| As my work has changed from “journalism” to “storytelling,” I am interviewing fewer politicians, business people and celebrities. And I am seeking out more of what I would call “stakeholders.”
These are people who are directly impacted by the issues I am covering. They’re the Black woman who was harassed by a white woman at a pool. They’re the survivor of a brutal sexual assault. Or the parent of a child who died by suicide.
These people are not in a position of power over me. In fact, in many of these circumstances, I’m the one holding all the power.
But should I be?
Is it right for me to strictly uphold the “rules” when I’m interviewing someone from a marginalized community who has little to no experience with being interviewed?
Is it ethical for me to tell a grieving parent or a sexual assault survivor or a whistleblower that I hold all the control over how their story is told?
Is it fair that I stand to benefit financially, when my stakeholders – who have sometimes been through something very traumatic – do not?
And most importantly…where is the list of rules that describe what I owe to the people who share their story with me?
So..I had a thought. Let’s make a list. I’m gonna get us started. But I’m hoping you will share your ideas with me, and together we will come up with something even better.
Rule 1: I will listen to your concerns and give you the time you need to feel comfortable.
Look. We’re all busy. I have deadlines. You have deadlines.
But part of the problem here is that we helicopter into these stories, and immediately start barreling towards the juicy center.
We don’t take the time to get to know our interview subjects as people first. We don’t take the time to answer all of their questions and make them feel comfortable.
(And, yes, I’m being very general here. Because I know that plenty of us DO take the time to do these things. But not everyone. And that’s a problem.)
I’m one of those people who wants to get the tape rolling ASAP, so that I don’t miss anything good.
But I force myself to slow down – either at the beginning of an interview or during the scheduling phase – to answer questions about the interview process itself.
How long will it take? What’s my goal? What type of questions might I ask? What should the person do if they’re overwhelmed? Or if I ask a question they don’t want to answer? Or if they want to tell me something, but they’re not sure they want it to be “on the record?”
Once the tape is rolling, I’ll often give people some leeway to say the things they want to say – even if those things don’t directly relate to the story I’m working on.
I’ll listen. I’ll engage. I’ll learn new things that might actually be reflected in my reporting!
And then I’ll gently redirect the interview back to the issue at hand.
That said – and this is a VERY big caveat – boundaries are healthy for everyone.
Let’s say that again…
Boundaries are healthy for EVERYONE.
No, I will not answer the phone when you call outside of my work hours.
No, I will not let you endlessly trauma dump on me when the tape is not rolling.
No, I will not serve as your therapist, or your legal advisor, or your doctor, or your accountant.
Crossing those lines are not just bad for me, they’re also bad for the person I am interviewing. So I will hold those boundaries.
Rule 2: I will be fair, which means you might not always like what I have to say.
Someone recently asked me how I make sure that I’m describing people the way they’d describe themselves.
And the answer is, I don’t.
I describe people the way I see them. And then I make clear that this is my perspective. Someone else might have a different one.
It gets even trickier when trying to decide what tape to use and what tape to leave behind.
We always have a choice. We can use someone’s strongest tape. Or we can use the tape that makes them sound like a fool.
It’s a lot of power. And, if you’re a fan of Spider-Man, you know…with great power comes great responsibility.
I’m reminded of a story I did, where one side was convinced that the thing the other side was doing was illegal.
That was really important to them. They told me again and again, “This is illegal. It should not be allowed to happen.”
I looked into it. I did my research. Talked to some experts. And in fact, the thing in question was not illegal.
Despicable? Yes. Immoral? Maybe. Illegal? No.
So, I had a choice. I could either let them go on and on about how this thing is illegal – only to debunk that notion later.
Or I could write narration that said something like, “Now you might think this is illegal, but I checked – and it’s not.” And then move on to more compelling arguments.
I bet you already know which one I chose.
Rule 3: I will not ask you for an exclusive, unless I’m offering you something in return.
Oh, this is going to be a controversial one, but I’m gonna do it anyway!
There is a thing that’s happening in storytelling right now, especially in the true crime and true crime adjacent sphere. Podcast producers and documentary filmmakers are approaching people and saying things like, “I want to put you in my podcast and/or documentary film, but you can only participate if you sign this exclusive agreement.”
Generally, those agreements prohibit that person from talking publicly about their story to anyone else. And the terms can last anywhere from a year to … life.
(Yes, I’ve seen one that actually never expires.)
The people who sign these agreements often don’t really understand what they’re signing. And they certainly don’t understand that they’re giving away something of value in exchange for absolutely nothing.
I get it. Exclusive agreements are sometimes necessary. I can’t ask a funder to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a project that’s built around an “exclusive” interview, if the interview is not actually exclusive.
But if someone is central enough to the story to require that their interview be exclusive, they’re also central enough to the story to receive a piece of the proceeds – should that story turn into a book, a TV show, or a movie.
So, yeah. They’re important enough to get PAID.
There...I said it!
And I gotta say, I feel okay about it. |
