Difficulties Interviewing a Public Figure
Although interviewing a public figure may sometimes be just like talking to any other stranger, public figures can also be the most mercurial persons, shifting between being condescending and overbearingly authoritative, depending on the topics at hand. How gab can turn amiable is partly the work of the interviewer; the other is left to the subject.Interviewees can present a problem for the reporter once they request their statements to be “off the record.” Their careers, if not their lives, would probably be placed on the line. In journalists’ parlance, “off the record” information are ones that must not be attributed to the source who disclosed it. Ideally, a nameless source shouldn’t see print, lest the public dismiss the information as unreliable. If anything, information blasting an individual or an organization should not be anonymous. Therefore, everything coming from the subject should be “on the record.” As much as possible, reporters must refrain from off-the-record arrangements. One can refuse a subject’s request for anonymity by telling him or her that the article is meant to preserve reader’s trust. Other times, the subject won’t even go out on a limb to request “off the record.” He or she simply answers the question a bit and deviates from it, hoping the interviewer wouldn’t notice. Almost everytime however, the journalist does. And he or she must remind the subject of the unanswered question. One can politely do this by saying something like “I wonder about the original question.” As for evasive public officials, journalists may remind them that their conversation is a matter of public interest.When worse comes to worst, journalists can grant requests for “off the record” information, provided the editors agree. This is recommended only if the source is unique enough to merit such.
