Dear Accidentally Qualified: Not An Expert In Expert Sources
Dear Accidentally Qualified,
I’m an experienced journalist but I never know how much pre-reporting to do before I interview an expert on a subject I know nothing about. The reason I’m interviewing them is so they can explain everything to me, so can I come in with zero knowledge of my own? Or should I prepare questions and do some research so I know just the right amount? I don’t want them to feel like I’m totally wasting their time by asking them things I could research myself, but at the same time, my pieces need expert interviews.
-Not An Expert In Expert Sources
Dear Not An Expert In Expert Sources,
Okay I’ll admit it. This is my question. But it’s something that I’ve never felt confident about and have fucked up before (when I was still in college, a famous comedian told me that interviews weren’t my thing after I conducted catastrophically bad ones with both him and his wife and it’s a cloud that hangs over for my head forever.)
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