Lecture 4 - Interviews

This weeks lecture was a nice, relaxing change.  With a lot of Uni work being from a textbook or lecturer, it is invaluable to hear a different perspective. I am feeling a little bit spoilt with all the guest lecturers within my program!

Listening to the 40 minute interview with abc radio journalists Richard Fidler and Steve Austin fittingly exemplified the power of the spoken word. Both journalists were passionate about radio and human experience, however they also shared some universal tips for engaging, thoughtful and interesting interviews. Being passionate about writing and interested in print media, radio was not a form of journalism I thought of as particularly relevant. B-grade celebrities on FM, conservative old men on AM - radio is to me noise in the car. Titbits of terrible music, corny ads and flashes of news "enjoyed" while driving, with the alternative being silence. In other words I considered radio's biggest competition to be silence.

However, as Steve Austin pointed out, good radio explores "the full gamut of human experience." This advise is relevant not only to radio, but to all forms of journalism. The platform of print media is drastically and rapidly changing, presenting new opportunities at every turn. As newspapers become blogs and online content, the ability to combine other, historically separate, forms of media increases. This is an exciting thought and opens the doors to a host of new media interactions.
    

Both interviewers-come-interviewees stressed the importance of understanding one's audience, and keeping the viewers/ listeners/ readers in mind at all times. This concept seems to be a common theme across all my subjects. As both men emphasised: an open, inquiring mind is invaluable, however knowledge is just as important - read, read, read!