The importance of information interviews

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Colleen Tang

As a new journalist still in school I think it’s more important than ever to meet as many people in the industry as possible.

Before I entered back into academia I did a series of information interviews that led me to the decision to apply for Ryerson University’s Masters of Journalism program. At the end of my last year of undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia I had participated in the Canadian University Press mentorship program where I was paired up with a professional who lived in the same area as me. Through talks with my mentor, I was given the advice to meet other professionals to get a better sense of what I wanted to do in this industry.

Doing information interviews is a great way to broaden your knowledge of the entire industry and you get to meet a variety of people. It’s basically taking someone out for coffee and getting them to talk about themselves and what they do. Many working journalists are happy to talk about their jobs.

One of the information interviews I did was with one of the editors at a local newspaper in my community where I eventually wrote a story for and realized I was interested in community reporting and profile reporting.

Further to those information interviews that I did in my hometown in BC, I went on a trip to Toronto in the fall where I spoke with Gene Allen as well as an editor at Eye Weekly, who also happened to be a Ryerson grad. (I tried to get in touch with a few more journalists but with the short amount of time I was there I wasn’t able to talk to everyone I wanted.) After considering both of their opinions it led me to the decision that I wanted to get back into school and learn some more skills.

Most of my own experiences revolved around print or virtual publications because I wanted to write. However, I’m learning now more than ever that it’s valuable to immerse yourself in different environments and experience parts of the industry you never thought you would.

Right now I’m interning at CityNews with the webteam and that means being at the heart of the rustle and bustle of a broadcast newsroom. What I didn’t realize was how much I’d enjoy the excitement of being there. I really enjoy watching another mode of journalism take its course. Broadcast was never something I have wanted to be involved in but watching how it works and meeting the people there has really opened my eyes to more opportunities.

Nowadays many journalists know the importance of being multifaceted in a variety of skills. I would suggest aspiring journalists to get on board with this idea as well. It’s not enough to only know one medium of journalism. It’s about making yourself as versatile as possible. I believe that setting up information interviews is an easy and accessible thing to do. Even if you’re an intern, ask to speak to someone else in another department if you’re interested in their job. That’s how I was able to watch one of the video editors edit a clip for the night newscast. As a result of that interaction and from my experience at CityNews, I’ve become even more interested in technology and video.

I think it is extremely important to know what you want to do as well as know what you don’t want to do. Many of us have an idea of what a job is like so why not go to the direct source and really find out what the job entails and the workload. There really is no better time than when you’re a student to do information interviews as well as get as much experience as possible. You will find out what the industry standards are for technology, writing styles and anything else you wanted to know to prepare you for the working world when you are ready to work as a journalist.

With many of us not knowing what the job market will be like when we do graduate, getting your feet wet with all aspects of journalism, even areas you don’t really want to be in, is great exposure and a good way to make you a valuable asset in any media organization.

Colleen Tang is a Masters of Journalism student at Ryerson University who just completed her first year. She is currently an intern at CityNews.ca and a freelance writer and will also be interning at CBCNews.ca this summer.