Questions That Close Doors in Journalism Interviews

There is a widespread assumption that more questions means a better interview. Working journalists who contribute to any serious News platform will tell you the opposite is closer to the truth.

The Question Types to Drop

Leading questions are the first to go. Asking someone if they feel the council made a poor decision tells them what answer you want, and careful sources will simply stop talking.

Double-barrelled questions are equally damaging. When you ask two things at once, the source answers the easier one and the harder question disappears entirely.

Useful Resources on This Specific Problem

• Reuters Handbook of Journalism — freely available online, with a dedicated section on question construction and why certain formats produce useless answers.
• BBC Academy journalism guides — written for broadcast but directly applicable to print and digital work, covering question pacing and follow-up technique.
• Nieman Reports at Harvard — longer essays from experienced journalists reflecting on what their questioning habits actually produced over careers.

The Habit That Replaces Bad Questions

The most reliable shift is moving from closed questions to observations. Saying what you noticed and waiting is often more productive than asking anything at all.

Sources respond to curiosity differently than they respond to interrogation. The distinction sounds small. In practice, it determines whether someone talks to you again.