Open, closed, direct and indirect questions. Informative, investigative, interpretative, portrait, analysis interview.Face-to-face or written interview. These and many other new things were successfully learned by the students of the School of Advanced Journalism during the course focused on the interview. Students worked along and together with trainer and journalist Vitalie Dogaru.

The course lasted four days and mainly focused on practical exercise. SAJ students simulated several interviews. Some acted as the journalist, the others – as the interlocutor. Vitalie Dogaru drew the students’ attention to the fact that before doing fieldwork and discussing with an interviewee, the journalist must know that person and the topic that they are to discuss. “Do your research. Carefully collect materials on the issue or topic that you intend to write about, and on the person you are to interview. Have a plan of questions ready at all times,” the trainer said.

During the course, students learned how a journalist should introduce themselves at an interview. They also spoke about a journalist’s behavior and about the relation that should exist between the journalist and the interviewee. “Don’t interview your relatives, friends and parents,” Vitalie Dogaru suggested. Special attention was given to the writing and editing of an interview. The trainer said that today, in the era of modern technology, journalists use different ways to record an interview, such as voice recorders or newest telephones. However, before editing the interview, the journalist should carefully decipher the material recorded. “The source must be quoted accurately, without grammar mistakes,” Vitalie Dogaru underlined.

According to SAJ students, this course, for which they had to do two practical tasks, totally changed their opinion about interviews, which some of them considered the easiest journalistic genre. “The most difficult thing was to choose the angle of approach and to focus on the topic,” said student Liliana Chisari. Her colleague Cristina Papusoi believes that this course helped her understand how to correctly ask uncomfortable questions and how to “provoke” an interlocutor to discussion.