A journalistic interview takes the form of a conversation between two or more people: interviewer(s) ask questions to elicit facts or statements from interviewee(s). Interviews are a standard part of journalism and media reporting.[1] In journalism, interviews are one of the most important methods used to collect information,[2][3] and present views to readers, listeners, or viewers.
Although the question-and-answer interview in journalism dates back to the 1850s,[4] the first known interview that fits the matrix of interview-as-genre has been claimed to be the 1756 interview by Archbishop Timothy Gabashvili (1704–1764), prominent Georgian religious figure, diplomat, writer and traveler, who was interviewing Eugenios Voulgaris (1716–1806), renowned Greek theologian, Rector of Orthodox School of Mount Athos.[citation needed]
Several publications give prominence to interviews, including:
The interview in the question-and-answer format first appeared in the United States as late as the 1850s (Silvester 1996: 4).Compare:Silvester, Christopher, ed. (1993). The Penguin Book of Interviews: An Anthology from 1859 to the Present Day. Viking. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-670-83965-0. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
Edwin L. Shuman in his Practical Journalism (1903) quotes an American editor, whom he discreetly calls 'Brown', as attributing the first interview to the New York Herald in 1859 [...].