Interviews are the soul of journalism

Interviews are one of the most important styles of journalism and story-telling. Good interviewers are also some of the most famous journalists in the world.

On the international scene, famous interviewers that quickly come to mind are Larry King of CNN, Tim Sebastian of BBC, or Shaka Ssali of Voice of America (VOA). Locally, you will quickly think about Patrick Kamara of KFM/NTV and Charles Mwanguhya of NBS. While all the listed are broadcast personalities, this doesn’t mean that interviews are essentially a radio or television thing. Interview journalism is cross-cutting and the printed newspaper has provided some of the most memorable interviews across time and space.

Two of the most famous interviews in Uganda, from my perspective in recent times, were published in the newspaper. They are: The November 2, 1993 interview of President Yoweri Museveni, then eight years in power, by Wafula Oguttu who was the then editor-in-chief of The Monitor. Then, the 2004 autobiographical interviews of Milton Obote by then Daily Monitor political editor, Andrew Mwenda, in Lusaka, Zambia.

According to Lasse Finderup, “Interviews are the soul of journalism; they give it depth, perspective, and that human touch. Imagine reading about a historical event without a firsthand account. They do more than pad out a news story; they’re the muscle that gives it strength, the bones that give it structure.” These are his four reasons for saying interviews are the soul of journalism (see, goodtape.io/articles/how-to-journalistic-interview):

·Bringing voices to life: In interviews, journalists give voice to the voiceless, adding personal depth that pure exposition can’t achieve.

·Adding credibility: Interviews lend authenticity to a story, as firsthand accounts and expert opinions build trust with the audience.

·Contextualising data: Numbers can be cold; interviews inject them with the warmth of human context.

· Diversifying viewpoints: A good interview can offer multiple perspectives, ensuring a rounded and fair report.

There are many types of interviews and journalists use each of them to bring value to a story or issue of public importance. We note just five of them below:

There is the “news interview”, which is the posho and beans of journalism. It brings voices, balance and perspective to a straight news story. Then there is the “features interview” that brings different voices, perspectives and depth to a feature story. The “investigative interview” is what journalists use to dig out information from witnesses, authorities and affected people so as to produce a well-rounded investigative story.

Then there is the “one-on-one or face-to-face interview”. This is used to put a newsmaker on the spot so as to explore in-depth issues of public interest and also paint the personality of the newsmaker or news subject. The Obote and Museveni interviews referred to above fall in this category.

Finally, there is the “panel interview”. This is what we regularly watch/listen to on television and radio talk shows. This type of interview presents multiple perspectives on a subject or news event. It also mixes expert knowledge with street knowledge thus simplifying the issues for the audiences.

While panel interviews are popular and enduring in Uganda, especially on broadcast platforms as seen by the numerous talk shows, the same cannot be said about newspapers where one-on-one interviews with newsmakers or authoritative commentators are irregular. This denies print-only readers the opportunity to engage with news subjects more intimately outside the routine news story.

Will the print media claw back and re-establish regular interview columns? One such famous interview column in 1990s was “In Black & White” by Onapito-Ekomoloit published every Friday in The Monitor.

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Readers have your say

Name withheld: My family and I live in Kololo and we read the Daily Monitor in order to stay updated with Ugandan news. I am concerned by the fact that every Sunday there is a big party in the Lugogo grounds that lasts until 4 or 5am. It is impossible for us to sleep due to the noise. Parties on Sundays usually start by midday and don’t stop until the morning hours where the mosques start announcing the morning prayer. It is truly unbearable. Is it possible that the Daily Monitor does an article on the subject? Maybe the authorities would be alerted and would act in order to protect the health and academic results of all children living in the area of Kololo/Kamokya.

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