Interviewing Story Final 2

2
Laufer and SOJC Faculty release Interviewing: The Oregon Method Written by Jessica Hales It all started when Peter Laufer, who was preparing to teach his first interviewing course at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), sat down for coffee with longtime mentor and interview extraordinaire Ken Metzler for advice. Laufer, who designed his interview course around Metzler’s book Creative Interviewing, asked Metzler to sign his tattered copy. Metzler agreed to do so but not before saying, “My book is dated,” insinuating a new interview book was in dire need. Soon after their meeting, Ken Metzler unfortunately passed away. In inspiration of Metzler and his creative, timeless interviewing concepts, current University of Oregon’s James Wallace Chair, Professor Peter Laufer, and 30 faculty and friends of the UO SOJC have taken it upon themselves to create a new, updated interviewing book titled Interviewing: The Oregon Method. Laufer, serving as the book’s editor, compiles 28 chapters of interviewing analysis and instruction from SOJC professors, who are experts in their field. Each chapter is filled with years of experience focusing on interview ethics, the sanctity of quotes, sourcing via social media, studies of interviewing in the virtual world, negotiating identity and building rapport. “There is not another book like this. It is a primer for the digital age that embraces ageold lessons that make clear the crucial importance of interview skills and how to learn them,” said Laufer. Editor of the Pulitzer Prizewinning newspaper Willamette Week, Mark Zusman, raves about the contents of the book. “There is no more important skill for reporters to have than a knack for interviewing. For a very, very small number of us, it comes naturally. For the rest of us, we now have Interviewing: The Oregon Method, a crash course from a cast of experts.” While interviewing is a crucial skill for journalists, the list of professions that use interviews to conduct daytoday business is limitless. While most college students associate the word “interview” with the daunting hiring process come graduation, the reality is just about every human interaction is a form of interview. “An interview really is an entrée to the soul. Anyone interested in the art of interviewing is going to take away from this book, in entertainment and information from extraordinary expertise,” said Laufer. Editor Peter Laufer

description

Interviewing the Oregon Method

Transcript of Interviewing Story Final 2

Laufer  and  SOJC  Faculty  release  Interviewing:  The  Oregon  Method  Written  by  Jessica  Hales  

 It  all  started  when  Peter  Laufer,  who  was  preparing  to  teach  his  first  interviewing  course  at  the  University  of  Oregon’s  School  of  Journalism  and  Communication  (SOJC),  sat  down  for  coffee  with  long-­‐time  mentor  and  interview  extraordinaire  Ken  Metzler  for  advice.  Laufer,  who  designed  his  interview  course  around  Metzler’s  book  Creative  Interviewing,  asked  Metzler  to  sign  his  tattered  copy.  Metzler  agreed  to  do  so  but  not  before  saying,  “My  book  is  dated,”  insinuating  a  new  interview  book  was  in  dire  need.  Soon  after  their  meeting,  Ken  Metzler  unfortunately  passed  away.      In  inspiration  of  Metzler  and  his  creative,  timeless  interviewing  concepts,  current  University  of  Oregon’s  James  Wallace  Chair,  Professor  Peter  Laufer,  and  30  faculty  and  friends  of  the  UO  SOJC  have  taken  it  upon  themselves  to  create  a  new,  updated  interviewing  book  titled  Interviewing:  The  Oregon  Method.      

Laufer,  serving  as  the  book’s  editor,  compiles  28  chapters  of  interviewing  analysis  and  instruction  from  SOJC  professors,  who  are  experts  in  their  field.  Each  chapter  is  filled  with  years  of  experience  focusing  on  interview  ethics,  the  sanctity  of  quotes,  sourcing  via  social  media,  studies  of  interviewing  in  the  virtual  world,  negotiating  identity  and  building  rapport.    

 “There  is  not  another  book  like  this.  It  is  a  primer  for  the  

digital  age  that  embraces  age-­‐old  lessons  that  make  clear  the  crucial  importance  of  interview  skills  and  how  to  learn  them,”  said  Laufer.    Editor  of  the  Pulitzer  Prize-­‐winning  newspaper  

Willamette  Week,  Mark  Zusman,  raves  about  the  contents  of  the  book.  “There  is  no  more  important  skill  for  reporters  to  have  than  a  knack  for  

interviewing.  For  a  very,  very  small  number  of  us,  it  comes  naturally.  For  the  rest  of  us,  we  now  have  Interviewing:  The  Oregon  Method,  a  crash  course  from  a  cast  of  experts.”      While  interviewing  is  a  crucial  skill  for  journalists,  the  list  of  professions  that  use  interviews  to  conduct  day-­‐to-­‐day  business  is  limitless.  While  most  college  students  associate  the  word  “interview”  with  the  daunting  hiring  process  come  graduation,  the  reality  is  just  about  every  human  interaction  is  a  form  of  interview.      “An  interview  really  is  an  entrée  to  the  soul.  Anyone  interested  in  the  art  of  interviewing  is  going  to  take  away  from  this  book,  in  entertainment  and  information  from  extraordinary  expertise,”  said  Laufer.      

Editor  Peter  Laufer  

 All  the  book’s  contributors  worked  pro  bono.  All  proceeds  will  go  toward  providing  scholarships  for  students  particularly  interested  in  studying  interviewing  at  the  UO  SOJC  in  future  years.      Contributors  include  Pulitzer  Prize-­‐winning  reporter  and  UO  Professor,  Alex  Tizon,  retired  Seattle  Times  executive  editor  and  UO  alumnus,  Mike  Fancher,  former  managing  editor  of  The  Oregonian,  Jack  Hart,  and  former  dean  of  the  UO  SOJC,  Tim  Gleason,  just  to  name  a  few.      The  book  can  be  purchased  through  Amazon,  Barnes  &  Noble,  or  the  Oregon  State  University  Press.