Should You Tell Reporters What Questions to Ask?

The first time I ever received a list of suggested questions for me to ask during an interview for a story I was working on, I was completely floored.

I didn't want to be cocky, but...I'm a reporter. A bona fide journalist completely capable of forming my own questions and any suggestion to the contrary was quite frankly, a bit insulting. Especially because the questions weren't even that earth-shattering -- it was stuff like, "How did we get started?" Because I would have never thought to ask such a thing if left to my own devices.

I decided to play it cool, thanked the person and stuck the list of questions in the back of my notebook as I proceeded to ask my own questions. I'm sure that these questions -- which can range from about five to 10 inquiries on a neatly typed sheet of paper -- are not meant to raise the hackles of journalists. But I assure you, they do.

There may indeed be things about your story that you want to get across to a reporter, which is certainly well within your right. However, don't tell a reporter what to ask you. That's about the same as someone coming to your job, giving you a step-by-step list of things to do.

Instead, make your own notes about things you want to remind yourself to say. Typically, after an interview, a reporter will ask if there's anything else you want to add. If they don't, you can take control by simply saying, "Oh, and I wanted to be sure to mention..."

But you are not doing any reporter a favor by telling them how to interview you. In fact, by doing so, you may be starting off completely wrong.

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc.  Her background is in print journalism and she has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette advises nonprofits and small businesses on how they can get media attention for their programs and efforts. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.