Ress gives advice to student journalists

Dave Ress, an investigative reporter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, gave interviewing advice to a class of student journalists on Thursday afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The most important thing when interviewing, Ress said, is to keep a conversation going.

“It’s possible to be too fussily precise and too constrained and you’re not going to find out a whole lot,” he said.

He said that it’s important to put the person at ease because too often people become wary or nervous while being interviewed.

“Don’t let either the notepad or the tape recorder get in the way of the conversation,” Ress said.

Ress said it’s also important to be completely up-front and honest without trying to hide why information is being sought.

“It’s not like you’re going to sneak up on anyone – you’re a reporter,” he said.

Not only is it necessary to be honest about being a reporter, but also about what information is needed, Ress said. He advised that students be careful of using certain terms.

“There’s a lot of games people play, a lot of words people use,” he said, especially in Washington. Ress said reporters must know when and how to use phrases such as “on the record” and “off the record,” and how they are different from “background.”

If a source wants to remain off the record, be honest about whether that will be allowed or not, Ress said. He said reporters must know when a source may remain anonymous and when he may not.

To avoid any problems that a source might have with any of these issues, Ress said reporters must have the ground rules laid out with their sources before the interview.

Reporters should not be jerks, Ress said, but polite to their sources. He said there is nothing wrong with having emotions.

“It’s perfectly legitimate to empathize with someone you’re interviewing,” Ress said. “It’s perfectly legitimate to walk out of there saying, ‘How do I feel about that?’”

Ress advised students not to let their emotions get in the way of good reporting. If a reporter finds that he is growing too close to a source to write objectively, he should consider whether to keep doing that beat. He must confront the issue with a clear mind.

Reporters also should not allow their nervousness to influence their reporting, Ress said. He said it’s normal to feel nervous and intimidated, but the only way to deal with it is just to do the job anyway and eventually reporters will learn how to handle it.

“If you examine what you do honestly and often enough, you’re going to know your strengths and weaknesses,” Ress said.

Reporters need to be aware of what is a good story and what is not.

“I get tips sometimes. I get suspicions sometimes. I get an itch under my skin sometimes,” Ress said about his story ideas. “Sometimes you just get lucky. Stuff just kind of happens.”

Whenever working on a story, Ress said, it’s important to get to the heart of the issue and not to focus too hard on getting that one good quote.

“Think about what you do. Don’t go out there just to grab a quote. Go out there to talk to people.”