INTERVIEWING FOR

NEWS
Bugsy Malone
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

◦ LI: today we are going to be looking at how interviews can

be used in non-fiction texts and pieces of news.
◦ SC: I can understand the role of interviews and create my
own appropriate questions for my newspaper article.
Interviews:

◦ In non- fiction texts, quite often we find interviews

from people- these help add authenticity to the
article and, depending who they are, make us more
likely to believe the story is factual.
Climate change: Area of forests the size of Fran
ce has regrown worldwide since 2000 | Climate
News |
◦Sky
HereNews
is an example of a news article that
involves an interview- the news article is
centred around Climate Change.
Questions: Discuss in pairs and record your
answers.
◦ Why was William Baldwin-Cantello a good
interview subject?
◦ What did his interview add to the article?
◦ List three reasons that someone might be
interviewed.
Personal opinions
◦ Sometimes, having someone give their opinion on
specific issues allows us to make up our own minds-
especially if the person is knowledgeable, or likeable,
or known for being particularly moral.
Eye-witness accounts

◦ When crimes or particular events occur, news

sources look to people who witnessed the event so
that they can describe what they saw/heard. This can
help readers to imagine the event in their head and
better understand what happened.
Police

◦ With crime incidents in particular, as there normally tends

to be police involved, police interviews allow for all of the
evidence to be presented from one source. The police will
normally have all of the information for the crime scene
gathered by the time they are ready to appear before the
press.
Task: in pairs(7 minutes)

◦ Pick a newsworthy event from Act 1 of Bugsy

Malone and decide on two people you should
interview for it.
◦ Think- police, witnesses, expert opinions
Task: on your own (5 mins)

Pick one of the interview subjects you chose

and write 5 questions for them regarding the
incident.
Task: In pairs

◦ Take it in turns to ask each other your interview questions-

you have to answer as though you are the chosen character.
◦ The interviewer should record the interviewee’s answers.
◦ Q: Where were you on 11th May 2021
◦ A: I…was…em… at home… truly officer, I don’t know
how the bank got broken into.