Tips for Good Interviews

When formatting interview questions, be careful to type the way you would in informal communication. There should be no “LOLs” "I dunnos," but it should still read like a conversation. You need an artful balance.

Interview questions should be more open-ended.  Yes/no questions will not get you far, and you will not be able to get the most out of your time with your interview subject. That said, do research on the person/company ahead of time so you do not ask questions you easily could have gotten the answer to yourself. Never make the interviewee feel as if they are wasting their time talking to you.  Follow-up questions and clarifying questions are always a good idea.

Example of a good interview question: “Rachel, how did you get your start in magazine reporting?”

Good follow up/clarifying questions might include: “So, do you think your internship experiences or your college class work was more influential in getting your first job?”; “How did you go about actually finding that job?”; “Are there other helpful resources you would suggest for students who want to do more public writing?”

Except for certain situations (like investigative reporting, for example, which we aren’t dealing with in this class) make sure to not ever directly criticize yourself and definitely do not criticize the person you are interviewing.  These are informative interviews, aimed to help you!

Speak clearly. HOLD EYE CONTACT—this is a way to show respect, and that you value your interviewee’s time. Do not fidget. 

Meet Meredith!- In-class Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT YPULSE

Ypulse Media has developed a unique platform for youth media and marketing professionals, producing an award-winning blog (Ypulse.com), a popular email newsletter (Ypulse Daily Update), a series of informative web-based briefing sessions and the annual Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup Conference.

Driven by an editorial staff who are passionate about youth culture, Ypulse Media provides independent coverage of youth marketing and media for academic, agency, brand, cause and media organizations.

Ypulse.com is one of the top 100 marketing blogs on Ad Age's Power 150 List, and has been featured in several leading publications including USA Today, Business Week, Forbes and Fast Company.

ABOUT MEREDITH SIRES, Editor-In-Chief, Ypulse.com


For Meredith, what began as a love of young adult fiction has grown into a full-fledged passion for the emerging field of new youth media. Along with her professional experience in publishing, she brings a deep, uniquely Millennial understanding of the digital landscape to the Ypulse team.

Under her editorial leadership, Ypulse.com has extensively expanded its coverage with exclusive interviews, firsthand youth perspectives and insightful commentary, among other valuable resources for youth media and marketing professionals. She has helped consult youth oriented brands and non-profits, including Best Buy, Target and DoSomething.org.

Prior to joining Ypulse, Meredith started her career as a junior associate at a New York-based book publishing consulting firm. It was there that she began researching the reading habits of teens and tweens and the potential for extending the reading experience online.

Meredith currently lives in Brooklyn, but she knows that she is a Californian at heart. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in English in 2007, and plans on returning to the Bay Area… someday.

Public Writing/Blog Workshop Activity 1

Pretend you’re Meredith, and that you’re looking for new contributors for Ypulse.com. Based on your exploration of the website, come up with a sample “call for submissions” and list of objectives (similar to the exercise we did for Commonplace) for Ypulse. Writing Analytically tools like the Method and Notice and Focus might be helpful in forming your analysis. What is important to the site, its writers, and its audience, and how can you communicate this to characterize its concerns?

Meet Katie!- Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT KATIE AMEY

Kathryn Amey is a freelance entertainment writer and editor. As a student at McGill University focusing in Political Science, Communications and Psychology, Katie began her journalistic career as a Teen Vogue health and beauty intern, where she was a regular blogger on TeenVogue.com.

While at CosmoGirl and Seventeen magazine, she gained rich experience in teen entertainment, having interviewed A-list Hollywood talent including Zac Efron, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, and Phoenix, among others. Katie has also written on pop culture, music, fashion, and film for NYLON and NYLON Guys, and for teenmag.com and redbookmag.com.

Katie currently works as an editor for the online Leacock’s Magazine, where she books and conducts the majority of their entertainment features. Katie is also an editorial assistant at Baltimore-based Girls’ Life Magazine, where she covers health, entertainment, and beauty for a tween audience.

Read the online articles from Leacock's, provided in class, as well as the printed out articles from Redbook and Leacocks. How is Katie’s writerly ethos able to adapt to these various audiences and situations? Think especially about how you might compare and contrast the rhetorical goals of these articles.

Post 1: http://www.seventeen.com/entertainment/features/zac-efron-charlie-st-cloud-interview?click=main_sr

Post 2: http://www.girlslife.com/post/2010/09/30/make-up-and-fashion-for-game-day.aspx

Meet Tammy!- Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT TAMMY TIBBETTS

Tammy Tibbetts founded She's the First, a non-profit organization that promotes the importance of educating young women in the developing world. Tammy’s inspiration for She’s the First stemmed from the girls she met on her travels to Africa. “They crave an education so badly,” Tibbets says. “They are so grateful for what little they have, and they find the courage to be the first to shape a better future for the next generation.” 



The organization encourages young women to unlock the power of their social networks and creatively fundraise, giving underprivileged girls the means to break barriers and become the "first" to achieve their goals by sending themselves to school. 



Formerly a web editor at Hearst Magazines Digital Media, Tammy led the creation of DonateMyDress.org, the first national network to bring together local dress drive organizations across the U.S. She created multi-platform, interactive web experiences for teen girls, managing partnerships with music and retail companies and local schools nationwide. She serves on the Foundation Board of New York Women in Communications, which awarded her Glamour magazine’s Ruth Whitney Scholarship when she was a journalism student at The College of New Jersey.



In 2010, Tammy was chosen as one of 50 Young Champions of Women: Inspiration and Enterprise Symposium, and one of 20 young women to be recognized alongside honorees at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.



As the founder of She’s the First, Tammy uses the immense power of social media to effect social change for women in developing countries –- most of the young women touched by She’s the First will be the first in their family to graduate. Currently, she’s creating a concert series called “Girls Who Rock” and working with a jewelry designer to create bracelets that will help further educate others on the need for change.



Tammy will be leading the Education group on ShapeWhatsToCome.com. Follow Tammy at www.shesthefirst.org and on Twitter @tammytibbetts.

Check out the links above, and read the printouts of Tammy’s blogs from the Huffington Post. Please also visit huffingtonpost.com for more information on the site. You should have an understanding of the goals of the site, and its ideal audience before your conversation with Tammy on the 17^th.

Meet Rachel!- Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT RACHEL MOUNT

Rachel Mount is an assistant editor at O, the Oprah Magazine, where she explores her favorite things: food, wine, and environmental sustainability. Previously, she was the assistant to the coolest Editor-in-Chief in the biz, Susan Schulz at CosmoGirl.

Visit the following websites (from O Magazine and Rachel’s personal blog), and read the printed out article. All of these are food writing—but how does Rachel’s style vary by medium? How do you get a sense of her ethos, persona, and interests? Do some research on these publications.

Post 1: http://www.oprah.com/food/Cooking-Tips-from-Americans-Best-Bakers/1

Post 2: http://www.bestpartoftheday.com/post/313539359/miracle-on-187th-street

Post 3: http://www.bestpartoftheday.com/post/496151485/why-i-love-polenta

Meet Devin!- Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT DEVIN TOMB

Devin Tomb is an editorial assistant at Glamour magazine and a reporter for Ed2010.com. She has interned for O, The Oprah Magazine and CosmoGirl, and her writing has been published in CosmoGirl, The Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine, The Indiana Gazette and several websites. 



As a 2010 graduate of The Pennsylvania State University with a major in journalism and a minor in French, Tomb was the editor-in-chief of Valley, Penn State's life and style magazine, from 2008 to 2010. Tomb led Valley in a ground-up redesign after its first issue, giving the magazine a sophisticated and cohesive look from cover to cover. She geared Valley toward a "student-life" approach in order to provide students with positive role models and a platform to discuss issues and trends on campus. Under Tomb's leadership, Valley has achieved significant accomplishments, including an interview with singer Taylor Swift and praise from Penn State University President Graham Spanier, who called the Fall 2009 issue "very impressive."



Tomb took Valley to a national level when she launched the Penn State branch of HerCampus.com in February 2010. The site, which averages 250,000 hits a month, features content from Valley magazine in order to recognize Penn State students in front of a nation-wide audience. Under Tomb's leadership, Her Campus Penn State won the "Best Social Media Publicity Award" in May 2010. 



Tomb was also the co-founder and president of Penn State's Ed on Campus, which is a university-based chapter of Ed2010, a networking and mentoring organization for students interested in the magazine industry. Tomb created a successful speaker series for the PSU Ed on Campus by hosting professional magazine editors at Penn State, most notably Bill Phillips, the executive editor of Men's Health, and Kim Tranell, the health editor of Seventeen. 



Read Devin’s articles from CosmoGirl, Glamour, and the McClatchy Washington Bureau. How are these articles connected in their style, or concerns? What questions do you have for Devin about how her college experience of public writing prepared her for an even larger sphere at Glamour, CosmoGirl, and O, The O Magazine? Do some research on these publications. Why might they have attracted Devin’s interest?

Meet Ashley!- Public Writing/Blog Workshop

ABOUT ASHLEY SPENCER

Ashley Spencer is an editorial assistant at J-14 Magazine, America’s top selling teen entertainment publication. She regularly conducts celebrity interviews, researches and writes fashion, beauty, and news copy, develops video content for the web, and blogs up-to-the-minute news on J14.com. Before working at J-14, Ashley honed her research and editorial skills with work experiences at both local and national organizations, including Florida’s INsite Magazine, CosmoGirl Magazine, The Orlando Sentinel, and the United States Embassy in Vienna.

Review the attached articles, and familiarize yourself with J14.com. How would you characterize the site and magazine’s audience—who is the “public” Ashley is writing for? What are the rhetorical goals of her pieces? What particular challenges might arise when writing for a teen audience?