Sutherland Shire Libraries Staff News

Held at the Royal Australian Historical Society, 11 June 2015

By Stephanie Bailey.

Question. What does an ABC radio journalist, a clinical psychologist and a professional oral historian have in common?

Answer. For each, the art of 'the interview' is fundamental to their profession. However, this method of communication can be employed in significantly different ways resulting in remarkably diverse outcomes in each context.

On 11 June, the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS), in conjunction with Oral History NSW and the Professional Historians Association of NSW (PHA NSW), presented a discussion panel of professionals who reflected on their practice and experiences as interviewers. They considered the unique role of oral history and gave advice on how those in the audience could improve their interviewing techniques. The panel, which was hosted by Paula Hamilton from the public history program at UTS, included Catherine Freyne, a historian who formerly worked as a producer and journalist on ABC Radio National's Hindsight program; Alison Clarke, a clinical psychologist; and oral historian Dr Margo Beasley.

Over the last 30 years there has been an increasing interest and engagement with the process of 'remembering'. In the past, oral historians have generally conducted interviews long after events have occurred. However, the current trend is to interview participants and witnesses immediately after or even during the event. As many interviewees have experienced extreme pain or trauma the boundaries between oral history and therapy can become blurred and the question arises as to not only what the ethical and psychological impact of this may be, but also how creating these records may affect the context of how events are and will be viewed in the future. 

This is especially important when you take into consideration the fact that the interviewees' responses to questions may alter dramatically depending on the nature and purpose of the interview. For example, the subject of a psychotherapy interview has a confidential audience of one; the audience for a journalistic interview broadcast on radio or television has an immediate and wide-ranging, but not necessarily long-lasting or overly engaged audience; and the oral history subject has a small but very interested audience who will carefully analyse and cross-reference their dialogue, perhaps many years after the interview has occurred.

It is the interviewer's job to extract a 'story', but the means by which this is achieved also varies. In the case of the psychotherapist it is the patient/client who is seeking the interview as they are dissatisfied with their present situation and seek assistance by 'unburdening' through discussion. Compare this to a radio interview between a journalist and an often well-known person, such a politician, in which the interviewer's role is to obtain clear and exact answers from a sometimes unwilling subject. Or the radio interview may be the result of a heavily edited production, such as Hindsight or Conversations with Richard Fidler, with the purpose on constructing an elegantly and logically unfolding story. And finally, the oral historian's job is to create, for posterity, a primary resource to assist historians in their research by filling a perceived gap in the documentary record. Oral historians conduct extensive pre-interview research so as to best guide their subject to let the story reveal itself. As participants in oral history interviews do not know what they will eventually be used for, these recordings are therefore generally kept intact without the pause of the edit.

As for what makes a good oral historian and advice on how best to conduct an interview to create a primary record, the panelists suggested:

• Research your subject - who are they? what is their background? why are they here to speak on this subject? how does the individual fit into the wider story?
• Make the interview as in-depth as possible
• Don't focus on just one subject
• Resist the urge to interrupt or anticipate
• Realise that you never have control over the answers your subject may give
• Let the story reveal itself
• And practise. The more oral history interviews you do, the better you'll get.