Interviewing: Identifying people you want to interview

Almost all interviewees fall into one of two categories: specialists, and non-specialists with first-hand experience of whatever it is you're writing about. In most situations, your article must quote people in both categories. If you're writing about a natural disaster, for instance, you'll want at least one expert to explain what happened and why, and some victims who can say how it felt and how it's changed their lives.

Typical members of the first category are academics (who can be found by searching for scholarly articles posted or excerpted online); PhD students; professionals such as lawyers, doctors and architects; local and national government officers; and people who work for non-profit organizations.

It makes sense to identify and talk to your specialist sources before approaching those who aren't experts but have personal experience of the issue. Oftentimes, specialists will be able to point you in the direction of individuals who can provide fascinating anecdotes. Also, after talking to a specialist, you'll be better informed and asking more pertinent questions. When I wrote about volunteers serving in Taiwan's national parks, I began by discussing the issues with civil servants responsible for selecting, training and supervising volunteers. All of the actual volunteers I later spoke to were introduced to me by these civil servants.

If you're writing about something that happened long ago, there may well be no living witnesses. That doesn't mean you'll have to depend on academics. Try to interview a descendant of someone who was there. Quote from letters, diaries and newspaper reports written at the time. I think of this last technique as “quasi-interviewing.” I'll talk about it more in my next post.

How do you find interview subjects? Look for their names in the media. Good old-fashioned networking helps a lot when seeking interviewees. If you've a foot in the door of any large organization, be it a college or a company, exploit it. Don't be shy about asking people you barely know for help.