Journalists interviewing elite athletes

Dumb answers or bad questions

Bibliographic Data

ID12928393
AuthorsViivika Eljand-Kärp (0000-0002-6907-920X, University of Tartu, corresponding author), Halliki Harro-Loit (0000-0002-7375-5063, University of Tartu)
Year2020
Volume12
Issue1
Pages79-97
Publication date2020-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCatalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-1898 • E-ISSN: 1757-1901
PublisherIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/cjcs_00015_1
OpenAlexW3026241146
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

Broadcasting journalists use short, ad hoc interviews for newsworthy events. Because these interviews typically last for just a few minutes, it is a challenge for both journalist and interviewee to address the audience. This study explores journalistic questioning techniques in sixteen live broadcast interviews with athletes carried out by Estonian journalists during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games plus a few examples from sports interviews collected from the Spanish, Italian, Finnish, German and American television. Analysis shows the questioning technique of journalists does not help interviewees to provide well-focused and interesting explanations. The main problems are related to the scope of the questions, blurred focus and the journalists’ inability to use listening-based questioning. As a result of the analysis, we propose a universal model that would help journalists in any field (not just sports journalism) to carry out better ad hoc questioning

Active listening · Advertising · Athletes · Broadcasting (networking · Elite · Estonian · German · Interview · Journalism · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scope (computer science · Sociology · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Computer Science · History · Law · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Sports, Gender, and Society

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