Interview Analysis
By Donna Baeck
The interview I analyzed was an episode of the Daily titled, "The Coronavirus Goes Global". Michael Barbaro interviewed Donald G. McNeil Jr. who is a health reporter.
Barbaro started the interview off strong by establishing the credibility of McNeil to his audience. The very first question asked how many epidemics he has covered. This led to McNeil saying he covered SARS, MERS, bird flu, 2009 swine flu, Zika and other diseases. As an audience member, I am now aware McNeil is capable to comparing the coronavirus to these other epidemics.
Another strong aspect of Barbaro's interviewing is how he phrases his questions. He makes the interview very conversational and doesn't sound scripted. For example, he says "help me understand why_____" or "correct me if I'm wrong".
Barbaro also asks questions to clarify. McNeil is comparing the severity of the coronavirus to other epidemics and some of the answers he's giving are in scientific terms or sound complicated.
As the interview continues, Barbaro asks for McNeil's opinion about what the next year is going to look like with the coronavirus. He closes the interview by asking a couple questions about what forms of prevention could be helpful.
I think Barbaro had a solid structure to his interview in the order he asked the questions. The flow of the conversation sounded natural and Barbaro broke down what McNeil was saying to make it clear to the audience. All of the techniques Barbaro did are all interview skills I would want to reflect in my own interviewing.
The interview I analyzed was an episode of the Daily titled, "The Coronavirus Goes Global". Michael Barbaro interviewed Donald G. McNeil Jr. who is a health reporter.
Barbaro started the interview off strong by establishing the credibility of McNeil to his audience. The very first question asked how many epidemics he has covered. This led to McNeil saying he covered SARS, MERS, bird flu, 2009 swine flu, Zika and other diseases. As an audience member, I am now aware McNeil is capable to comparing the coronavirus to these other epidemics.
Another strong aspect of Barbaro's interviewing is how he phrases his questions. He makes the interview very conversational and doesn't sound scripted. For example, he says "help me understand why_____" or "correct me if I'm wrong".
Barbaro also asks questions to clarify. McNeil is comparing the severity of the coronavirus to other epidemics and some of the answers he's giving are in scientific terms or sound complicated.
As the interview continues, Barbaro asks for McNeil's opinion about what the next year is going to look like with the coronavirus. He closes the interview by asking a couple questions about what forms of prevention could be helpful.
I think Barbaro had a solid structure to his interview in the order he asked the questions. The flow of the conversation sounded natural and Barbaro broke down what McNeil was saying to make it clear to the audience. All of the techniques Barbaro did are all interview skills I would want to reflect in my own interviewing.
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