A LAYMAN'S TIPS TO A JOURNALIST IN A TEMPESTUOUS SEA

In interviewing extreme elements of society, a journalist who has genuine concern for the country, who quizzes the interviewee without vociferousness of articulation but with a quiet and firm assertion, such a one does not inflame the irrational passions of rogues around and carries the conversation to conclusion without quickening over-aggressive response that is unwholesome. Even though the issues be contentious, so much so that they arouse one's indignation and ire as citizens of the nation, yet, a journalist must necessarily be neutral to the conversation and must in no way give vent to his personal feelings that may compromise him both professionally as well as personally and mar the objectivity of his approach to the issue which is the precondition for effective journalism. The interviewer must be relaxed and calm even as his incisive interrogation throws his interviewee oftentimes into a quandary and results in the nonplussed person giving out his actual stance on an issue even as a witness on cross-examination by an experienced prosecutor gives out vital information that helps solve a complex case. The personality of the interviewer must be pleasant and reassuring, his manners affable and by no means aggressive, and his judgement unerring as to how far he may prod and probe in a given situation, given the volatility of situations often in field journalism. A winning smile is handy and an overall affable personality, sending signals of fraternal feeling for all, a winning virtue indispensable in this art of eliciting information or attitudes from individuals without causing undue offence to them. There must be civility of discourse from the interviewer's side and a dispassionate delineation when alluding to vitriolic events of the past such that journalistic non-partisanship be maintained in the pursuit of the discovery and the establishment of truth. May good sense prevail and permit journalistic fidelity amidst 'smiles and affability', to quote Brutus' suggestion to his co-conspirators in the assassination plot then being hatched to eliminate Julius Caesar!