Interview with Steven Overly

Steven Overly was a great person to talk to for this project. He graduated from the University of Maryland in the spring of 2010, where he served as Editor in Chief of The Diamondback. Almost immediately, he got a job at the Washington Post in their Capital Business section. I chose Overly, because as one of the youngest members of the post staff (the next oldest person he told me is around five years older than him), he might have a unique perspective on journalism and the interviewing process.

One of the cornerstones of journalism is the ability to dig deeper, to find out just enough information so that you get a compelling story. You have to think about the right questions to ask, but sometimes this requires you to be somewhat intrusive. So the most important question I had to ask Steven was how he deals with that feeling, and how personal he gets with his interviews.

Basically, he said that part of a journalists job is to dig deeper and get the facts, because it is what we are assigned to do. But it is still courteous to acknowledge that a question may be sensitive, and that if they really don’t want to answer a question, they don’t have to. He also added that a good way to get personal, and thus establish more trust with the source, is find a way to relate to the source. He added, that if you are trying to relate through conversation, it is very important to keep it professional, and make sure that it is somewhat relevant to the interview.

Often times, when he begins an interview, he likes to ask a lot of open-ended questions. This he says, leads to some good thoughts from the interviewee on the topic at hand and may raise questions and ideas that he might not have thought of.

Some of the other things we discussed, was how new technologies have changed the way the interviewing process occurs. He says with the proliferation of smart phones, professionals that he seeks to interview almost respond faster to e-mails than when he places a phone call.

Overly is in charge of a lot of the social media for Capital Business, which he said is based almost entirely on his age. These new forums he says, have changed the way not only that media is delivered, but the very definition of media with things such as blogs. He adds that he believes that there is a fundamental difference between media and true journalism, being that journalism is all about the facts.

Steven comes across as a very confident guy. This is reflected not so much in what he says, as the tone that he conveys. Likewise, his tone of voice and his demeanor lent me to believe that he is a genuinely happy person. He tended to employ gestics a lot, namely, talking with his hands. He frequently moved his hair, as well as readjusted his glasses.

As for me, I was very nervous. I always seem to get nervous before talking to people of importance, and that probably reflected in my tone of voice. I also talk with my hands a lot, but I’m not sure if it was as integrated into conversation as Steven’s were. Sometimes I use my hands when I’m fishing for words.

Overall, I was grateful for Steven’s interview. He provided me with valuable information that I could relate to given our relatively close ages. Most importantly though, he gave thoughtful insight into the interview process and how to be a successful, professional, journalist.