Focus On: Interviewing & Editorial

It’s not just what you create, it’s how you create it. Affirming interview and editorial practices create safety for community and a better story for audiences.

A person in a black coat and scarf speaks at a microphone at a candle lit vigil. They are wearing a white arm band that says "Rise."

Questions to Ask Before Reporting a Story

Thinking through these questions will help you reflect on whether you should go forward with a story—or, if it has been assigned to you, how you could approach it differently.

Why am I reporting this story?

Is this story perpetuating stereotypes, fetishizing, exoticizing, or sensationalizing?

Who am I asking the hard accountability questions?

Do I have the time to give this story and the people I’m speaking with the care and attention they deserve?

Interview Considerations

Satisfied with your answers to the questions above? Here are a few tips to make the reporting process more comfortable for trans and gender-diverse folks and marginalized communities in general. We’ve chosen to call these “considerations” as we recognize it might not be possible to put every suggestion into place.

Preparing for an Interview

Do your research

Make sure you know something about the community. Do an online search for the person you’re interviewing and see how someone lists their pronouns and describes themselves and their work. These details can help inform your line of questioning.

For example: “I saw on Twitter that you describe yourself as a queer community activist. How has that identity influenced the way you see this issue?”

Give your interviewee the questions in advance Description

Sending a rough question line in advance will help your subject/interviewee feel more at ease and not be caught off guard or triggered during your interview. It also offers a person the opportunity to identify what part of their story they want highlighted, as well as the time to gather their thoughts.

Many radio and television producers already do some form of this when preparing a person for a live interview. Conducting a “pre-interview” will help develop the line of questioning and focus in collaboration with the person you’re interviewing. This will also be useful in determining what someone is comfortable discussing. Many people feel anxious about being quoted or being on TV. Giving them time to prepare will result in a better interview.

Set clear expectations and boundaries

Complete transparency is important from the moment you reach out to someone for an interview. Tell a person if their interview will be live or pre-recorded, on video or for print. Let them know how much time the interview will take and see if there’s a place where they’re most comfortable meeting for your conversation. Be clear about your deadline as well. Showing respect for someone’s time, energy, and comfort levels starts well before your interview begins.

Before Starting an Interview

Take time for introductions

Small talk can go a long way in breaking the ice and helping someone feel comfortable. Tight deadlines are a reality, but taking a couple of minutes at the beginning can make all the difference. Introduce yourself, share your pronouns, and disclose the publication or organization you represent. If you have crew members, get them to do the same. It can also help to share something personal about yourself or why you want to tell this story.

For the person you’re speaking with, make sure you’re clear about their name, spelling, pronunciation, and pronouns before starting the formal interview.

Explain (or define) the focus and format of your story

A person deserves to know why you want to talk to them and how their story is going to be used. Explain the focus and format of your story to the best of your ability or be upfront if a conversation is more exploratory in nature.

For example, this story is about the barriers trans folks face when getting identity cards and your interview will be an eight-minute segment on tomorrow’s morning radio show.

This is also an opportunity to ask someone what they think is the story worth sharing and letting that guide your interview.

Be clear about your tech set-up

During an Interview

Be mindful of physical power imbalances

Observe body language and adapt accordingly

Body language says a lot about someone’s comfort levels. If you’ve started down your line of questioning and recognize that a person looks uncomfortable or uneasy, pull back. Consider asking a question differently or phrasing it more generally.

For example: “With inflation rates rising, a lot of people have faced challenges putting food on the table. Is this something you’re experiencing?” instead of “Tell me about your experiences with food insecurity.”

Avoid dwelling on mistakes

Ask someone if there’s anything else they’d like to share

After an Interview

Leave time for your source to review the story

Making sure you’ve got your facts straight is journalistic due diligence. Community members may want to review a story, not to influence the slant or focus, but to make sure everything is accurate.

This review is a way to ensure you have not misrepresented someone, been unintentionally offensive or inaccurate, or put an individual or community member at risk. Such principles don’t violate journalist ethics as much as they enforce it.

We suggest sending the story or part of the story that relates to what someone shared. Emphasize your deadline and give people the chance to highlight any changes within that time frame, while being clear on the limits or what you can and cannot change. How you deal with this review will differ on a case-by-case basis depending on newsroom protocols and the nature of your story.

Address concerns early

Be clear on next steps

Share, to the best of your ability, what’s going to happen next. Will the interview be broadcast on the 6 o’clock news? Will a story be published in this weekend’s paper?

For people who have access to email, one kind gesture is offering to send the story once it’s live. If someone doesn’t have access to email or a computer and your story will be in print, ask if there’s a spot where you could drop off a physical copy of the newspaper or magazine.

Two people facing each other having a serious conversation. The person facing the camera has dark hair and is wearing a plaid shirt and plaid pants.

Interview Checklist

Check the spelling and pronunciation of someone’s full name and job title (when relevant)
Confirm the pronouns a person wants to use for the story
Get someone’s contact information to follow-up about story approval. If they don’t have a phone or email address, ask if there’s a person or agency you can contact to reach them.
Explain when the story will be published or aired

But What About Objectivity and Impartiality?

Journalistic objectivity and impartiality are a myth, and we’re not the first to say it. We all hold implicit biases influenced by our experiences, privileges, and personal identities.

Building relationships and trust with trans and gender-diverse folks won’t inhibit your ability to report fairly on those communities. Neither will working alongside a source to share their story in a more thoughtful, respectful way.

Both will give you greater context, empathy, and understanding, which can only benefit a story.

“If you decide you’re going to do a story for the right reasons, then listen and let the person or people tell their story.. Every story is going to be different, and you can’t be in interrogation mode. It has to be done in a very sensitive way, knowing that people have suffered and can be triggered by different types of questions.”

- Christy Joseph (she/her), Peer Outreach Worker with The 519’s Trans People of Colour Project (TPOC)

A member of The 519 Trans People of Colour project wearing a striped shirt is turning their head to smile at the camera.

Editorial Pushback

A person’s own wishes for if and how they want to be identified aren’t always going to align with newsroom policy or Canadian Press Style.

These situations need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. While journalists are in a position of power when interviewing community members, we recognize the tables may turn when it comes to newsroom hierarchies.

Uncomfortable as it may be, it’s important for journalists to take a stand for community members because there may be risks if you get it wrong. There’s also a certain sense of ownership that accompanies a story—it’s your byline or sign-off, after all. Be willing to have those hard conversations with editors because at the end of the day, it’s your name and credibility on the line.

For more on how to challenge institutional norms within your newsroom, visit the Next Steps for Learning and Allyship page.

Resources

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