The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-26
The New Art of interviewing.


~ plague Of the Magazine interviewer. Too
many popular periodicals have given room and license
to one of these omnscien beings who are be-
coming nuisance to the public as well as to their
victims.
statesman g life is beset with terrors and dangers
at BEST but in this day Of the autocratc interviewer
there is no telling when the bolt may fall. The new
school of intervewers is out to smash idols and trad
tions to ''show up' leading citizens before the
world. The heromaker is no longer the fashion,
The Magazine interviewer has no heroes and no
heroworship in his soul. He believes that great
men are made of common clay, perhaps little more
common than the rest. He goes on the theory
that they are buffers, intellectual fourhushers who
need exposing, and incidentally dishonest rascals with
private graft to serve instead Of the public service
It is the mission of the NJ l. to put the statesman on
the operating table and hold clinic him for the
benefit of the millions, to expose his intellectual
limitations and moral obquities to lay bare his heart
and inmost soul with the merciless scalpel.
It is cheerful calling-for the OPERATOR 1t is
rather tiresome for the spectators however, so the
M. l. enlivens the interview with some brilliant
repartee in which the subject appears as poor second
a mere foil for the talented M. l.
A newspaper interview is usually for the purpose
of learning what the interviewed has to say. That
is farthes from the intention of the Special Cor
respondent who gets the interview for the Weekly
Brash. Of course, he can't shut the subject off
entirely. The poor has idea that when he is
interviewed he must talk, and so makes some timidy
remarks which expurgated Of their sense
and reproduced just to show what Ounce he is
beside the scintillang Special Correspondent 1t is
fortunate, of course that the correspondent is man
of such charming conversational powers-on paper
1t makes the dalog 50 interesting x, T.. "
''Well, what do you want to know about me70
says the statesman nervously. This bit of prelim-
mary banaty is promptly otted down, but the inter-
viewer lodges the question with epigram. He
is not quite ready for the statesman to talk During
the soup course he wants to study the statesman g
eye. Much be learned by the eye, if you
expert in the business of SCATTERING reputations
When the fish is brought on the modest subject
of the interview suggests that hardly time for such
publicity 1t should be deferred until he has made
record in congress. f'You hardly expect to
to Washington and keep it secret retorts the
brainy correspondent, paper. The statesman sees
his MASTER and is docle for the rest of the interview
during which the correspondent says some witty
things, and discovers terribly weak points in his
man. His table habits show careless bringing up,
and the fact is duly recorded, in charmingy satir
ical ven In fact the article to be written for
the purpose of showing how clever the interviewer is
and what secondrate person the statesman must be-
The only conclusion we can draw is that the whole
Of statesmen ought to retire to the farm and turn
the government to the Magazine Interviewer
They might run it for while, on nerve.