Wikipedia:Interviews
This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: Interviews are usually a mixture of the two . Interviews may be published in reliable publications, or may be self-published or advertisements. |
Interviews highlight an interesting tension in Wikipedia policy. On the one hand,
It is okay to use interviews to source some facts. Interviews may sometimes be the best or clearest sources, especially for biographical or personal information. You will often need to treat them as primary sources, which will sometimes require
A published interview may be:
- primary or secondary,
- independent or non-independent of the subject matter, and
- reliable or unreliable for the material it is being used to support in a Wikipedia article,
Who, what, where
Anyone can be interviewed by anyone and about anything. It's helpful to figure out four things before you try to analyze whether the source is useful on Wikipedia:
- The interviewer: Is this a recognized journalist?
- The interviewee: Is this person an expert, a celebrity, a man on the street?
- The subject: Is the main subject of the interview the interviewee's own life or activities (e.g., a film critic interviews a dancer about their upcoming performance) or something else (e.g., a radio host interviews a physician about the advantages of flu shots)?
- The publication: Is this a Fresh Air with Terry Gross or The Andrew Marr Show? Is it a personal blog? Was it published by the subject or the interviewer? Is it real editorial content genuinely created by that source, or is it a sponsored advertising link that the subject purchased in order to self-publish their own press release?
For example, if a radio journalists asks a politician what his favorite works of classical music are during a radio show, then the interviewer is the journalist, the interviewee is the politician, the subject is the politician's favorite music, and the publication is the radio show. The politician's answers would be primary, non-independent, and authoritative for his own personal preferences in music, but independent of the music and the composers.
Primary or secondary?
Certain types of sources are easy to classify as primary or secondary. A newspaper article written by an eyewitness to an event represents a
The general rule is that any statements made by interviewees about themselves, their activities, or anything they are connected to is considered to have come from a primary source. Statements made by interviewees about subjects they have not personally experienced (e.g., the historian interviewed on the radio about a historical event) could be either primary or secondary, depending on whether it merely repeats what other sources say or whether it adds analysis, context, comparison, or other transformative thought to the original sources.
- Alice Expert says she was thrilled to win the Big History Prize last week: primary source for her feelings
- Alice Expert says that Localtown's name is the result of a transcription error in 1792: secondary source for history (also independent)
- Alice Expert read an excerpt from a 1793 letter from the mayor's wife during the interview: primary source for the letter's contents
- Alice Expert says she has just published a paper explaining her theory about Localtown's history: primary source for her theory
Primary sources are generally acceptable for supporting uncontroversial claims by interviewees about themselves, and they may be authoritative (e.g., for what the interviewee said during the interview).
Sometimes, publications may include a short bio or other commentary about an interviewee. That content may or may not be secondary. To be secondary, the source has to contain transformative thoughts, which an
Independence
The interviewee may or may not be independent of the subject matter. In some cases, the interviewer is also not independent. For example:
- Alice Expert talks about herself, her actions, or her ideas: non-independent source.
- Alice Expert talks about a historical event that she has no connection to: independent source.
- Alice Expert talks about the role the interviewer's beloved grandfather played in a historical event: Alice is independent of the grandfather, but the interviewer is not.
Independent sources are more generally reliable than sources that have a conflict of interest or are otherwise involved in the subject. However, non-independent sources can be the most reliable source possible, depending upon the material to be supported. An artist stating their motivation is more reliable than an independent person speculating upon it.
It's common for publications to request a short bio from an interviewee. It's common for a short bio to match one from their website or from here on Wikipedia, and for it to be republished uncritically, edited only for space. Material originally written by the subject of a Wikipedia article is not independent of that article's subject.
Reliability
Interviews are generally reliable for the fact that the interviewee said something, but not necessarily for the accuracy of what was said. The publications are merely repeating their comments, typically with minimal editing. No matter how highly respected a publication is, it does not present interviewee responses as having been checked for accuracy. In this sense, interviews should be treated like
Two steps are necessary to determine the reliability of material in an interview. First, we must determine whether the material is primary or secondary as described above, and then the reliability of the publication.
If the material is primary, then it is treated as if the interviewee had written the same content on their website or Twitter. As long as we can be reasonably certain that the material was written by them, then the
While primary-source material from interviews is treated the same as other primary-source materials, it is necessary to verify that the comments attributed to the interviewee were actually made by them. Publications with a reputation for reliability can usually be trusted to report their interviewees' words accurately and without embellishment, but there is no guarantee that other publications will do the same. For example, an interview posted on a blog could have altered the interviewee's words, or even be completely fictitious. If there is any uncertainty about whether a particular interview is a reliable and accurate depiction of what the subject said, then it should not be used and until it can be resolved.
If the material is secondary, and if it is published in a reliable publication, then it can sometimes be used to cite facts about third parties, and to cite opinions. However, care must be taken to ensure that normal editorial standards have been applied to the material (also, note
Check for clarifications and corrections
Due to the "off the cuff" nature of many oral interviews, fact-checking of the interviewee's statements is not always as rigorous as it might be if they were submitting a written reply to the same set of questions. Interviewees often say things in interviews that they later realize were inaccurate or incomplete, or have later claimed that their comments were misrepresented or misquoted. It is therefore advisable to check whether the interviewee issues a clarification or correction to their remarks.
Notability
The essence of notability under Wikipedia's notability guideline is a more technical definition than in common language, and is the evidence that the subject has attracted sufficiently significant attention from the world at large over a period of time.
Within the broad concept of notability is the
A multitude of interviews with a breadth of styles shows a wide range of attention being given to the subject and can be considered as evidence of notability. Elements of interviews include selecting the subject, contacting the subject, preparation of questions, and writing supplemental material such as a biography. At one extreme, a subject may approach a niche magazine and succeed in getting an interview published, which is marginal and only barely more than self published, and may even be discounted under
At the other end are interviews that show a depth of preparation, such as those that include a biography. An interview presented as investigative journalism of the sort we associate with
If you aren't looking at a reputable publication, you need to consider whether the interview is really an advertisement written and paid for by a marketing campaign that's been
Trivial content
Avoid using interviews to verify the mere fact that an interview happened. When using interviews as sourcing, use them to support content about the things said in the interview.
Joe Film was interviewed by Remi Radio in 2015.[1]
In a 2015 interview with Remi Radio, Joe Film said that he moved to New York.[1]
See also
- Wikipedia:No original research
- Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
- Wikipedia:Notability
- {{Cite interview}} — the most specific citation template for citing interviews