Creating Fear by David L. Altheide

Author:David L. Altheide [Altheide, David L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780202306605
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 2002-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

Interviewing as A Cultural Phenomenon

Interviews are everywhere in postindustrial society. Interviews are seen and heard throughout popular culture. As suggested, popular culture changed interviewing from a method of data gathering to an evocative presentation of another story. Compromised veracity accompanied this shift. Whereas the questions asked always had implications and the face-to-face situation carried nuances which might inform the exchange, the impact of the situation and the occasion of the interview itself made things different.

Another significant change that has governed the use of interviews by journalists is that the compelling context of commercialism has contributed to the blurring of distinctions between journalist and entertainer. Interviewing has multiple meanings in popular culture, but that is not as clear when someone is doing what looks like an interview but it is really for promotional purposes. More is involved than merely whether the subject matter is serious or not serious. The issue concerns what happens to the interview when it works both (or all) sides of the street, so to speak. This opens up the big issue about the nature of the interview itself and suggests that, in popular culture, the interview is several things. While interviewing is merely a vehicle for other purposes, it is so ingrained in our culture as a framework (Atkinson and Silverman 1997) for acquiring information that I argue it has contributed to the expansion of popular culture and has lent its credibility as an information vehicle to transforming news and blending other programs.

In earlier periods, participants and audiences differed in their experience and expectations of interviews compared with the contemporary electronic scene. Most of the people interviewed in a primarily print-oriented culture might never have been interviewed previously and certainly had not experienced a lot of interview presentations except for perhaps something read in a newspaper. In the current age, it is much different. The question and answer format, with a clear purpose of being read or heard by others, is familiar in everyday life, and most people today are aware of the utilitarian side of interviews. In earlier days, newspaper audiences differed from television news viewers. The former’s base of experience for reading and understanding news reports was everyday life and other newspaper experiences. TV audiences see many interviews on the news, magazine shows—where “stars interview stars”—as well as entertainment programs and movies.

The meaning of interviews changed as more people acquired a broader understanding of how they were changing. They grasped not only the utility involved (e.g., will I get the job?), but also the significance of power and identity as well. The person asking the questions is acting from a position of power, even if he or she is employed by another for this purpose. As more people became aware of interview procedures and the way that answers could be edited, interviewees began to add an “editing” perspective to answers, especially when interviews were conducted by journalists. Framing of answers, considering different interpretations, avoiding strong adjectives or naming specific times and places became the hallmark of this new awareness.

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