Since it is impossible to interview someone who does not want to be inter- viewed, it is reasonable to assume that the arrangement is mutually agreed. The broadcaster, in contacting a potential interviewee, asks whether an interview might take place. The information that the interviewee needs at this point is:
1 What is it to be about? Not the exact questions but the general areas, and the limits of the subject.
2 Is it to be broadcast live or recorded?
3 How long is it to be? Is the broadcast a major programme or a short item? This sets the level at which the subject can be dealt with and helps to guard against the interviewee recording a long interview without being aware that it must be edited to another length.
4 What is the context? Is the interview part of a wider treatment of the subject with contributions from others or a single item in a news or magazine programme?
5 For what audience? A local station, network use, for syndication?
6 Where? At the studio or elsewhere?
7 When? How long is there for preparation?
No potential interviewee should feel rushed into undertaking an inter- view and certainly not without establishing the basic information outlined above. Sometimes a fee is paid, but this is unlikely in community radio; it is worth making this clear.
