Series on Interviewing–Part 5: A Difficult Request

June 2, 2011

heidit Writing , , , 5 Comments

There will come a time during your interviewing career when an interview subject will ask to see your article before it’s published. This is a difficult request to deal with because you may feel you owe the interview subject that courtesy as a thank you. What I can tell you, however, is that in almost all circumstances it’s a bad idea.

If someone asks to see the article before it’s published, check with the publisher to see if there’s a policy on it. I say this more as a matter of covering your bases. I don’t know of any periodical (feel free to correct me) that has a policy of always showing the interview subject an article ahead of time because publishers know it’s a bad idea. But, if they have a policy of not showing the article prior to publication, you can honestly answer the request with, “I’m sorry, the magazine has a policy of not showing articles prior to publication.” It’s out of your hands.

I’m Sorry, I Can’t Share the Article Prior to Publication

So why is it such a terrible idea? A year ago, I posted that one of the pitfalls of being a freelance writer is that everyone thinks they can write. This includes interview subjects. You may send them the article thinking that they’ll be super pleased with what you’ve written, only to have them send it back filled with their own corrections and edits to your writing–corrections and edits that have nothing to do with the information they gave you. They’ll feel free to act as your editor and make changes all over the place to your writing. And yes, this really does happen.

Or, they might decide they don’t like the tone of your article. Maybe you interviewed someone about a drug study and he gave you information about the side effects of the drug. But, upon seeing the article you’ve written, he doesn’t like the angle you’ve used for your story, or he doesn’t like what your other interview subjects have said, or he doesn’t like some of the research you’ve presented. He may then have second thoughts about being included in the article, which puts you in a bad position.

I’m Sorry, I Can’t Share the Article, But…

In many cases, interview subjects are really just concerned about how they sound in the article and how their quotes come across. In some cases–and you have to use your judgement here and also go with your publisher’s policies–you can offer to send them their direct quotes. I wouldn’t do this all the time, and it can depend on the interview topic, but sometimes a happy medium is to show the subject her quotes and verify the facts in those quotes.

Yes, You Can See the Article

I hesitate to add this because it’s incredibly rare that it’s a good idea to show someone an article prior to publication (and it’s never a good idea if the publication has a policy against it). In the post about showing the questions before publication, I used the example of interviewing the CEO of a company whose newsletter you write for. Because the CEO is a client, if he wants to see the article first you pretty much have to show it.

There’s one other situation in which I have shown interview subjects an article ahead of time. But keep in mind that this is a very specific type of interview and not one whose conditions occur regularly.

Sometimes, I interview lawyers about lawsuits, legal findings, legal concepts and legal investigations. In these situations, the lawyer is my only interview subject, so changes to the article don’t affect any other interview subjects. Because we’re discussing legal topics, the precise wording of my article is paramount. A couple of wrong words about a lawsuit could lead to a world of trouble for me and the interview subject. In these cases, I’m covering my bases if I’ve sent the article to the lawyer ahead of publication and requested that she approve it. Usually, the lawyer makes one or two changes to her direct quotes and may recommend a few changes to wording in the rest of the article. Those changes can make a world of difference. (This was, of course, with the publisher’s permission.)

Often, I tell writers to go with their gut on a particular writing issue. But on this issue, I would rarely even suggest that. An interview subject who can seem perfectly nice and accommodating can turn very sour quickly. I once interviewed the president of a national non-profit organization, who was lovely during the interview. She asked to see the article ahead of time and I declined, citing publication policy. Once the article was published online, she sent me an e-mail demanding multiple changes to the article. These weren’t major changes–she didn’t like some of the words I used, but those words were her own, not words I’d chosen arbitrarily.

I forwarded her email to the editor, who agreed to make the changes. At least at that point it was out of my hands. If the editor didn’t want to make those changes, that was his perogative, too. And, the interview subject actually e-mailed me a second time demanding further changes. Imagine if I’d let her see the article prior to publication. I don’t think I’d ever have been able to please her with the article, and it’s better I didn’t try.

Series on Interviewing–Part 4: When the Subject Wants to See the Questions

May 30, 2011

heidit Business, Writing , , , , 4 Comments

Sometimes, an interview subject will make a request of you: Can I see the questions before our interview?

It may surprise you to learn that there are situations in which this is okay. Not always, but sometimes. In this post, I’ll show you how to deal with this request. Please note, this information is not meant to include the subjects of investigative journalism, where it probably isn’t okay to allow people to see your questions beforehand.

Can I See the Questions Beforehand?

Response 1: I’ll have to check with the publisher.

The first thing you must do before answering this question is check with your publisher or editor. There might be a strict policy about allowing people to see the questions ahead of time, and you don’t want to violate that policy. In some situations, even for publications that don’t include investigative reports, the policy is to absolutely not show the questions ahead of time. Do not violate this. Ever. The policy is there for a reason, and it’s not yours to question.

If there is no policy (or if the publisher or editor says, it’s up to you) then you have a decision to make.

Response 2: Sure, I can send you an email with the questions ahead of the interview.

Sometimes, this is fine to do. For example, I interview experts in legal issues. They often want to see a list of questions ahead of time so they can have the proper lawsuits, legal briefs and documents in front of them to answer my questions. Same thing with scientific experts. These are people who want to ensure that they give useful answers to my questions by having the pertinent information in front of them. In this case, I see no reason not to let them have a list of questions ahead of time (unless, of course, the publication has a policy against it). It helps the interview subject because he can narrow his focus ahead of time and it helps me because I don’t have to wait after I ask a question for him to sift through mountains of paperwork to find the information I need.

When I send the questions ahead of time I always note that, based on the answers they give to the questions, there may be additional questions for follow-up that are not included on the list.

Or, say you’ve been hired by Company B to write articles for a newsletter to be distributed to employees. You’re interviewing the company’s CEO and he wants to see the questions first. In this case, you pretty much have to, even if you feel it violates your journalistic integrity. Why? Because he is your client and you are expected to do what your client wants–that’s what you’re paid for. So if you’re in situations where your client wants to see questions first, or tells you to show other interview subjects your questions first, I’d say you have to allow it.

Response 3: I’m sorry, I can’t give you a list of questions ahead of time.

Even when you’re not doing investigative reporting, you might not want to share a list of questions. Sometimes, you want the interview to have a more natural feel or flow to it, and by providing the questions ahead of time you might get answers that sound highly rehearsed and not as natural (anyone watching interviews of hockey players following a game knows how that sounds).

Or you may get a sense from your communications with the interview subject that he might take the questions and use them to push his own agenda (or take over the interview) in which case, surprising him with the questions might be better. Or you may get the sense that a PR team or a publicist is behind the request and wants to provide stock answers to questions that you need original answers to. If you have a bad feeling about sending someone a list of questions ahead of time, it’s better not to.

Even if I say no to sending the interview questions, I’ll throw in a little blurb about the focus of the article, to help them prepare a bit. I might say, “I’m sorry, I can’t send you a list of interview questions ahead of time, but I can tell you that the focus of the article is …” to put the person more at ease.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t make someone a bad person to ask for the questions ahead of time. The interview subject might be shy or awkward and might feel more comfortable in the interview knowing what will be asked ahead of time. That said, some people might refuse to do the interview if they can’t see the questions ahead of time, so you have to be prepared for that, too. Whatever you do, don’t violate a publication’s policy about showing questions ahead of time and don’t allow yourself to be bullied into showing the questions.

Read Series on Interviewing–Part 1: Don’t Be Afraid to Look Stupid here.

Read Series on Interviewing–Part 2: The Most Important Thing You Can Do here.

Read Series on Interviewing–Part 3: Closing the Interview here.

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