Introduction to Investigative Journalism: Interviewing Techniques for Beginners

Journalism relies heavily on interviews, and investigative reporting is no exception. The strongest investigations often include multiple, extensive interviews. From initial steps to confirm a leak or a story idea, to confrontational fact-finding interviews with main sources, the investigative reporter often has to run down multiple leads to produce a story.

However basic and repetitive the exercise may seem at first sight, interviewing is not as easy as it may appear. It requires a combination of talent, persistence, and well-considered techniques. The best interviewers are attentive, insightful, and alert to important clues. They usually draw from a variety of knowledge, skills, and serious preparation.

This chapter looks at various types of interviews, approaches, and techniques that add up to the sense that you’re on the right track, followed by the search, the documentation and, finally — the important story.

The Interview: Daily Routine or a Must?

There are interviews, and there are interviews. For a TV host, an interview might be casual or light-hearted. For an investigative reporter, the task is totally different: every interview is a moment of truth-seeking. It is a critical moment during which one can easily miss an opportunity or, if all goes well, be rewarded with an unexpected and great revelation.

Interviewing for investigative reporters is a matter of following the tracks: where a response to a specific question leads, very often, to another question. Remember: in investigative reporting, we are taught not to take any statement made, any answer to a question, or any fact for granted until it is proven. This makes the role of the investigative interviewer a challenging task which, at times, may resemble conducting a legal forensic interview. Though different in their mandates, powers, roles, and approaches, the investigative reporter and the police officer have something in common: through a question-and-answer exercise, they want to obtain the truth or establish the facts.

When chasing an investigative story, the reporter needs interviews to get more information: be it to confirm or disprove the reporter’s assumptions, to verify statements or allegations made by initial sources, or to confront sources.

Therefore, being able to take control of interactions involved in any interview, and being capable of adapting to different possible scenarios and characters is an absolute necessity. Rarely can we get sources to tell us all they know without first breaking through their reluctance to talk. There lies the art of the interview, and for investigative reporters, mastering the skills of it is a must.

Some interviews may be well planned, with formal interview requests sent far in advance, by email or a phone call. In some countries, including in Africa, an official letter may be necessary when interviewing a civil servant or a government official.

At times, interviews may happen in what appears to be an impromptu manner: this will be the case when the reporter comes almost “accidentally” across an interviewee who is difficult to access. At other times the reporter may choose, for valid reasons, to “surprise” an interviewee and show up unannounced. Chances of success are not always guaranteed, but in some cases it is worth a try.

A guide edited by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) describes three key types of questions/interviews, based on tips shared by Julian Sher, a producer of the CBC’s The Fifth Estate, at a 2016 conference in New Orleans:

1. 1. To get information
   2. To get emotions
   3. To get people to account for their deeds

Multiple factors can determine the type of questions to ask, and at times, all three can be combined.

Preparation 

A good interview is first and foremost about preparation. The investigative reporter’s interview can be no exception. Even more preparation is needed here. The issues dealt with by investigative reporters are sensitive, controversial, complex and involve uncovering the truth, most often covered up — or at least not volunteered. Preparation involves a lot of research into the background and environment of the person being questioned to probe more effectively.

Research 

Good investigative reporters are good researchers. Before any interview is conducted, knowing all the facts (or as many as you can find) about the events in question is key.

This includes looking for previous statements or stands taken by the person you are talking to, including allegations, if any, against the person you are interviewing. You will also need a sound knowledge of the subject matter at the heart of the investigation. Learning a little about the social life and hobbies of the interviewee can help: chatting a bit about football, music, books, or foreign places can be excellent ice-breakers.

Going in without that knowledge weakens the interviewer and might allow the person you are talking with to take control of the situation. It should be the other way round. The interviewer should at all times be in control throughout the process. This research phase is even more crucial in a confrontational interview where the investigative reporter seeks to establish the truth or to have the person being interviewed admit something never admitted before, sometimes including information the subject may have tried to deny or hide from public knowledge.

Get Ready to Both Record and Take Notes

No investigative reporter should conduct an interview, unless in exceptional circumstances, without a recording device and a notebook. Some go armed with only one or the other. But to capture everything that happens in an interview, both devices are necessary, even with friendly sources. While the recording device captures what is said, the notebook is necessary to capture non-verbal communication, to keep track of important issues and to make sure follow-up questions are not missed and to save you from any technical glitches.

In some countries, getting formal consent prior to recording the interview is a must. Once consent is obtained, the more discreet the recorder the better. This can make the interviewee less defensive.

On occasions, interviews that allow reporters to gather additional information for background can be conducted off-the-record. This type of interview is usually done in this format if a source could be at risk and could possess relevant information related to the topic that is being investigated. If a journalist has agreed to talk off-the-record with a source, it won’t be possible to cite or mention the source in a story, unless the reporter checks again with the source, and there is an agreement to go on-the record.

Who to Interview, When, and Why?

There are many types of sources in an investigative story. However, we can try to put them into categories. In each category, the skills and the approaches needed may differ or, at times, overlap.

First Interviewees 

Usually, once we are done with research and preparation, in cases where the investigation results from a leak, we begin the actual face-to-face interviews with whistleblowers (when they are willing to talk), witnesses or any source who can provide the initial facts about the story. Most of the time, these sources are willing to talk but may have personal interests that impact their views (particularly true from some self-labeled whistle-blowers). Usually, they are interviewed at the early stages of the investigation, but may need subsequent interviews to clarify or confirm their initial statements or allegations.

After following a leak or a lead, the reporter may find a lot of information that contradicts earlier statements made. The initial interview helps draw the outlines of the story, the second or third interviews are done to confirm facts or to confront sources.

Where such leaks do not exist and the investigation is based on a story idea, the reporter may decide to start with the friendliest sources or anyone else who is easy to access, including those with common knowledge of the subject but not involved in the story.

Sources Involved in the Story 

Since investigations are about revealing hidden facts, this category is rarely a final and definite list: in an investigation, the most likely scenario is that one source leads to another, which leads to another. Each of these needs to be interviewed. The reporter may have as many sources to interview as possible. Once a name is mentioned in a story, it is likely the reporter may have to interview him/her.

Experts 

When the story is complex or involves a high level of understanding or technical knowledge, experts can be interviewed to help clarify issues that may be difficult for the reporter and for the general public. Lawyers, scientists, medical doctors and other experts are potential aides. They are not involved in the story, but their expertise is needed. Others, who may be involved in the story will not be interviewed as “experts” because of potential conflicts of interest.

People in High-Ranking Positions 

Government officials, company executives and others may be last on the lists of interviewees. Usually, they are interviewed because of their responsibility or level of knowledge of the issue being investigated. At times they may be at the heart of the investigation. It is always recommended to have sufficient information prior to requesting an interview with them.

The Heart of the Matter: Interviews for Investigations

Once all of the above is done, the core part of the exercise begins: facing the sources and conducting the interview. Because human beings have different attitudes and react differently to situations, handling interviews may be difficult. Preparation, as mentioned above can help, but self-confidence and some knowledge of human psychology and interpersonal communication skills are needed.

Interviews with witnesses or whistleblowers can be relatively easy if they trust the reporter, the reporter’s sense of ethics, and the reporter’s outlet. However, “easy” does not mean simple or relaxed. The interviewer needs to be prepared in order to persuade interview subjects to provide accurate, fact-based information, which will help move to the next step.

When conducting an interview, the reporter needs to start with some easy questions, let the subject loosen up, and then, step by step, move to tougher questions.

Questions need to be prepared and listed in advance to make sure none are missed. But the reporter should not stick to them as holy scripture. Following the flow of the “conversation” might be more fruitful.

Mastering interviewing techniques also includes developing a “good ear” — a high sense of listening. Respected Colombian author and journalist Gabriel García Márquez put it best:

We know how useful tape recorders are for memory, but we must never take our eyes off the face of the interviewee, who can express many more things than his voice, and sometimes even the opposite.

He adds:

The majority of journalists let the tape recorder do the work, and thus believe they are respecting the wishes of the person they are interviewing by transcribing their words, word for word… when a person speaks, they hesitate, go off on tangents, don’t finish their sentences and make insignificant remarks. For me, the tape recorder must be used for the sole purpose of recording material that the journalist will decide to use subsequently, in the way he decides and chooses according to his way of telling the story. (Translated in English by the author of this chapter, the original quote can be found here in French).

In an investigative interview, particularly when it comes to confrontational interviews, this lesson becomes key.

Once the approach is understood, asking the questions and how to ask them becomes the next critical step. Open-ended questions are, of course, favored most of the time. Nevertheless, in some exceptional cases, direct and specific questions can be of greater help. But it is not advised to use them at the beginning of an interview, because they may prematurely put an end to the interview, for instance, if it’s about an embarrassing or compromising situation for the interview subject.

Conclusion 

Interviewing is a complex task for reporters, and particularly for investigative reporters. Teaching (or learning) interviewing techniques cannot be a theoretical exercise, as they are drawn from diverse knowledge and expertise. To succeed in this task, self-confidence and serious preparedness are needed. The rest comes with experience, learning by doing, and peer-to-peer learning. So, whenever possible, get advice from a colleague you trust, particularly if you are a newcomer to investigative journalism.

Hamadou Tidiane Sy is a seasoned Senegalese journalist and a passionate journalism trainer. He is the founder of the award-winning online news platform Ouestaf News, specializing in investigations and in-depth reporting. Based in Dakar, he is training the next generation of African journalists, as the founder and Director of E-jicom, a renowned journalism, communication, and digital media school. Tidiane sits on the board of major African media organizations, namely the Dakar-based West Africa Democracy radio and Africa Check. Recognized as a social innovator in the field of “News and Knowledge” by the Ashoka and Knight Foundations, he was also listed, during the Covid pandemic, amongst the 16 Africans offering the most relevant answers to the pandemic through his journalistic initiative “Reliable information against disinformation” to fight the Covid-19. In 2021 he received the”Media Leadership Award” at the Brussels Rebranding Africa Forum.