REVIEW: Noted: Old hands advise the new

Abstract

Review of: Interviewing: A guide for journalists and writers, by Gail Sedorkin (2nd edition). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2011, 206 pp. ISBN 978-174237094.

The best journalists are invariably good interviewers, whether they are interrogating a Cabinet minister or getting a shy refugee to open up about her struggle to find work. Excellence in interviewing comes with experience. So when the visiting scientist lapses into technical jargon at his press conference, it’s usually the most experienced journalist in the room who asks ‘the dumb question’.