Steve Lundeberg

Last week I got an email from a Linfield College sophomore named Joanna who wanted, for a class assignment, to interview me about the story I had in last Sunday’s paper on the unsolved 1965 homicide of Holley-area resident Harvey Hamilton.

I said sure, and we arranged to meet Saturday here at the DH.

In addition to asking me about this particular story and how it came together, Joanna also asked me a number of things about journalism in general. Her questions were interesting, all on topics I’d thought about a lot over the years but hadn’t put into words for a while. Here are a few highlights of our nearly two-hour session:

Q. What are some tips you’d give for interviewing people:

A. Be nice to them. In any situation, people are apt to be more cooperative if they’re being treated pleasantly, especially in an interview situation, where if you’re not careful it can come off as an interrogation. Then they’ll get nervous and defensive and likely not be as helpful. And if you have some easier questions to ask and some harder ones, ask the easier ones first; you can maybe build up some rapport and trust as you work your way toward the harder ones. Also, I always try to consciously treat the people I interview and write about how I would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.

Q. Do you prefer to interview people in person or over the phone.

A. In person whenever possible, ideally at their home. I like to glance around at what they have on their walls, and especially what they have on their refrigerators. You can tell a lot about someone from what they have hanging up; the items give me clues about what to ask or how to ask it, or about what not to say.

Q. When you’re gathering information, how do you be sure it’s true and accurate?

A. I always assume people are telling me the truth unless they’ve given me reason to doubt them. Even so, I always try to verify what they tell me if I can, through some kind of paper record if possible. There are some people, though, who’ve I dealt with so long and never been burned by that I do simply accept what they say as the truth.

Q. What advice would you give to young people who want to go into journalism?

A. If your primary objective is making a lot of money, then don’t go into journalism. Only a few people, like Anderson Cooper, get rich in this field. Still, a lot of people make a decent living in it. If you enjoy dealing with people and learning a lot about a lot of different things, and sharing what you learn with others and really making a positive difference for them, then journalism would probably be something you’d like to do.

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