Interviewing a pro: Hana Gartner on CBC’s Q
What’s it like to interview someone with three decades worth of experience asking their own questions? For the answer to this question, check out Jian Ghomeshi’s interview with Hana Gartner on Q. The veteran journo just can’t help herself.
What’s it like to interview someone with three decades worth of experience asking their own questions? For the answer to this question, check out Jian Ghomeshi’s interview with Hana Gartner on Q. The veteran journo just can’t help herself.
The interview (begins at the 50:00 mark) starts with Gartner playfully interrupting Ghomeshi’s pre-interview news blurb. In the midst of announcing a news bit about the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, Gartner asks: “Did you want me to say something?” Response: “Not while I’m talking.” Gartner: “Oh, I’m sorry, only when you say Hana.”
Gartner, as Ghomeshi says on air, doesn’t like giving interviews. As a result, we see exchanges like the following:
Ghomeshi: You don’t like being interviewed…
Gartner: No I don’t
Ghomeshi: Why not?
Gartner: Do you like being interviewed? Do you like being the story?
And:
Gartner: You want to know my biggest disappointment this year
Ghomeshi: Yes
Gartner: Well, that would have been a good question
But perhaps the best comes when Ghomeshi is wrapping up the interview:
Ghomeshi: Hana Gartner, she is, she is …
Gartner: A lousy interview.
Funny, but not quite true. Gartner also tells some great stories about being a cub reporter, how she was shy as a child, and how proud she is of her work on the Ashley Smith story — but how she’s just a little bit disappointed, too.
Gartner is nominated for a Michener Award this year (to be announced at the end of the week) for her work on the Ashley Smith story. She announced her retirement from CBC last month. Gartner has spent 35 years with the Fifth Estate and CBC News.
