Craft
Technique and method
Practical writing on question construction, listening, silence, and the physical logistics of recording. Grounded in specific scenarios rather than general advice.
For working journalists and students in training
News and information portal — journalism interviewing
The craft
The craft
of asking
the right
question
Wegamiu is an editorial space dedicated to the techniques, ethics, and decisions that shape every interview — from first contact to final transcript.
Publishing since 2018
Latest pieces
All articles →
Journalism Skills
Stop Treating Every Interview Like a Conversation You Already Know How to Have
Journalism interviewing looks easy until you sit across from someone and realise you have no idea what you are actually doing. Here is what went wrong in my first few attempts.
Journalism Skills
Talking Too Much During an Interview Is a Beginner Mistake That Costs You the Story
If you are filling silence in your interviews, you are probably losing the best material your subject would have given you. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Journalism Skills
Assuming You Already Understand the Subject Before the Interview Starts
Going into an interview convinced you know the story is one of the fastest ways to miss it entirely. This is what that assumption cost me on a story I thought was straightforward.
Threads running through the archive
Journalism interviewing sits at the intersection of several other disciplines. These are the adjacent areas that appear most often in the writing here — each one shapes how interviews are prepared, conducted, and understood.
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Source development
How journalists build and maintain relationships with people before an interview request is ever made. Trust takes months; a single conversation can end it.
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Editorial ethics
The decisions that happen after the recorder stops — what to include, what to cut, and when a subject's request to revise crosses a line.
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Verification practice
Checking claims made during interviews against documents, records, and other sources. The interview is a starting point, not a final authority.
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Narrative structure
How the shape of a story influences which questions get asked and in what order. Structure is not neutral — it determines what gets heard.
Pieces readers return to
These are the articles that get shared in newsroom Slack channels and linked in journalism school syllabuses. Not necessarily the newest — just the ones that held up.
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When the subject controls the room
A close reading of how experienced interview subjects redirect questions, and the specific techniques journalists use to recover without creating confrontation.
Off the record — what the phrase actually means
Different news organisations apply different standards. This piece maps those differences and explains why agreeing on terms before the conversation starts matters more than most journalists admit.
Preparing for someone who will not cooperate
Research methods, document analysis, and interview strategy for subjects who have declined to comment or have a history of giving non-answers to direct questions.
Distinct areas of the archive
Each section of the site has its own register and depth. Some are practical and tool-focused; others are more analytical. Knowing which one you need helps you find what you are looking for faster.
Analysis
Industry and standards
Critical reading of how major publications handle interviewing conventions — from attribution policies to the use of composite quotes in long-form work.
For editors and journalism educators
Opinion
Contested ground
Arguments about where the boundaries of the interview form should sit — and where they currently sit in practice. These pieces take a position and defend it.
For readers who want a point of view, not a summaryHow the archive has developed
The site started in 2018 with a narrow focus on question technique. Over time, the coverage expanded outward — first into preparation and research, then into ethics and editorial decision-making, and more recently into the structural pressures that shape how interviews get commissioned and published.
The areas that have received the most sustained attention are source relationships and accountability interviewing. Both remain active and continue to attract the most correspondence from readers working in news.
Browse the full archive
Source relationships Most developed
Accountability interviewing Very active
Ethics and attribution Growing
Question construction Foundational
Narrative structure Emerging
Pieces that deserve a second look
Some articles get less traffic than they should — usually because they were published at the wrong moment or cover a topic that is not immediately searchable. These three are worth the time regardless of how you arrived here.
The documents your subject does not expect you to have
Most interview preparation focuses on background reading. This piece focuses on public records, filings, and archived material that subjects rarely anticipate — and how to use them without turning the conversation adversarial.
Read this piece →What experienced interviewers do differently with silence
Silence is not absence — it is information. This article looks at how skilled interviewers use pauses, incomplete sentences, and deliberate non-responses to draw out material that direct questions would have closed off.
Read this piece →When the interview becomes the story
There are situations where the journalist's conduct during an interview is itself newsworthy. This piece examines several documented cases and asks what standards should apply when the process becomes part of the record.
Read this piece →
About wegamiu
One site, one subject, taken seriously
Wegamiu exists because journalism interviewing is treated as a peripheral skill in most discussions of the craft — something you pick up on the job rather than study deliberately. This site treats it as a subject in its own right, with as much depth as any other area of journalistic practice.
The writing here is opinion-driven. It takes positions. It disagrees with received wisdom when the evidence supports doing so. As a news and information portal focused specifically on interview craft, it is not trying to cover everything — only what is genuinely worth examining.
Fionnuala Creagh
Lead writer & editor
Go deeper
Where to start if you just arrived
The blog has the full archive. The about page explains the editorial position in more detail. Either is a reasonable next step.
Questions or correspondence: [email protected]