Media interview analysis

Not all interviews are the same. There are political interviews, celebrity interviews, job interviews, qualitative research interviews and others. Except for job and research interviews they share a very basic and important notion: only the interviewer is responsible for the success or of the failure of the interview.  If this responsibility is not taken seriously by the interviewer, he or she fails to give a truthful representation of the interviewee which might have a bad influence on the interviewee’s reputation. This essay will concern itself with highlighting some of the errors an interviewer can make and aims at demonstrating the seriousness of the interviewer´s role.

Interviewers have the power to control the interview; they ask the questions, they choose the topic, they can determine what will be treated as already agreed upon, as taken-for-granted (i.e. background information about the interviewee and his or her profession), they can direct the answerer to certain kinds of answers, and if they feel necessary they can compel the answerer to answer (Bell & Leeuwen, 1994). Media interviewers “give the public a perspective on the social actors interviewed and/or the field of their expertise or experience – a perspective from which to judge what they do and what they have to say” (Bell & Leeuwen, 1994, p.22). Therefore, interviewers have a huge responsibility in choosing the aim and the topic of the interview.

It was quite shocking to hear an interview on Budaörs radio with a Hungarian pianist and composer Budai Benjámin, while the interviewer made some serious mistakes. In the following paragraphs I would like to analyse this interview, while it is useful to consider these mistakes in order to learn from them and to prove how ineffective an interview can be when guided by an incompetent questioner.

Rédl Ádám, the interviewer starts with introducing his guest and continues with some general questions concerning Benjámin’s last concert, his techniques as a pianist, and the way he handles difficulties. These direct questions are essential at the beginning to relax the interviewee, while their simplicity offers the guest a chance to get accustomed to the surroundings. Once the guest becomes relaxed and comfortable, he or she will be more open and honest to the interviewer. Therefore, these general questions are helpful at the beginning of the interview. The problem starts when these questions do not cease to allow other questions to appear. Ádám continued to ask informative questions that after a while turned out to be nonsensical, as the following insert shows:

Ádám:           Do you use sheets or you know every song by heart?

Benjámin:    Everything is in my head. I´ve created these songs, they all reflect my emotions and thoughts so I can easily remember them.

Ádám:         And what if you decide to play Bach – you would not use sheet in that case either?

Benjámin:     I´ve never played Bach in my concerts, but If I were about to do that, I would definitely learn it, because I like to play without sheets.

Ádám:        But then what are you looking at when you play? Do you have an eye contact with your audience? Or you simply look in the distance while the music absorbs you?

Ádám is unaware of his inadequate questions, he keeps asking about details or general things that are unimportant, though he should have a special expertise to know what is valid, relevant, and interesting to the audience (Bell & Leeuwen, 1994).

            Apart from the content of the questions, there are some errors with the way they are put forward. As the following example shows, Ádám tends to ask closed questions that only require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer:

Ádám:        So basically you feel a little bit stressed before concerts but I assume it is positive stress, it will only make you perform better, right?

Benjámin:     Yes, that´s right. I start to feel more comfortable after the third or fourt song.

Furthermore, there are cases when Benjámin’s character is completely surpassed, while Ádám expresses his own views and forgets to ask his guest a question:

Ádám:          You know I thought that people tend to like classical music much better when they get old, but I am not completely sure about it anymore, because despite my age I do prefer nowadays Mozart over electro music, because it really calms me down.

Benjámin:    Perhaps people might need to achieve an empirical level of maturity to appreciate classical music.

One might argue that the reason for these mistakes is the informal attitude of the interviewer, the friendly manner of the way the interview is carried out. This close relation between the interviewer and the interviewee can be the result of the fact that it is not the first time Ádám interviews Benjámin. Also, the medium itself the interview is presented in also affects the participants, while the radio does not have so strict boundaries and formal requirements as for example written media have (Dennis, Fuller & Valacich, 2008). However, treating the interviewee as a friend is not a problem because it evokes trust between the two participants, which leads to anecdotes and personal, specific stories on the interviewee’ s part and that creates an emotional link between the interviewee and the audience; and that is what makes a great interview (Reardon & Flynn, 2013). Therefore, not the informality of the interview is the reason for the errors the interviewer made, but rather his attitude to his profession. Ádám did not prepare for this interview properly. He did not do any research about Benjámin’s life and work, and did not plan the questions thoughtfully and so the interview lost its purpose which is to inform and entertain.

               In conclusion, as proved above it is highly recommended for every interviewer to take their role seriously while only they are responsible for the interview's outcome. They have the power to offer a perspective on the interviewee which highly influences the audience. 

Bell, P., & Leeuwen, T.V. (1994). The Media Interview: Confession, Contest, Conversation.

      Kensington: University of New South Wales Press.

Reardon, N., Flynn, T. (2013). On Camera: How To Report, Anchor & Interview. Burlington:

       Focal Press.

Dennis, A.R., Fuller, R.M., & Valacich, J.S. (2008). Media, Tasks, and Communication

       Processes: A Theory of Media Synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 575-600.