Questions to Ask Journalists
Questions to ask a journalist about their career and their craft, at a class visit, a career day, an informational interview or a panel, or when you are the one interviewing a reporter for a school paper or a podcast. They open with the ones nearly everyone wants answered, why they chose the job, what a day looks like, which story stayed with them, and go on to how stories are found, how interviews are run, how facts are checked, what gets left out and what the job is like now, and they close on how a career in news starts and where it can lead. The Interviewing group is about the questions journalists ask in their own work, and two in Stories are for a reporter who works on air.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Openers
Why did you become a journalist?
Why ask it
Reporters get asked this a lot, so the first answer may be a polished one about curiosity or loving to write. Follow up with what they were doing the month they decided, and the real version tends to appear: a school paper, a teacher, a story they read and wished they had written.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Why ask it
Many will say there is no such thing, so have them walk you through yesterday instead, from the first message to the last edit. A real day, with its false starts and its time spent on hold, is a better guide to the work than a summary.
Where do your story ideas actually come from?
Why ask it
The answer is rarely inspiration. It is more often a court docket, a routine records request, a source of ten years or the same complaint arriving three times, and each of those is a habit you can copy.
What is the most memorable story you have covered?
Why ask it
Give them a moment to choose. The one that stays with a reporter is often not the biggest but the one where they were in the room when something happened, or met someone they still think about. Ask what they can still picture from it.
What is the hardest part of being a journalist?
Why ask it
It depends on the kind of work: for one reporter it is knocking on a stranger's door, for another the hours, the pay or not being believed. Whatever they name, ask whether it has become easier since their first year or whether they have just grown used to it.
What do you like most about the job?
Why ask it
Notice whether the pleasure is in the finding out or in the telling. A reporter who lights up about the call where a fact fell into place is describing a different job from one who loves the writing, and it helps to know which of them you would be.
What was the first story you ever had published?
Why ask it
It is usually something small, a council meeting, a school match, a short item nobody else wanted, and people tend to remember it well. What an editor changed in it is worth hearing, because a first lesson is often one a reporter still follows.
Which journalists do you admire, and what did you learn from them?
Why ask it
The names matter less than the reasons. If they can say what a particular reporter does well, how one builds a long piece or how another words a question at a press conference, you come away with a reading list and a sense of the standard they are aiming at.
What story are you working on this week?
Why ask it
A story in progress is easier to talk about than a whole career. They may only give you the outline until it runs, so ask what is still missing from it: the call not returned or the document not yet in hand is what the job looks like on an ordinary day.
How did you end up on this beat?
Why ask it
Beats are often assigned, not chosen, so the story of how someone landed on courts or schools tends to be more candid than an account of their whole path. Follow up with what they had to learn in the first few months.
How much of your week is reporting, and how much is writing?
Why ask it
People tend to picture the job as writing. If the answer is mostly calls that go unreturned, meetings and waiting on records, that is worth hearing before you choose the career, so ask which half they like better.
What is the first thing you read or check each morning?
Why ask it
Expect a list: a court calendar, a rival's newsletter, an agency feed, a group chat with sources. It maps where news on their beat surfaces first, and the public items on it are ones you can start reading today.
Which of your stories do people still bring up with you?
Why ask it
The piece strangers remember is not always the one that took the most work. Ask why they think it stuck: a name people knew, a photo, a line someone repeated. It shows what readers hold on to.
When you write, who do you picture reading it?
Why ask it
Some write for a neighbor with ten minutes, some for the officials they cover, some for their editor. The answer explains their tone and how much background they include. It is a good one to put to every reporter on a panel, because the readers they name rarely match.
What part of your beat deserves more attention than it gets?
Why ask it
Many reporters carry a story they think matters and cannot get space for. The reasons it stays unwritten, no news peg, no pictures, nobody willing to talk, tell you what daily coverage is built to miss.
Stories
What makes a tip worth chasing?
Why ask it
Far more ideas are dropped than published, and the first filters are quick: can it be documented, will anyone speak on the record, does it matter to more than the person who called. Notice whether their test is what can be shown or what would be interesting.
What does a pitch to your editor sound like, and what gets turned down?
Why ask it
A pitch is a skill of its own: a sentence or two on what is new and why it matters now. The ideas that get rejected show what the outlet believes its readers want, which a freelancer or student should know before sending anything.
When every outlet is on the same story, what do you do differently?
Why ask it
Listen for a choice: call the person nobody else called, pull the record behind the press release, or wait a day and explain it properly. It shows whether they would rather be first or be different.
What do you do with a story that is important but dull?
Why ask it
Budgets, zoning and pension funds can touch more lives than whatever leads the news, and they are hard to make anyone read. The craft is in finding the one person it lands on or the figure that makes it concrete. Some will admit they skip these stories, which is an honest answer too.
Which public records do you use most, and how do you get them?
Why ask it
Records work is slow, learnable and in many places open to anyone, not only reporters. Access rules differ by country and state, so ask how requests work where they report and how long an answer usually takes.
How do you report on a community you are not part of?
Why ask it
Reporters are routinely sent into neighborhoods, professions and faiths they know little about. Good answers involve time spent there before asking for anything, and checking with people afterward that they were described fairly.
How long does a story take, from the idea to the day it runs?
Why ask it
Get two real examples, one turned around in an afternoon and one that took weeks or months. What filled the time on the slow one, waiting on records, a source deciding whether to talk, a legal read, is the part outsiders rarely see.
How do you handle a tight deadline?
Why ask it
The telling detail is what gets dropped first when time runs short: a third phone call, a polished ending, a second read by a colleague. What they refuse to drop, often the checking of names, numbers and quotes, is the part to remember.
How do you know when you have enough to start writing?
Why ask it
Reporting could go on forever and the deadline rarely lets it. Listen for a working test, such as the point where new calls repeat what they already have, or where every main claim has a document or a second source behind it.
How do you find the first sentence of a story?
Why ask it
Reporters differ on when to write the opening: first, to find the point of the story, or last, once the piece exists. Ask them to recite one they are happy with and say what was wrong with the earlier tries.
Is there a story you reported that never ran?
Why ask it
The reasons are revealing: it fell apart, a source withdrew, lawyers stopped it, or an editor decided it was not worth the trouble. Expect some limits on what they can say, and take the outline rather than pushing for names.
How is reporting for television or radio different from writing for a paper or a website?
Why ask it
One for a reporter who works on air, or who has done both. Listen for what pictures and sound decide: which stories get covered at all, how few words a script has room for, and why a piece is written to be heard once and not reread.
What is going through your mind when you report live?
Why ask it
A live report cannot be edited, so the craft is in what they have ready before the camera or microphone is on: three facts they are sure of, a first line, a way out if a name escapes them. Anyone who dreads speaking in front of a class can use the answer.
Interviewing
How do you prepare for an interview?
Why ask it
Preparation runs from ten minutes of reading in a car to weeks with documents, depending on what is at stake. Ask what they must know before they will pick up the phone, and what they deliberately leave for the person to tell them.
How do you find the right people to interview for a story?
Why ask it
Officials and spokespeople are easy to reach, and the people a story is really about are often not. Have them describe how they tracked down the last person who was hard to find: a name in a court filing, a comment under a post, a neighbor who knew someone.
Who is the most interesting person you have interviewed?
Why ask it
Do not be surprised if they pass over the famous names for someone you have never heard of, since people who are interviewed often can sound rehearsed. Ask what made that conversation good, and you will hear what they think an interview is for.
What do you say to someone who does not want to talk to you?
Why ask it
You are asking for technique, not charm: showing up in person, going through a former colleague, telling the person exactly what the reporter already has. Ask for the actual words of the first message or the first ten seconds on a doorstep, since that is the part you can borrow.
What do you try to do in the first two minutes of an interview?
Why ask it
Openings are usually deliberate: how they identify themselves, when they mention the recorder, what they ask first to settle someone. Ask whether the first question is ever one they need the answer to.
Do you write your questions out beforehand, and how closely do you stick to them?
Why ask it
Some write out every question and some carry three words on a card. What matters is what they do when an answer goes somewhere unplanned. A reporter who calls the list a safety net is telling you that listening is the real skill.
What question do you ask in almost every interview?
Why ask it
Many reporters have two or three they lean on, often plain ones such as how do you know that, or who else should I talk to. These are worth borrowing, because they work in any conversation where you need facts instead of impressions.
What separates a good question from a bad one?
Why ask it
The usual rules are brief: short beats long, one at a time beats two, and how or why beats anything answerable with yes or no. Ask which of those they break on purpose, such as a yes-or-no question to pin down a fact.
What do you do when someone dodges a question?
Why ask it
There are only a few moves: ask again in plainer words, stay quiet, come back to it later, or say outright that it was not answered. Ask which one they reach for first, and borrow it the next time a boss or an official talks around you.
When in an interview do you ask the hardest question?
Why ask it
Many reporters hold it until late, when a walkout costs them the least, and ask it flatly, without apology. Ask whether they warn the person that a tough one is coming, and how they word it.
How do you interview someone who knows far more about the subject than you do?
Why ask it
Reporters regularly question surgeons, engineers and economists after a day of reading. A common method is to admit the gap and ask for the explanation they would give a relative. It is a good model for a student nervous about talking to an expert.
How do you interview someone on the worst day of their life?
Why ask it
This covers approaching people after a fire, a verdict or a loss. Careful reporters describe handing over control: saying who they are, accepting a no, never pushing for tears. Ask it seriously, and do not press for details about a particular family.
Do you record, take notes, or both?
Why ask it
It sounds like housekeeping and has consequences: a recording settles a dispute about a quote, and notes show what struck the reporter in the moment. Consent rules for recording differ by place, so ask how it works where they report.
What is a question you asked that you wish you could take back?
Why ask it
Most interviewers have one: a leading question that put words in someone's mouth, a clumsy one at a bad moment, a double question that let the subject answer the easy half. Ask how they would word it now.
What do you ask last, before you hang up or leave?
Why ask it
Common answers are what did I not ask that I should have, and may I call you again. A closing question can bring good material once the person has relaxed. Note theirs and try it at the end of this conversation.
Facts and sources
How do you confirm something you did not see yourself?
Why ask it
Ask for the mechanics: a second independent source, documents, accounts matched against a timeline, or a decision not to publish. If the answer is only that they trust their sources, ask how that trust was earned.
How do you get a source to trust you?
Why ask it
On a beat, trust tends to be built in small ways over a long time: quoting people accurately, calling back when promised, explaining what will happen to what they say. Ask about a source who took a long time to come round, and what changed.
When a claim is spreading online, what do you check before you report it?
Why ask it
The steps are usually plain: find the original post, see when a photo first appeared, call the person or agency named in it. Anyone can run the same routine before sharing something, which makes this a good question for a classroom.
What do you ask about a statistic before you put it in a story?
Why ask it
Careful reporters describe asking where the figure came from, what it is a share of, and who collected it. Plenty will admit that data makes them nervous and that they call someone who works with it every day.
What do you do when two credible people tell you opposite things?
Why ask it
The quick answer is to print both and let readers decide. Better ones involve hunting for a record that settles it, or saying plainly in the story what could not be established. This is where the idea of balance gets tested.
How do you handle a source who has an agenda?
Why ask it
Nearly every source wants something, and reporters know it. The useful part is how they account for it: asking why this person is talking now, checking the claim elsewhere, telling readers about the interest.
When do you agree to quote someone without naming them?
Why ask it
Many newsrooms treat anonymity as the exception and set their own rules on who can approve it. Ask what the source has to be risking and whether an editor must know the name. A vague answer here is worth noticing.
How do you protect a source who could get into trouble for talking to you?
Why ask it
This takes in practical habits, such as how they communicate and where notes are kept, as well as what they would do if ordered to give up a name. Legal protection for reporters and their sources differs by country and state, so ask how it works where they report, and do not ask for details of a real case.
What happens when a source asks to go off the record halfway through?
Why ask it
Off the record means different things to different people, and many reporters hold that it has to be agreed before the words are said, not after. Ask what they actually say at that moment, and whether it changes for someone who has never dealt with the press.
What makes you trust another outlet's reporting?
Why ask it
It turns the reporter into a reader. They tend to mention named sources, linked documents, visible corrections and a reporter who was actually there. That gives you a checklist for judging news yourself, from someone who knows how it is made.
What was the last correction you had to run, and what caused it?
Why ask it
A pointed question, and many working reporters will answer it because errors are an ordinary part of the job. Haste, a misread document or a single unchecked source are common causes, and the specific one teaches more than any general point about accuracy.
Editing and ethics
Who touches your story between the time you file it and the time it runs?
Why ask it
Many readers assume the byline controls the text. The answer may take in editors, a copy desk, a lawyer and cuts for space, and it explains why a story can come out blunter or softer than the reporter intended.
How much say do you have over your headlines?
Why ask it
At many outlets an editor or a separate desk writes the headline, and at small ones the reporter often does. It is worth knowing which before you blame a reporter for one, and it leads into how the chase for clicks shapes the top of a story.
What argument with an editor did you lose, and were they right?
Why ask it
Reporters and editors argue about length, tone, timing and whether a story is ready. A lost argument gives a truer picture of the newsroom than asking whether they like their editor, and the second half often gets a laugh and an honest yes.
Have you ever been pressured to change or drop a story?
Why ask it
Pressure can come from the subject of a story, an advertiser, an owner or a threat of legal action, and from inside a newsroom as well as outside it. They may not be free to give details, so ask how such a request is handled where they work and who makes the final call.
On a breaking story, what has to be confirmed before you publish?
Why ask it
Speed against certainty is a daily tension in news. Ask what can wait for an update and what cannot, such as a name or a casualty figure. Reporters who have been wrong in public tend to have a firm rule.
What is the hardest ethical decision you have had to make on a story?
Why ask it
Allow them a pause, because the honest answer is usually a close call and not a clear wrong avoided. Find out who they talked it through with, an editor, a colleague, the person affected, and whether they would decide the same way again.
What did you leave out of a recent story, and why?
Why ask it
Every story omits far more than it includes, and the omissions are where judgment shows: a person's private circumstances, an allegation that could not be supported, a detail that would identify a source. Asking about one recent piece gets you a real decision instead of a principle.
How do you keep your own views out of a story, or do you?
Why ask it
A more answerable version of asking whether the news is biased. Some reporters describe checks, such as a colleague reading for loaded words, and others argue that fairness matters more than neutrality. Either is a position you can ask them to defend.
What is the difference between a news story and an opinion piece?
Why ask it
Readers often mix the two up, and outlets label and separate them in different ways. Ask how theirs marks the difference on a phone screen, where a column and a report can look alike, and whether the same people ever write both.
How do you stay on good terms with people you may have to write critically about?
Why ask it
Beat reporters see the same officials, coaches or executives every week, and distance is hard to keep. Listen for a rule they hold, such as no surprises before publication or no favors accepted. It marks where they put the line between access and independence.
When do you name a private person in a story, and when do you leave the name out?
Why ask it
It comes up with people accused but not charged, minors, and bystanders in viral clips. Policies vary by outlet and laws vary by country, so ask what their newsroom's rule is and where they have had to make the call themselves.
Do you let people see their quotes before publication?
Why ask it
Practice differs sharply: some outlets forbid it, some allow a technical quote to be read back, some agree to it as the price of an interview. Their answer and their reasons show how they weigh accuracy against a subject's wish to tidy what was said.
What do you do when someone asks you to take down an old story about them?
Why ask it
People ask for an old arrest report, quote or photo to be removed because search keeps it attached to their name. Some newsrooms have a written policy, so ask whether theirs does and whether they agree with it.
What do you owe a person your story is going to hurt?
Why ask it
There is no settled answer, which is the point. Listen for whether they distinguish between a public official and a private individual, and whether they contact people before publication rather than after.
The job and career
How has journalism changed since you started?
Why ask it
A reporter of thirty years and one of three will answer differently, and both are worth hearing. Steer them past the general point that everything moved online and toward a specific task: how they used to find a phone number, how many stories a week they filed, who read a piece before it ran.
How has the business side changed what you are able to report?
Why ask it
Where a newsroom has shrunk, the losses are concrete: nobody at the council meeting, no time for a story that takes months, more reliance on what is quick to check. Ask for one thing they covered a few years ago that nobody covers now.
How has social media changed the way you report?
Why ask it
It can be a source of tips, a way to reach people, the place a story gets read and the place an error travels fastest, sometimes all in one afternoon. Ask which of those matters most on their beat, and whether they would still be on it if the job did not require it.
What do you keep off your own social media because of the job?
Why ask it
Many employers have rules on what staff may say in public, and the rules differ, so ask what theirs says. Then ask where their own line sits: signing petitions, saying how they vote, joking about the people they cover.
How are you using AI tools in your work, if at all?
Why ask it
Answers run from transcription and searching long documents to a flat refusal. Ask what their newsroom's rules say and what has to be disclosed to readers, since policies differ from one outlet to the next and many are still being written.
Where do you think journalism is heading?
Why ask it
Nobody knows, but a working reporter's guess is informed by what they see: which jobs their outlet is filling, what readers will pay for, what is being cut. Asking what they are doing to stay employable often gets a more honest forecast than asking for a prediction.
What do you see as a journalist's role in society?
Why ask it
Expect a familiar phrase about holding power to account or keeping the public informed, then ask for the last story of theirs that did it. The example shows what the phrase means to them in an ordinary week, which is as likely to be a council budget explained as a scandal exposed.
What do you say to people who tell you they do not trust the news?
Why ask it
Reporters hear this from relatives as well as strangers, so many have a considered answer. One that names what the press has got wrong, and what they do differently because of it, is worth more than a defense. Ask it out of curiosity and not as an accusation.
What do you wish readers understood about how news is made?
Why ask it
It usually produces something concrete: that news and opinion are often separate departments, that declined to comment means the person was asked, that most of what a reporter learns never makes the page. A strong question for a class visit or a panel because the answer is for the whole room.
How do you handle criticism of your work?
Why ask it
It helps to separate the kinds: a reader who found a real error, a subject who dislikes a fair story, and strangers who are simply angry. How they tell those apart, and which messages they answer, shows how they think about the people they write for.
What support do you get when a story brings you abuse or threats?
Why ask it
Support varies widely from one employer to the next, from a legal team and security guidance to nothing at all. It is a part of the job few outsiders see, so ask plainly and let them decide how much to say.
Have you ever been in danger while reporting?
Why ask it
For many reporters the honest answer is a hostile crowd, a flood or a threatening call rather than a war zone, and that is worth knowing too. Ask what safety training or planning their employer provides, and let them choose how much of a frightening story to tell.
How do you cope after covering something upsetting?
Why ask it
Reporters go to crashes, trials and disasters and are still expected to file on time, and what happens afterward is talked about more openly in some newsrooms than in others. Ask whether theirs offers any support and who they talk to. If the answer is brief, leave it there.
How do you switch off when the news does not stop?
Why ask it
This takes in the phone at dinner, the weekend shift and the story that follows them home. Asked kindly, it shows what the job costs and how people last in it. Leave it alone if they have just come off a hard story.
What story are you proudest of, and did it change anything?
Why ask it
Pride and impact are different things. Strong work sometimes changes nothing, and a small story sometimes gets a rule rewritten or a refund paid. Ask how they found out what happened afterward.
What did you misunderstand about this job before you started?
Why ask it
It gets a confession instead of advice. Listen for the ordinary surprises, such as the hours, the paperwork and the stories that fall through, and ask whether knowing would have changed their mind.
What skills does a journalist need most?
Why ask it
Writing is the answer people expect, and reporters often put other things ahead of it: curiosity, persistence, care with names and numbers, the nerve to call a stranger. Ask which one they had to learn the hard way.
Do you need a journalism degree to do this job?
Why ask it
Routes in differ by country and by outlet, and working journalists disagree about this, so treat the answer as one person's view. A more concrete version is how the last few people their newsroom hired got in, and whether what they studied themselves is any use to them now.
How did you get your first job in journalism?
Why ask it
The route often involves some luck, an unpaid stint, a small outlet or a contact, and hearing it told plainly is more use than a tidy career summary. Ask whether the same door would still be open to someone starting now.
If you were entering journalism today, where would you try to get your first job?
Why ask it
A sharper version of the advice question, because it makes them account for how much the entry routes have changed since they started. Be skeptical of an answer that only describes the path they happened to take.
What has been the biggest turning point in your career so far?
Why ask it
It may be one story, an editor who took a chance on them or a layoff that forced a move, and it is seldom the promotion you would guess. Find out what they were doing the year before it, since that is the stage you are more likely to be at.
Who helped your career the most, and what did they actually do?
Why ask it
The second half is the useful one. An editor who sat beside them and rewrote a piece line by line, or an older reporter who passed on a contact, describes the kind of help worth looking for in a first newsroom.
Why did you move from one newsroom to the next?
Why ask it
A career in news is rarely spent with one employer, and the reasons for each move, a bigger patch, a closure, an editor they wanted to work for, show how people get on in it. Someone who has stayed at one outlet for years has a different story, so ask what kept them.
Has it helped your career more to specialize in one subject or to cover whatever came up?
Why ask it
There is a case for each. A specialist can become the person editors call about courts or health, while a generalist is easier to move when a desk is cut, and which of those has counted for more depends on where they work.
Have you worked freelance, and how does it compare with a staff job?
Why ask it
Freelancing changes what the work is: pitching every piece, chasing payment, no desk to check your copy. Rates and contracts vary a great deal by country and outlet, so ask how it works in their market and what they settle before taking a commission.
Can you make a living as a journalist?
Why ask it
A fair thing to ask politely, and students often leave it out. Pay and job security vary widely by country, by outlet and between staff and freelance work, so ask about their own market in general terms, not their salary, and whether the people they started out with are still in the field.
Have you ever thought about leaving journalism?
Why ask it
Put it gently, and only once the conversation has warmed up. People who weighed a move into communications or teaching and stayed can usually say exactly what they would have missed, which tells you more about the work than a list of its rewards.
What would you like to be doing five years from now?
Why ask it
Reporting has no single ladder. The answer might be editing, longer pieces, a book, a different medium or the same beat done better, and each is a picture of where a career like theirs can go.
What advice would you give someone who wants to be a journalist?
Why ask it
Asked cold, it tends to produce the suggestion to read a lot and write a lot. Give them something to work with first, your age, what you have written, what you would like to cover, and ask what they would do in your place over the next six months.
What do you look for in a student's or an intern's work?
Why ask it
Working journalists are often the ones reading clips from applicants and interns. Listen for specifics: a clear first paragraph, evidence that someone was called, names spelled right. It beats general encouragement because you can act on it this week.
What of yours should I read to understand how you work?
Why ask it
A good closing question. The piece they choose is often not their most read one, and reading it before you follow up gives you a specific reason to be in touch again.
Talking With a Working Journalist
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before and during the conversation
- Read three or four of their recent pieces and mention one specifically. Reporters notice when someone has, and your questions will be better for it.
- Ask for twenty minutes and end at twenty. Deadlines are real, and keeping to the time you asked for makes a second conversation easier to request.
- Take the answers as reporting practice rather than opinion. You will learn more from how they verified something than from what they think about it.
- Send one short thank-you note that mentions something specific, such as the piece of theirs you read afterward.
Picking from a long list
A class visit or career day
Open with why they became a journalist and what a day looks like, then spend most of the time in Interviewing and in Facts and sources, where the answers are methods students can try the same day. Close with what they wish readers understood about how news is made.
An informational interview about their career
Twenty minutes is about six or seven questions. Start with this week's story, pick three from the group closest to the job you want, and hold two from The job and career for the end: how they got their first job, and what they would do in your place.
Questions to ask a reporter from television or radio
Nearly all of the list applies to someone who reports on air. Add the two at the end of Stories, on how the work differs from print and what a live report is like, and ask how long their pieces usually run and who decides that.
Moderating a panel
Choose the questions where reporters differ: who they picture reading, unnamed sources, showing quotes before publication, AI tools. Put the same question to each panelist and let them disagree.
Interviewing a journalist for a school paper or podcast
Ask for stories, not summaries: the correction, the story that never ran, the question they would take back. Record only with permission, and check the spelling of every name before you leave.
The questions journalists ask
- The basics are six words: who, what, when, where, why and how. Journalism classes commonly teach students to check that a story answers each one, and why and how usually take the longest.
- "How do you know that?" separates what a person saw from what they heard secondhand. It sits behind most of the Facts and sources group.
- "Can you give me an example?" turns a general claim into a scene, a date or a number that can be checked.
- "Who else should I talk to?" and "Is there a document that shows this?" lead to the next source.
- "What did I not ask that I should have?" is a common closer. Try it at the end of your own conversation.
- Short, open questions asked one at a time tend to get fuller answers than long ones with the answer built in. The Interviewing group asks reporters how they learned that.
If a journalist is the one calling you
- Ask what the story is about, what their deadline is, and whether you are being quoted by name before you say anything substantive.
- Settle the terms first. Many reporters treat on the record, on background and off the record as something agreed in advance, not applied afterward to what you already said. The terms mean different things to different people, so ask what each one means to them.
- Ask what they already have. It helps you judge whether the story is likely to run with or without you.
- You can ask them to read a technical quote back for accuracy. A request to approve the whole story will usually be declined.
Common pitfalls
Asking for their personal politics
Many reporters will not answer, and the question treats them as a commentator. Asking how they handle their own views in coverage gets you further.
Turning it into a pitch
If you want them to cover something, say so at the start in one sentence and let them decide. Spending the conversation working around to it wastes the part they agreed to.
Asking how to break in, and nothing else
It is a question they hear constantly, and a general answer is hard to act on. Ask about their own decisions and the practical advice tends to arrive on its own.
Pressing for names they have protected
Source protection is not coyness. Take the first refusal as final and move on.