“How can I do a better job asking tough questions?” is a frequent question MMJs ask.  You might, too, especially if you want people to like you and appreciate your dedication to learn more.

In this two minute learning video, you’ll hear a tough question that took alot of nerve to ask, then see it again with my comments at the bottom of the screen, followed by a checklist you can use.

I could have certainly selected a more current example, but this one showed extraordinary courage. Odds are your next questions won’t put your life at risk, so you should find it easier.

Poliish up your interview, reporting, writing, and photography skills by watching other short videos under Recent Posts to the right.

Developing the “courage” to ask hard questions is a huge hurtle for any reporter.  I empathize with reporters who have problems asking hard questions because I know how difficult it was for me to ask hard questions of witnesses when I began practicing law – especially witnesses with whom I empathized or I thought were good people.  (Many of them did not look like “good people” when I finished asking them questions though.  They looked dishonest.)

Bob made these points in the video but they deserve extra emphasis.  There are, no doubt, a number of paths to courage.  The simplest are (they are simple to say but not to put into practice),

1. Understanding it is your job to ask hard questions because viewers rely on you.  When I see a story that could be revealing and would shine light on misconduct or incompetence turned into a less than probing piece of journalism, I am appalled.  (See the wild horse story this weekend – Summary, the wild horse advocates say they have “ideas” and the BLM says, “They are all ears.” – Horse plucky!)

2. Understand we are giving interviewees an opportunity to tell their story so the public will understand the difficult issues they deal with.  Barbara Walters asked First Lady, Betty Ford about her “slurred” speech amidst rumors of drug and alcohol use.  (Barbara was pilloried for being disrespectful to the First Lady.)  Betty said she was glad for the question because it gave her an opportunity to explain why she had slurred speech and the rumors were not true.  (Of course, Betty Ford did not tell the truth.)  I am sure the BLM wants to explain to Nevadans it did nothing wrong in the mustang roundup which resulted in the death of at least 39 horses and 20-30 mares having miscarriages – it must have been an act of god. (Sarcasm here)

3. Practice.  It takes practice to develop the skills to confront people on difficult issues.  One must practice continually.  We are raised to believe that being frank and honest in questioning others in polite society is unacceptable and rude (it is).  We all want to be nice so we will be liked.  One must choose between being a good reporter (or good lawyer) and being liked.  If one wants to be good, one must be brutally honest and occasionally confrontational.  That often means good reporters will not be liked, if they do the job expected of them – at least by the interviewee.  The News Director will have a different opinion.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 5:35 pm and is filed under broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.