ABSTRACT
In this paper, we aim to lay the foundations for a normative analysis of media interviews. That is, we want to understand what makes for a good media interview: an interview that has the right structure to go well and that fulfils its intended function. Moreover, we want to understand what makes for media interviewing that is not just structurally and functionally good, but also ethically good. We aim, therefore, to set out a basic picture of what media interviews are and are for, and what makes them go well. In doing so, we provide a foundation for identifying the normative features that are relevant for an ethics of media interviewing. We consider these features in terms of the two central skills of the interviewer: asking good questions and listening to the answers. Our analysis is based on a comparative case study of two prominent media interviews: the ‘“Royal Interviews’”, as we call them. The first of these is the well-known BBC Panorama interview, in which BBC journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales. The second is the more recent interview that Oprah Winfrey conducted with ‘“the Sussexes’” – a common term used to refer jointly to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. These Royal Interviews provide a useful and intriguing comparative case study for the normative analysis of media interviews.
