Print and online interviews: phone, email and in person
How to do a phone, email or in-person interview for a newspaper or website with your message and fact sheets at hand, and how to close it so a fact-check is offered.
Start here Essentials
At minimum, do the interview with your message sheet and fact sheet in front of you, and finish by offering a fact-check. A phone, a notebook and the two sheets are enough.
- Put the message sheet and the fact sheet where you can read them, and sit somewhere quiet (before the call).
- At the start, confirm the reporter's name and outlet, whether the call is recorded, when and where it will run, and a number to call back (the first minute).
- Answer in short sentences that make sense alone. Spell your name, and give each number with where it came from (saying it for the page).
- At the end, ask the reporter what they heard and offer to check facts (the end of the call).
- After the call, tick on the fact sheet each name and number you gave (fact sheet).
Minimum time: the length of the interview, plus 10 minutes after. Done when: the fact sheet lists every name and number you gave, and the request sheet says whether a fact-check was offered.
1. Before the call and the first minute Understand
A print or online interview is the most forgiving format in this manual. A reporter takes notes or records the call, then writes. You can pause. The reporter can call back. The cost is that you do not control the words that go on the page. The reporter's notes, and the reporter's sense of what you meant, become the story.
Two preparations carry most of the weight. Have the message sheet in front of you, with your audience, main point and supports. Have the fact sheet beside it, listing each name, title, place and number exactly as it should appear, with its source. SciLine, a service for scientists who talk to reporters, advises preparing three points and saying them early and repeatedly. This manual uses two or three; Your main points covers why (SciLine, Five tips for scientists speaking to reporters). Convention
The first minute
The CDC's spokesperson chapter lists what to get at the start of a phone interview: the reporter's name and outlet, whether the call is being recorded, when and where the story will be used, and the reporter's phone number and email, so you can call back to verify who the reporter is (CDC, CERC Spokesperson chapter). You asked most of this in Before you say yes. Confirm it again, in a sentence each, because the person who calls may not be the person who emailed. Note the answers on the ground rules sheet. Convention
| Moment | What you do | What it protects |
|---|---|---|
| Before | Sheets in front of you, quiet room, phone charged, reporter's number written down | Your numbers and your main point |
| First minute | Confirm name, outlet, recorded or not, when and where it runs; say aloud if you are recording | The ground rules, set before you say anything quotable |
| During | Short sentences, one idea each; spell names; give each number once with its source; say so if you do not know | Quotes that make sense alone |
| Last minute | Ask what the reporter heard; offer a fact-check; offer a number for questions; ask about the photographer or follow-ups if any | Accuracy after the call |
If you want to record the call
You may want your own recording, to check later what you said. The CDC chapter says you may record sensitive interviews yourself as long as the reporter knows. Whether the law allows it depends on the state. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) summarizes that federal law requires at least one party's consent, which sets a national minimum, and that states can be stricter. It says about 11 states primarily require all parties' consent. It also says a recording device in plain view, or a warning that continues to be accepted, generally counts as implied consent, and that spoken consent on the recording is best practice (RCFP, Introduction to the Reporter's Recording Guide). So this manual teaches one habit: say at the start, "I'm recording this call for my own notes. Is that all right?" and wait for the answer. Ask the authority
This manual does not tell you whether you may record a call, or whether a reporter may record you, where you live. That is state law, it can differ when a call crosses state lines, and some of these laws carry criminal penalties. RCFP's state-by-state guide (Reporter's Recording Guide) says it is not a substitute for a lawyer. Saying aloud that you are recording is a practice, not legal advice. If a lawsuit, an inspection or an investigation is involved, ask a lawyer first.
Treat the whole conversation as on the record, including the minutes before the questions start and after they end. UTSA's media office says talk before and after an interview is on the record (UTSA MarCom, Preparing for a media interview). AP and the Post both say they start interviews assuming they are on the record. Before you say yes explains the other terms and why they count only when the reporter agrees before you speak.
2. Saying it for the page
A reporter hears your answer once, types it, and later chooses a few lines from the notes. The wording you want in print is the wording you say in the moment. Aim for sentences that would still read well alone, in quotation marks, under your name.
Short sentences, one idea each
The 2011 federal plain language guidelines advise short sentences with one idea each, and breaking long sentences full of clauses and exceptions into parts. The General Services Administration (GSA) no longer hosts that document. Its current guides at Digital.gov advise active voice, so it is clear who does what (Digital.gov, Plain language guide series). Use both as a starting point for talk, not a rule. A good test: could the reporter copy your last sentence into the story without needing the one before it? Convention
A weak answer: "Well, as I mentioned, it's really about what we've been seeing, which is that, with the cost of tools, a lot of people on this side of town end up buying things they might only use once or twice." A stronger one: "Anyone on the east side can borrow a drill for free. Fewer people buy one they will use twice." The second is two sentences. Each one can be quoted alone.
Names, titles and numbers
Outlets check names, titles and numbers with sources, according to the SciLine panel; larger outlets employ fact-checkers. A typo in a name or a swapped digit is the most common kind of error. You can prevent many of them in the first and last minutes of the call.
- Spell your name, and say your title as it should appear. Oregon's Department of Justice includes spelling your name in its checklist for people dealing with the media (Oregon DOJ, Tips for Bias Crime Victims Interacting with the Media).
- Give a number once, slowly, with what it counts and where it came from: "410 tools, from our inventory sheet."
- Say the digits if the number is easy to mishear. "Two-six-zero" is harder to mistake for "two-sixteen."
- Read from the fact sheet. Do not give a figure from memory that is not on it. If you realize a figure is not on it, say you will send it.
The fact sheet's "given to reporter" column is how you keep track. Tick it after the call, not before.
When the question has a wrong premise, or you do not know
SciLine's guidance is short: if the question's premise is wrong, say so; if you do not know, say so and offer to follow up. In print this works well, because the reporter can call back or email. A sentence like "I don't have that number in front of me. I can send it by email today" gives the reporter something to write down. A guess gives the reporter something to quote. Hard and unexpected questions covers hard and unexpected questions at length. Convention
A pause while the reporter types is normal. It is not a signal to fill the silence. Finish an answer, stop, and let the next question come. If the reporter is typing, a pause lets them catch up. Preference
3. Email, in person and written statements
Print and online reporters use three other forms besides the phone call. Each has its own risk.
Email interviews
In an email interview the reporter sends questions and you write answers. You get time to think and to check facts. The cost is that your answers may be quoted in full, in part or left out, and you cannot hear a follow-up question as it forms. NPR's ethics handbook says it expects its online contacts with sources to be on the record, too, and tells sources so (NPR Ethics Handbook, Honesty). Write each answer so that it can be quoted as a stand-alone sentence. Re-read it for anything you would not want to see in print. Convention
Email is also used for pre-interviews, where a reporter or producer asks a few questions before the main interview. A media-training practitioner who was a television producer advises giving full answers to email pre-interviews, because a pre-interview is often an audition (Throughline Group, Five Ways to Ace Your Media Pre-Interview). That is one practitioner's view. Treat a pre-interview as on the record. Convention
A written statement instead of an interview
SciLine suggests that when many reporters ask about the same thing, you write a statement with your name and title as you want them to appear. A guide for crime victims, from the nonprofit Justice Solutions and hosted by a state agency in North Carolina, says a written statement leaves "no margin of error for inaccuracies" (Justice Solutions, News Media Guide for Victims and Survivors of Crime). The tradeoff is that a statement cannot answer the next question. A reporter may print it whole, quote part of it or ask for an interview anyway. Convention
In person
An in-person interview adds a place and a clock. Ask before you agree where it will happen, how long it will last and whether a photographer or camera will be present. Conversation before and after the formal interview is on the record, as UTSA says. So is a social setting when a journalist is present. A 2016 case from Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists describes a Times reporter who quoted an author's remarks from a private gathering. The author knew the reporter was a journalist but did not expect to be quoted. The Times' standards editor defended the story, and its public editor said it fell short of Times standards (Ethics AdviceLine, Times Public Editor Blasts Sneak Interview). The lesson is practical: if you know someone is a journalist, assume that what you say may be used.
Phone, email and written statement side by side
| Form | What it gives you | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | Real-time follow-up, tone, a chance to correct yourself | You are quoted from the reporter's notes or recording; a slip is in the record |
| Email interview | Time to think and to check facts; a record of what you wrote | No follow-up as it happens; answers may be cut or used in part |
| Written statement | Exact wording, and no margin for misquotation | Cannot answer a follow-up; a reporter may still ask for an interview |
| In person | Rapport; the reporter sees your work | Talk before and after counts; a photographer may come |
This manual does not say email is safer than a call. It lists what each gives and costs. Choose the form that matches what you need to control.
Recording laws, as RCFP lists them
RCFP says about 11 states primarily require all parties' consent: California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (for third-party recordings), Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. It says Missouri and Oregon require it for in-person conversations only, and Connecticut and Nevada for phone calls only. Hawaii and Maine require it in particularly private places. A call across state lines can bring in the stricter state's law. This list changes; check your state's entry in the guide. The New York Times requires its own staff to have the prior consent of all parties before recording, even where the law allows one-party recording, and calls one-party recording a deception (New York Times, Ethical Journalism). That is one outlet's choice and is stricter than the law. Ask the authority
4. The end of the call
The last two minutes decide how much of the first thirteen survives. Use them in a set order.
- Ask what the reporter heard. SciLine advises asking the reporter to sum up what they heard. If the summary leaves out your main point, say it once more, as a sentence.
- Add what you forgot. The Post allows a source to add to a quote and says the story then explains it. Adding is possible. Changing what you said is not, because the Post says a source may not change the rules for a quote afterward.
- Offer a fact-check. "If it helps, I can check the names and numbers before you file." Offer your phone number and when you can be reached. The Times says detailed fact-checking with a source is acceptable and encouraged, and Reuters says it may check a quote or fact on its own initiative. The reporter decides.
- Ask about what is still open. Is a photographer coming and when? Will the story use your street address, or can the reporter leave it out? The paper decides, so ask and note the answer.
- Stop talking. A last aside on the way out is on the record.
Convention The order is this manual's; each piece rests on the sources named.
Write the answer to the fact-check offer in the "review offered" field of the request sheet: none, fact-check, quote read-back, or not asked. How a story gets made explains why the field matters.
5. See it See it
Dana Ruiz takes the call. Dana Ruiz, 44, runs the Eastside Tool Library from her garage in Dayton, Ohio: free loans of 410 tools to 260 registered members, open Saturday mornings for three years. Jen Albrecht of the Miami Valley Courier is writing a story on neighbors sharing instead of buying. The interview is Thursday at 10 a.m., by phone, for 15 minutes. All names, the paper and the figures are fictional.
| Item | Exactly as it should appear | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Dana Ruiz (D-A-N-A, R-U-I-Z) | Her own |
| Role | Runs the Eastside Tool Library | Her own |
| Place | Dayton, Ohio | Her own |
| Tools | 410 tools | Her inventory sheet |
| Members | 260 registered members | The sign-up sheet, counted Wednesday night |
| Hours | Open Saturday mornings for three years | Her own records |
At 10:00 Jen calls. Dana has the message sheet and fact sheet in front of her, in her kitchen with the door closed. Jen confirms her name and outlet. Dana asks whether the call is recorded and when the story will run. Jen says she records for her notes and expects to file by 5 p.m., with the story running the next day or Saturday, depending on her editor. Dana says: "I'm recording this too, for my own notes. Is that all right?" Jen says yes. Dana asks for Jen's direct number and writes it down.
During the call she says her main point first: "Anyone on the east side can borrow a drill for free. Fewer people buy one they will use twice." When Jen asks how many people use it, Dana says, "We have 260 registered members and 410 tools. That is from our sign-up sheet, which I counted last night." When Jen asks whether the library is a response to inflation, Dana says she does not know and does not want to guess at the cause. She says what she does know: the library has been open three years.
At the end, Dana asks, "What did you hear as the main point?" Jen says it is sharing instead of buying. Dana says it once more, then offers: "I can check the names and numbers before you file. I'm at this number until five." Jen says she will try, if the deadline allows, and cannot promise a call-back. Dana asks that her street address be left out. Jen says the editor decides; she will pass the request along. Jen says the photographer may come on Saturday and will email to confirm. Dana ends the call.
Known: Jen has Dana's name, the library's name and place, 410 tools and 260 registered members. Dana gave the address request. Dana's recording exists.
Assumed: Dana assumes Jen's notes match what she said. That is an assumption until the story runs. She also assumes the figure of 260 is still current, as of her count on Wednesday night.
Open: whether Jen calls back before 5 p.m., which Jen settles; whether the story uses the street address, which the paper's editor settles; whether and when the photographer comes, which Jen's email settles; and whether the numbers in the story match the sheet, which the story settles when it runs (After the interview). Dana ticks "given to reporter" on the fact sheet for the name, role, tools, members and hours. She sets "review offered" to "none" on the request sheet, because Jen did not promise a fact-check.
Free pages that show the practice:
- RCFP, Reporter's Recording Guide: a state-by-state summary of recording laws, for looking up your state.
- NPR Ethics Handbook, Honesty: how one outlet treats online contact and recording.
- Digital.gov, Plain language guides: federal guidance on short, active sentences.
6. Practice Practice
Minimum: one real or practice interview done with the message and fact sheets at hand, every name and number written on the fact sheet, and the review answer on the request sheet. Time: about 30 minutes for a practice call, or the length of the interview plus 10 minutes. Materials: a phone, the fact sheet, the message sheet and the request sheet. The fact sheet is essential on a first pass.
- Fill the fact sheet. List your name, title, place and every number you plan to say. Write each exactly as it should appear, with the source.
- Check each number against its source the day of the call. If you cannot check one, mark it "not confirmed" and plan to say you will send it.
- Write your first-minute sentences. Four questions for the start of the call: name and outlet, recorded or not, when and where it runs, a number to call back. Add your sentence for recording.
- Run a short practice call. Ask a friend to read three questions from the question deck. Answer in short sentences. Give each number once with its source.
- Close the call. Say the last four moves from the end of the call, aloud.
- Do the interview. Tick the fact sheet's "given to reporter" column for each item, and enter your answer in "review offered."
Rewrite one of your answers as an email reply. Compare the two: which sentences stand alone, and which depend on a sentence before? If the answer is the same, you have written for the page. If it differs, keep the email version and say it aloud next time.
7. Your interview Your interview
The box below reads your format, role and how much time you have. It says which parts of this chapter apply now and which can wait.
8. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Were the message sheet and the fact sheet in front of you during the interview?
- Did you confirm the reporter's name and outlet, whether the call was recorded, and when and where it runs?
- Can each of your last three answers be quoted alone?
- Does the fact sheet list every name and number you gave, each with its source?
- Does the request sheet say whether a fact-check was offered, and by whom?
Worked example
Dana's sheets (fictional) meet the first, second and fourth criteria: the sheets were at hand, Jen confirmed her name and outlet, and the fact sheet is ticked. Her first and second answers can be quoted alone. One answer, about inflation, rests on a sentence she did not complete. She says in her notes that she should have stopped after "I don't know." The fifth criterion is met in part: Dana offered a fact-check, and Jen did not promise one. Dana records "none." That is a finished Start here result. It does not settle whether the numbers in the story are right; the story settles that.
Common mistakes
- Answering from memory. A number not on your sheet is a number you may get wrong. Say you will send it.
- Chatting at the start and end. Those minutes are on the record.
- Assuming the call is not recorded. Ask, and record your own copy only after saying so.
- Saying "as I said earlier." A reporter cannot use the later answer without the earlier one.
- Forgetting the closing offer. If you do not offer a fact-check, the reporter may not think of it.
What is still unresolved
This chapter does not settle what the story says, whether the reporter checks the facts, whether an editor uses your address, or whether you may record the call under your state's law. The story settles the first, the reporter the second, the editor the third, and a lawyer or your state's law the fourth. After the interview covers reading the story and asking for a correction.