On Interviewing

An interesting conversation over the last couple weeks over at WriterL: How two-sided should an "interview" be? How much should you give up, in other words, to get what you're looking for? Jon Franklin wrote: "I think there's a time and place to share personal information, but in my experience it's very uncommon. If I needed to do that, I'd worry that I didn't seem interested enough in the person I'm interviewing."

The responses have run the gamut.

From …

Jennie Phipps: "I think reporters often mistake an interview for a personal conversation in which two people share information."

To …

David Hayes: "Sometimes it's my contribution to the conversation that elicits an interesting response."

Jack Har…