Chasing the truth by using interviews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At my friendly, local, public library I just found the 2021 book by Jodi Cantor and Megan Twohey titled Chasing the Truth: A Young Journalist’s Guide to Investigative Reporting. Pages 232 to 241 outline their process, which involves use of interviews as follows:

 

Uncover abuses

Follow the facts

Be specific and precise

Find sources

Prepare for interviews

Research your sources

Establish the ground rules

Be up-front with your sources

Record your conversations

Document your findings

Show up

Double-check

Be fair

Go off topic

Move fast

Never let up

 

You can read the details at Amazon via their Look Inside preview for that book.

 

Before you interview you need to prepare by making a list of questions. Attorneys do this a lot, and prepare checklists for the types of cases they do. One type of legal interview in the discovery process before a civil trial is called a deposition. That is out-of-court testimony made under oath and recorded by an authorized officer for later use in court. For example, on March 11, 2021 Karen Koehler has an article titled Deposition of the Defendant Driver – basic checklist.

 

A cartoon from page 57 in a 1917 book titled F. Fox’s Funny Folk at the Internet Archive was modified and colored in.