3 reasons to avoid email interviews
Reporters and bloggers commonly conduct interviews via email. The author says it’s a practice you should avoid.
Many media requests listed on HARO (Help a Reporter Out) stipulate interviews will be conducted via email. It seems a growing number of people skip the human element of exchanging pleasantries and instead hide behind their keyboards.
For me, it’s simple. I prefer to talk rather than type.
RELATED: Is the phone interview dead?
Sure, in our busy worlds, there’s a certain convenience to receiving information electronically. But email interviews lack a critical communication dynamic that’s present when a reporter takes the time to speak with a source.
Without dialogue, the art of give-and-take doesn’t exist at a deep level.
Nudging our curiosity
Curiosity plays an important role in the interview process. Even if 10 rounds of emails are traded, the content will never match that of a human conversation, because email deprives a reporter or blogger of the opportunity to spark their own curiosity and possibly uncover new insights and content.
Nudging our curiosity is essential in developing content and learning new things. Curiosity and education go hand-in-hand.
Email interviews detract from the fundamental news-gathering process because they:
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