Governor Smith is going to saw all his own wood this winter. He believes that bending over the sawbuck and cutting cord wood into stove lengths will put him into prime condition for “sawing wood” officially. (Interview follows.)
It must not be understood that the foregoing examples are set forms for interviews. They are given merely to suggest the several ways in which the writer can begin his story.
The interview may be in itself either a plain news story or a feature story. It may take the form of a considered statement or it may be informal in character. Some men give out typewritten statements of their views when asked for an interview, while others talk freely, putting the reporter on his honor to be fair and accurate in his quotation. The question of presenting the speaker’s remarks most effectively from the news standpoint is then left entirely to the writer’s discretion. He is not expected to quote slavishly. Indeed, few men would like to have their conversation appear in print verbatim, with the defects to which the best spoken language is liable. Unless the interview is printed for no other purpose than to poke fun at the speaker, as might be done with the remarks of an ignorant and disreputable politician, the writer should strive to convey the spirit of what is said rather than the exact words. Now and then a characteristic phrase or sentence may be quoted verbatim--and this is desirable in order to give a flavor of the speaker’s individuality--but the faults of ordinary speech, verbosity, awkwardness and the like, should not be reproduced. True accuracy leaves a correct impression of the whole. An interview rightly written, telling the speaker’s meaning in simple, clear English seasoned with phrases that give a hint of his personality, is more accurate in this sense than a phonographic record of the conversation.
It follows that the speaker’s remarks need not be set down in the order in which they were made. Possibly the last thing he said may be put in the lead. Part of the interview may be in indirect quotation, summarizing statements of minor importance. The reporter may introduce explanatory sentences, especially if the interview is long and deals with more than one subject. He may break into the discourse to tell of the speaker’s gesture at a certain point or to describe a facial expression--anything that will give the reader a vivid and true picture of the man interviewed.