By Nick Raistrick, BBC WST Journalism Training Editor
When I used to interview football managers on a regular basis there was always a fine line between:
1) Asking the dull questions the manager wanted you to ask but boring your readers.
2) Asking the controversial questions your listeners wanted to hear, but which would get you barred from the ground by the irate coach.
In some developing and transitional countries there’s a similar problem when reporting politics and interviewing politicians – except it’s much, much worse.
Of course there’s the threat of being excluded from future press conferences and interviews, and therefore losing your job. And there’s sometimes the threat of closure, physical violence or imprisonment.
Even where a journalist feels safe, it could be that the local important politician [or ‘big man’] dominates proceedings; leaders are often important, articulate and sometimes threatening people.
It all makes interviewing authority figures very difficult.
So how can you make sure politicians don’t dominate your interview or discussion/call-in show?
Hopefully this quick guide will be useful. It’s based on experiences in East Africa but, hopefully, will be relevant elsewhere. If it isn’t, or you disagree with any of my ideas, please contribute to the conversation by leaving a comment.
