is usually obtained for preparing a feature story and ordinarily does not figure in a news story. There is not enough space in a daily news paper for such an in-depth interview, though there is always an exception to the rule. The personality concerned may be a celebrity or a nonentity who is doing something out of the ordinary, like raising a snake farm, or growing alphonso mangoes or a Ph.D shining shoes outside the local cinema house. The celebrity, either a politician, a Prime Minister, a film star or a Nobel Prize winner is a known entity.
The news interview The news is usually given on a one-to-one basis with the reporter interviewing his victim with the sole purpose of getting news. The reporter may have only one subject in mind but he/she would have been prepared with a set of questions on that subject on which he is seeking information.
The telephone interview One of the most important ways of collecting information is by means of the telephone. The telephone is an asset. It can save time, but it has its limitations. A pause of a few seconds in a face-to-face interview is of little consequence. But in a telephone interview, a little hesitation while the reporter is busy formulating the next question may result in the busy man at the other end of the line hanging up on the interviewer.
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