Conducting The Investigative Interview By Alli Hakeem Requirements
Conducting The Investigative Interview By Alli Hakeem
Requirements for investigative interviews • The reporter and the editor must have a somewhat deep knowledge of the issue or person(s) to be investigated. • The team must have this sense of discomfiture that something was not right and must be exposed in the interest of common good. • Preparatory to one-on-one interviews, the reporter, in particular, must seek extra information, using various sources like libraries, data, documents, eyewitness account (where necessary), prepare a list of reliable stakeholders, aggrieved people, obtain institutional documents, and also where necessary, legal documents. • Investigative report must be original and not a follow-up or rehash of work already done by someone else.
Challenges in conducting investigative interviews • Obstinacy on the part of would-be interviewee, particularly if he or she is complicit in the issue you are investigating. • If he or she could be traced as the source of leaking information • Claims that civil servants are prohibited from talking to the press • Lack of exploratory information or leads • Difficulty in verifying the veracity of information already obtained • Threat of attack or actual violence against the reporter
Exploratory interviews • In many instances, there are interviewees that are not necessarily at the epicentre of the malfeasance. • Usually, they are aides, acquaintances, domestic staff, general operational staff, bank officials, and some aggrieved minions who can provide documentary evidence that are useful leads. • People who might also give you needed information could be found in companies executing contracts for government or those in charge of processing approvals. • Befriend, cajole and entice them to obtain needed facts • Nurture their trust in you
Exploratory Interviews (ctd) • Do not appear to your interviewee as a threat • Assure them of their safety and build confidence in them. • Before setting out to conduct the one-on-one investigative interview with those at the core of the issue, other sources for evidence should be explored. • They would be gotten from:
Other sources of documentary evidence • Corporate organisations • Data from the internet or institutional websites • Ministries or agencies of government • Banks • Regulatory agencies
Why do we need to conduct investigative interviews? • It is because journalists cannot be entirely confident that we were told by others or through press statements by Public Relations Officers are entirely true, or irrefutably true. • Interviews are necessary because they give the opportunity to provide illumination and to explain what actually happened, where, when, how and the dramatis personae. At the end of the interviews the why or the objective of the malfeasance comes to the fore. • When we do our investigative report, we must endeavour to show rather than tell. We should let the reader see what we are seeing.
Conducting the interview • Be well-prepared with facts from your exploratory interview • Dress to match the class of the interviewee where possible • Be courteous and not belligerent • Be on top of the subject of investigation before setting out • Be very sure of questions you plan to ask • Avoid long preambles before asking the questions. • For the purpose of clarity, Ask one question at a time and not multiple questions rolled into one.
Conducting the Interview (ctd) • Have presence of mind throughout the interview(s) • Be very attentive and ensure eye contact with the fellow(s) you are interviewing so as to read his or her nuances or body language. • Rapt attention to details also allows you to determine when to ask and what to ask as followup questions.
Conducting the Interview (ctd) • Be gentle, firm and friendly with the fellow you are interviewing, more so if he or she is merely collaborating with you, so as to get credible information about what you plan to publish – do not pose as a threat to such interview subject because you may need him or her again before the conclusion of investigation. • Sometimes, it pays to appear naive, but do not allow the interview subject to unnecessarily determine the pace or direction of the interview. • Order your questions in a manner that will make the interviewee relax at the beginning of the session. Do everything humanly possible for him to regard you as a friend and not a prosecutor. • If the interviewee is at the core of the investigation, be sure you are armed with incontrovertible facts. • Keep your documentary evidence away (you may go with photocopies)
Conducting the Interview (ctd) • If the interviewee says he is not comfortable with your recording device, then you need to be circumspect of whatever he or she is telling you. Repeat his or her response to him or her from your jottings for confirmation. • Do not forget to indicate his reservations about the recording when doing the report. • When figures or dates are involved, ensure that the interviewee confirms the figures or dates you got from him or her. • Ask open-ended questions, not close-ended questions that will give you a Yes or No answer. • Avoid cynicism, threats, sarcasm, conflict or confrontation with the interviewee • Feign empathy and understanding while the interview lasts.
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