What do you do when someone doesn’t want to be interviewed?
This has happened to me. When I began working on this series, I made some big asks. I emailed Malcolm Gladwell. His assistant emailed me back, “Malcolm asked me to thank you for your kind invitation to interview, and to apologize for not being able to accept it. Thanks for your understanding.”
You’re welcome, nice assistant. I do understand.
When I did my first interview, I spoke with the star of a high school play (which I never saw). We sat on the grass outside the theater. “Um… What do you want to tell people about the play?” I asked. “Didn’t you come with questions?” she said. “Yeah. What do you want to tell people about the play?” I didn’t finish the assignment.
I didn’t read the newspaper, so why would I want to write for a newspaper? When we were supposed to be interviewing people in journalism class, Jess and I would walk around the school, sometimes stopping to play nibbles on our scientific calculators.
Why interview someone? How does it enhance a blog post or an article? What’s the motivation?
The interview is the most used tool in a journalist’s bag, from Barbara Walters down to the guy who writes up the local pee-wee football game. They all interview.
