I was speaking to a classroom full of journalism students a few years back when one of them asked, “How do you decide whom to interview?”
At first, I just thought this question was another example of how far our J-schools have fallen in recent years as instructors have moved students away from serious long-form journalism in favor of navel-gazing blogs and 200-word pieces of content (not to be confused with news) suitable only for website chum.
But then I thought about it. It was actually a really good question that struck right at the heart of what I was hoping to convey to that room full of young journalists that day.
There was, of course, the obvious answer: It depends on what you are writing about, what information you’re seeking and who has that information.
But there is another, better, answer as well: You should interview people who have a story that needs to be told.
I have a long-held personal tenet that has guided my creative life for better than 30 years. I believe it’s impossible to walk into any truck stop in America and find a waitress, cook or dish washer whose life story would not make a noteworthy novel.
The world does not lack in interesting people. The world lacks inquisitive listeners who can coax out the importance of a life no matter the shell that holds it.
Every place has its share of interesting stories and worthy subjects, but I suspect that Boulder County might just have more than its share. Here at Boulder Weekly we’re pretty sure that’s true because we get to meet and listen to and interview hundreds of interesting characters from these parts every year. And we’ve been doing that for 21 years — happy birthday us — and we haven’t even scratched the surface. So we decided to do something about it. We decided to go out and interview some of the interesting people who live here. You’ll recognize the names of some of these people, others you won’t. You’ll like some of them, some of them… maybe not so much. Either way, we think you will find them to be interesting subjects and agree with us that each of them has a story worth telling.
—Joel Dyer, editor
Link to 1st Story Worth Telling
