167 Interviews With A Journalist

Tommy put me in touch with a reporter from the New City Weekly, and we set up our first interview in a hospital room.

I had planned to meet him in a cafe near the hospital, but Tommy thought it would be better for me to do my first interview there. First, for security reasons, and second, Tommy believes that journalists are emotionally involved in the writing of their stories. If a reporter sees me in my hospital gown, he'll be more sympathetic to me.

He is about to hear a pregnant woman describe her own traumatic experiences, and he cannot help but feel compassion for the woman. And he will incorporate that compassion into his writing.

And as Tommy imagined, when New City Weekly's Paul first met me, his eyes lit up with surprise. At the beginning of the interview, he asked some tough questions.

This, as Tommy told me, was a common trick with journalists. They ask tough or embarrassing questions to test the reactions of the interviewees. The goal is usually to test whether the intervi