Interviews highlight an interesting tension in Wikipedia policy. On the one hand, interviews can be published in reliable publications; they are regularly found in highly respected news sources such as The New York Times and BBC News. On the other hand, most of the content in an interview comes directly from whoever is being interviewed, and the interview is usually about themselves. People can say whatever they like about themselves. At first glance, it can be difficult to see where interviews fall with respect to Wikipedia's sourcing policies. Are they primary or secondary sources? Do they count as reliable sources, or not? This essay addresses the issues involved.

It is okay to use interviews to source some facts. Interviews may sometimes be the best or clearest sources, especially for biographical or personal information. You will often need to treat them as primary sources, which will sometimes require in-text attribution. However, the mere fact that a person has been interviewed does not automatically mean that interviewee qualifies for a separate, stand-alone article.

A published interview may be:

Who, what, where[edit]

Two men face each other. One wears headphones and points a large microphone at the other.
This politician was interviewed by a radio show. This essay is about interviews that are published in a question-and-answer interview format, not about reporters talking to people as they collect information that they will write up in standard news style.

Anyone can be interviewed by anyone and about anything. It's helpful to figure out four things before you try to analyze whether the source is useful on Wikipedia:

For example, if a radio journalists asks a politician what his favorite works of classical music are during a radio show, then the interviewer is the journalist, the interviewee is the politician, the subject is the politician's favorite music, and the publication is the radio show. The politician's answers would be primary, non-independent, and authoritative for his own personal preferences in music, but independent of the music and the composers.

Primary or secondary?[edit]

a parrot at a funny camera angle
Parroting what the original source said, without transforming it through analysis and contextualization, is a primary source.

Certain types of sources are easy to classify as primary or secondary. A newspaper article written by an eyewitness to an event represents a primary news source about that event, and a book about the event written by someone who combined the news article with many other sources is a secondary source about the event. Some interviews combine both primary and secondary material, very similar to a book that contains researched content based on prior sources in addition to autobiographical material.

The general rule is that any statements made by interviewees about themselves, their activities, or anything they are connected to is considered to have come from a primary source. Statements made by interviewees about subjects they have not personally experienced (e.g., the historian interviewed on the radio about a historical event) could be either primary or secondary, depending on whether it merely repeats what other sources say or whether it adds analysis, context, comparison, or other transformative thought to the original sources.

Primary sources are generally acceptable for supporting uncontroversial claims by interviewees about themselves, and they may be authoritative (e.g., for what the interviewee said during the interview).

Sometimes, publications may include a short bio or other commentary about an interviewee. That content may or may not be secondary. To be secondary, the source has to contain transformative thoughts, which an uncritical parroting of what someone else said lacks.

Independence[edit]

If it came from the horse’s mouth, it is not independent.

The interviewee may or may not be independent of the subject matter. In some cases, the interviewer is also not independent. For example:

Independent sources are more generally reliable than sources that have a conflict of interest or are otherwise involved in the subject. However, non-independent sources can be the most reliable source possible, depending upon the material to be supported. An artist stating their motivation is more reliable than an independent person speculating upon it.

It's common for publications to request a short bio from an interviewee. It's common for a short bio to match one from their website or from here on Wikipedia, and for it to be republished uncritically, edited only for space. Material originally written by the subject of a Wikipedia article is not independent of that article's subject.

Reliability[edit]

Interviews are generally reliable for the fact that the interviewee said something, but not necessarily for the accuracy of what was said. The publications are merely repeating their comments, typically with minimal editing. No matter how highly respected a publication is, it does not present interviewee responses as having been checked for accuracy. In this sense, interviews should be treated like self-published material.

Two steps are necessary to determine the reliability of material in an interview. First, we must determine whether the material is primary or secondary as described above, and then the reliability of the publication.

If the material is primary, then it is treated as if the interviewee had written the same content on their website or Twitter. As long as we can be reasonably certain that the material was written by them, then the Wikipedia policy on primary sources applies. Such material can be used, but needs to be used with care, and only to cite facts that can be verified from the source itself.

While primary-source material from interviews is treated the same as other primary-source materials, it is necessary to verify that the comments attributed to the interviewee were actually made by them. Publications with a reputation for reliability can usually be trusted to report their interviewees' words accurately and without embellishment, but there is no guarantee that other publications will do the same. For example, an interview posted on a blog could have altered the interviewee's words, or even be completely fictitious. If there is any uncertainty about whether a particular interview is a reliable and accurate depiction of what the subject said, then it should not be used and until it can be resolved.

If the material is secondary, and if it is published in a reliable publication, then it can sometimes be used to cite facts about third parties, and to cite opinions. However, care must be taken to ensure that normal editorial standards have been applied to the material (also, note WP:BLPSPS does not usually allow such sources to be used for claims about other living people). Depending on the publication, such material may not undergo the same level of fact-checking as other types of articles. For example, the introduction to an interview may rely entirely on facts provided by the interviewee. In general, the longer and more detailed the material, and the more reliable the publication, the more likely secondary-source material in an interview is to have undergone proper fact-checking.

Check for clarifications and corrections

Due to the "off the cuff" nature of many oral interviews, fact-checking of the interviewee's statements is not always as rigorous as it might be if they were submitting a written reply to the same set of questions. Interviewees often say things in interviews that they later realize were inaccurate or incomplete, or have later claimed that their comments were misrepresented or misquoted. It is therefore advisable to check whether the interviewee issues a clarification or correction to their remarks.

Notability[edit]

Main page: Wikipedia:Notability

The essence of notability under Wikipedia's notability guideline is a more technical definition than in common language, and is the evidence that the subject has attracted sufficiently significant attention from the world at large over a period of time.

Within the broad concept of notability is the general notability guideline and several subject-specific notability guidelines. There we have a specific definition requiring that others not connected with the subject take note of the subject, and that they do so by offering their own secondary thoughts in reliable sources. Anything interviewees say about themselves or their own work is both primary and non-independent, and therefore does not support a claim for notability.

A multitude of interviews with a breadth of styles shows a wide range of attention being given to the subject and can be considered as evidence of notability. Elements of interviews include selecting the subject, contacting the subject, preparation of questions, and writing supplemental material such as a biography. At one extreme, a subject may approach a niche magazine and succeed in getting an interview published, which is marginal and only barely more than self published, and may even be discounted under WP:NOTPROMOTION. Some are just softball Q&A allowing the interviewee to say anything they like. An example would be a fan magazine interview with a celebrity about their new movie or new child. They're not likely to question them sharply on whether the movie is any good or whether motherhood is really a joyful experience. The interviewer is there just to keep the individual talking, not to introduce their own thoughts. These kinds of interviews are broadly unhelpful in establishing notability.

At the other end are interviews that show a depth of preparation, such as those that include a biography. An interview presented as investigative journalism of the sort we associate with 60 Minutes can be helpful. In these interviews, the interview material is often interspersed with the interviewer's own secondary analysis and thoughts. The interviewer may even present their own evidence challenging claims the interviewee makes and offering their own conclusions in their summary, perhaps calling for action of some kind. Any of the content merely quoting the interviewee should be treated as primary. But if the material the interviewer brought to the table is secondary and independent, contributes to the claim that the subject has met the requirements laid out in the general notability guideline.

If you aren't looking at a reputable publication, you need to consider whether the interview is really an advertisement written and paid for by a marketing campaign that's been dressed up to look like regular content. Self-promoters who are trying to get themselves into Wikipedia have been known to self-publish fake "interviews" created by their own PR agents to user-generated platforms or the "sponsored advertising content" initiatives of websites which participate in that revenue stream, so as to make it appear as though a real media outlet has interviewed them when in reality the "interview" is merely a self-promotional press release.

Trivial content[edit]

Avoid using interviews to verify the mere fact that an interview happened. When using interviews as sourcing, use them to support content about the things said in the interview.

☒N Joe Film was interviewed by Remi Radio in 2015.[1]

checkY In a 2015 interview with Remi Radio, Joe Film said that he moved to New York.[1]

See also[edit]

Category