BBC Radio 1's newsbeat is looking to interview legal high users
Roll up
Crew News: Jan 19 2012
BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat is looking at the record number of new legal highs. Have you had an experience with a legal high? Are you over 18? Could you help?
If so please contact:
NICKBEAKE Reporter, BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat & 1Xtra News
0207 765 4649 (Work) 0773 466 3159 (Mobile)
Yalding House | 152-156 Great Portland Street | London, W1W 6AJ.
nick.beake@bbc.co.uk
Interview date will be 1st February in Edinburgh, although other dates/locations could be negotiated. The interview will be recorded, not live. For anonymity, peoples real names will not be used. There may be other ways to protect your identity if this is a concern, please discuss with the interviewer Nick. The interview will consist of a few short questions asking you to describe your experiences of legal highs.
The kind of things likely to be asked are:
? What substance did you use?
? How much did you take?
? Did you know what you were taking?
? Did you mix with other substances?
? What kind of experience did you have?
? Would you do it again?
? Where did you get the substance?
? How much did it cost?
? Have you used illegal substances before?
Here are some tips for doing a media interview:
? Remember you are doing them a favour and you can stop the interview at any time.
? Keep yourself safe, only share what you are comfortable doing. Remember you don't have to answer every question if you don't want to and there should be no requirement to give very personal information about yourself.
? If you are talking about an illegal activity, remember not to incriminate yourself or others e.g if talking about where you purchased a substance, keep it general- something like "internet vendor" "dealer"
? If you have said anything you don't feel comfortable with, interrupt the interview immediately by saying something like "sorry can we start again". If it happened earlier in the interview, explain you don't feel happy with it and ask them to remove it.
? Think about what you want to say in advance- skilled interviewees say it is very helpful to make some notes of what you might want to say however keep these to bullet points to help you remember.
? Talk in soundbites- avoid giving long winded answers (the bullet points will help you with this )
? Speak clearly- if your speech sounds slow in your head, you are probably speaking at just the right speed.
? Breathe, you are allowed to! Relax as much as you can :-)
? Avoid using slang or jargon as this might not mean anything in other parts of the country
? Think about any questions that could be asked which would make you feel uncomfortable and prepare a response for that. This might be as simple as I'd prefer not to answer that.
Remember you are doing them a favour and you can stop the interview at any time.
If you would like any support or advice about doing an interview of this kind, please contact Crew on 0131 220 3404
