Most good interviewers - once they find out who they'll be interviewing - brush up on their guest and the guest's reason for being there. They then put together a list of relevant questions they feel need to be asked.
Generally, the interview then moves through the questions. Each are asked and answered and every now and again the interviewer will pick up on a tangential aspect that he feels needs exploring.
On the other hand, if it turns out a question need not be asked, the good interviewer won't ask it.
Both those aspects suggest the essence of good interviewing is that the interviewer listens to what the guest is saying.
The bad interviewer doesn't. The bad interviewer fills in the afternoon shift at Christmas and tunes out until it's her turn to asks questions about yummy food.
With listen-lack in mind, here's 3LO's Cathy Bedford interviewing Jewish singer Troy Silverman on Wednesday arvo....
CB: "Troy, tell us about the Festival of Light tonight at Federation Square."TS: "Well Cathy, we're celebrating Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. It's a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians, and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple.
What happened was that the Syrians wanted the Jews to reject their religion and follow Greek ones. The Jews had other ideas.
They formed an army under Judah Maccabee and drove the Syrians out of Israel to reclaim the Temple in Jerusalem.
They then cleaned the Temple of all nasty Greekness and then wanted to light the eternal light that exists in all Jewish houses of worship. Once lit it should never be extinguished.
However, only a tiny jug of oil was found that contained just enough oil for a single day. The oil lamp was filled and lit. Then a miracle occurred as the tiny amount of oil stayed lit not for one day, but for eight days.
The Festival of the Lights, Chanukah, lasts for eight days to commemorate the miracle of the oil and we light eight giant candles to celebrate each of eight days.
We also eat food cooked in oil. Food such as donuts and other foods" [Foods that the AGB can't pronounce, let alone spell. "K" and "Sh" featured.]
CB: "How interesting. And what does light have to do with the celebrations?"
TS: [Puzzled] "Err....we....err....it's the Festival of Light. We light giant candles."
CB: "Oh. OK. Tell us about the yummy donuts."
Sheesh! Cathy go home!
3LO has moved into Lazy Operator mode. You need to go further west to RN and Listen to Opera.
btw: Cathy has an impressive surname.
Posted by: boynton | 27 December 2003 at 12:21
I can't find RN where I am, B.
Bedford? Some sloppy Swan sentimentality?
Posted by: Tony.T | 27 December 2003 at 13:09
guess we've got 11 reasons to get sentimental.
Posted by: boynton | 27 December 2003 at 18:23
Eleven? Huh? I no get.
Posted by: Tony.T | 29 December 2003 at 15:58
that's 13 medals won by 11 players, T.
The Swans could sentimentally field a Brownlow Eleven.
One of whom would be Bedford.
Don't know how this compares to the Dees.
(very hard to get Brownlow stats off the net. Had to rely on past trivia knowledge and the swans PDF history to confirm.)
Posted by: boynton | 29 December 2003 at 16:49