Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Newswriting Assignments
Chapter 6: Interviewing
Assignment 1: Fresh Air … with Bill O’Reilly
In October 2003, NPR’s Terry Gross, longtime host of NPR’s Fresh Air, aired an interview with populist Fox News
talk show host Bill O’Reilly.
The interview was scheduled to coincide with the publication of O’Reilly’s book, “Who’s Looking Out For You?”
which claims that America is in the midst of what O’Reilly calls a “cultural war between left and right.”
O’Reilly walked out of the interview because he said he found Gross’ line of questioning objectionable and hostile
and “full of typical NPR liberal bias.” He said NPR was unfair to him although it had given left-leaning author Sen. Al
Franken a pass when his book came out.
Assignment 2: Man on the street
Description of Assignment: Journalists often need to talk to officials, whether they are police at a crime scene, the
mayor’s chief of staff, or the CEO of a hospital. These sources are accustomed to dealing with the press and are
always ready for questions because their jobs are so public. Less frequent in news stories are the voices of “real
people.” Journalists call them “RPs.” These are the private individuals who make up most of the world, who interact
with journalists mainly as consumers. What do these people see, think and feel? The more a journalist incorporates
the lives of real people, the richer their stories will be.
Your job is to conduct interview three to five RPs for what reporters call a “man on the street,” or MOS.
First, come up with a juicy topic. Try to pick something that people are talking about—a controversial speaker
scheduled to come to campus, or a rash of burglaries in dorms. Then come up with the question you’ll ask.
Then get out on the street and start working. Walk up to someone who looks inviting, introduce yourself as a
student reporter and ask your question. Make sure the source lets you use their name and age. If not, move on—no
matter how much time you put into it. We don’t quote anonymous people if we don’t have to.
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing 1e
Assignment 3: Campus safety official
Description of Assignment: Perhaps no one on campus has a more important job than the campus police chief or
public safety director. While campuses aren’t usually , there can be higher incidence of underage drinking, sexual
misconduct, burglary, and vandalism. The role of a campus security officer is often to keep student safe from
themselves.
Who is your campus security chief? Your job is to write a 700-word profile, with your audience being the campus
community. So that the chief is not bombarded by individual requests, invite him to an interview either as a class,
or in a small group. Use the principles described in the text for introducing yourself and setting a time and place for
the interview.
Do your research so you don’t waste time on questions to which you could easily find the answers online.
Assignment 4: Interview the interviewer
Description of Assignment: What does it take to conduct a great interview? And what can happen when an
interview goes awry? Your assignment is to contact three professional journalists in your area and pick their