Journalistic Standards and Practices
IV. PRODUCTION STANDARDS
A: INFORMATION GATHERING
5. RIGHTS OF PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVIEWEES
Care should be exercised not to take unfair advantage of members of the general public who may be ignorant of certain journalistic practices; for example, the difference between on- and off-the-record interviews, or the attribution of particular comments or opinions.
When a person refuses to participate in a discussion or interview and chooses not to offer a reason, the program must respect that position. Dramatic devices such as an empty chair in television should not be employed to underline a refusal to participate. An announcement, presented in a simple and direct way, may be employed.
The interviewer should inform the interviewee before the interview about the purpose for which it will be used. The interviewee should also be given some indication of the probable length of the interview to be included in the program, recognizing that such length is no more than an estimate, and that in some cases the interview may not be used at all. In using an interview, the CBC should conduct itself in accordance with conditions agreed to prior to the interview.
When phone-outs are for back-to-back interviews of parties to different sides of a dispute, the first interviewee must be informed of the presence of the second before the interview begins. Consideration should be given to providing the opportunity of a brief rebuttal, if warranted.
When two or more people are individually interviewed for the same program or series of programs, no one participant may be shown or allowed to hear the comments of the other(s), if such auditioning results in an unfair advantage to the person given this privilege.
5.2.1 REQUEST FOR QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE
Prospective interviewees will sometimes demand that written questions be submitted to them in advance. This is not permitted because the audience would be misled about the nature of the interview and the interviewer would be inhibited in conducting it.
