Five questions you can ask for a five-star media interview

Most times, when we prep for an interview, we focus on the answers we’ll give to the questions we’re expecting to be asked. But a truly strong interview starts one step earlier, with questions you can put to your interviewer to ensure clarity on the story, the audience, and the job you’ve been invited to do. 

Here are five questions you can ask right up front:

1) Who is this for, and where will it run?

This tells you how to pitch your language and examples. A breakfast-radio audience needs brevity and warmth; a policy newsletter needs balanced analysis; a community paper needs examples relevant to its readers; a long-form podcast needs lyrical storytelling.

There are two optional follow-ups:

• How much does this audience already know about the issue?
• Is this aimed at the general public or people who already work in the field?

2) What is the central question this is answering?

Every piece has a central question, even if it is not stated. If you do not know it, you can easily give a brilliant interview that does not get used, because your answers do not match the frame.

You are looking for a sentence like:
“We’re trying to explain why X is happening,” or “We’re trying to show what X means for people’s daily lives,” or “We’re asking what should change and who has the power to change it.”

The better you understand this, the greater the chance that you’ll be used as a proper source of insight rather than merely a checkbox quote.

Knowing this also helps you shape your answers into what journalists can actually use.

If the journalist struggles to answer, try asking: “What would you like the reader to understand or do differently by the end?”

3) How are you understanding the issue right now, before you interview me?

Ask them to summarise their current understanding in a few sentences. Listen for assumptions, missing context, and framing that leans into stereotypes or blame. This allows you to offer guardrails, so the story is accurate and fair.

QW+ adds this question from our critical understanding of how many of the experts we work with feel they ought to be grateful for media attention, even when it is clumsy or harmful. This question gives you permission to notice red flags early and to re-centre yourself as an expert with the knowledge to direct the narrative if it’s awry.

A simple bridge line: “I see. One key nuance I’d add is…”

4) What role do you expect my expertise to play in the story?

This is the question that brings the journalist’s frame into the open and stops you from being slotted into the wrong function. You might ask this as “Do you need context, reaction, evidence/data, lived experience, or solutions?” Or “Are there specific claims you want me to respond to?”

This allows you to check whether your voice is the right voice for what they’re after and to clarify which perspectives you can bring and which ones you can’t.

5) What are the time constraints?

This might be the question “How long have you got, and what’s your deadline?” or “Is this live or recorded, and how long is the segment?”

That’s it. Five questions, asked early, to help you speak with precision, keep your expertise intact, and make the journalist’s job easier too.

Photo: Mikhail Nilov (Pexels)

By Kath Magrobi