Interviews
a role, as in a play or performance, which may
conceal an altogether diff erent inner image or
performance. The so-called introvert, on the
other hand, may, through the richness or assur-
ance of inner resources, have opted out of public
role-playing, or selected the role of introvert as a
public defence mechanism.
Arising from both inner and outer stimuli,
intrapersonal communication is a convergence,
a coming-together, of both. A piece of music
stirs in us, perhaps, previous memories; these
memories of people or places may join with
immediate impressions of events to create an
ongoing discourse, between ourselves in the
past and our current selves, perceiving and
perceived.
Through intrapersonal communication we
come to terms (or fail to come to terms) with
ourselves and with others. Th rough it we create
bridges or battlements; we make connections
or we sever them; we open ourselves up or we
establish self-defences. Most of us, it is impor-
tant to note, are, as it were, on our own side. We
use intrapersonal communication as a means of
self-assurance, of confi dence-building or confi -
dence-maintenance as well as self-discovery (or
indeed self-delusion). It is what makes us unique
as individuals.
Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) (UK), 2000
See regulation of investigatory powers
act (ripa) (uk), 2000.
Invisibility That is, invisible to the public as
represented by media. Th e case is put by many
commentators that certain sections of the popu-
lation are overlooked, neglected, denied rightful
attention by media, as though they did not exist.
Ethnic minorities are seen to be ‘invisible’ or
‘absent’ in mainstream representations, except
when they are viewed as a ‘problem’, in which
case the spotlight of attention is trained upon
them. Nations as well as individuals and groups
are cloaked in invisibility, fulfi lling news value
only when there is trouble, confl ict, a perceived
threat to order.
Visibility then comes at the price of stereo-
typing and the nurturing of ‘us and them’ (or
wedom, theydom attitudes). Tuen van Dijk in
Racism and the Press (Routledge, 1991) writes
that ‘minorities continue to be associated with
a restricted number of stereotypical topics, such
as immigration problems, crime, violence (espe-
cially “riots”), and ethnic relations (especially
discrimination), whereas other topics, such as
those in the realm of politics, social aff airs and
culture are under-reported’. See topic guide
under media issues & debates.internet: monitoring of content; news
management.
Interviews Though there are many forms
of interview and many different reasons for
conducting them, the common goal is that of
gaining more information from and understand-
ing of other people, through a planned process
of questions and answers. press and television
journalists use interviews as a means of collect-
ing information and opinions. Interviews can be
used to provide entertainment, as in chat shows;
they are the most common means of selecting
people for jobs or students for courses; they are
a major method of data collection in the social
sciences.
Th e kinds of questions widely used in inter-
views are: (1) open questions; these are broad,
usually unstructured and often simply introduce
the topic under discussion in a way that allows
the interviewee a good deal of freedom in
answering; (2) closed questions; these are restric-
tive, off ering a fairly narrow range of answers
from which the interviewee must choose; (3)
primary questions; these introduce the subject
or each new aspect of the subject under discus-
sion; (4) subsidiary or secondary questions; these
follow up the answers to primary questions;
(5) neutral questions; these do not suggest any
preferred response; and (6) leading questions,
which suggest a preferred response and are not
normally used in research interviews. See topic
guide under research methods.
Intrapersonal communication That which
takes place within ourselves: our inner mono-
logues; our reflection upon ourselves, upon
our relationships with others and with our
environment. What goes on inside our heads
(or hearts) is conditioned and controlled by our
self-view, and that self-view has emerged from
a vast complex of past and present infl uences
- on the view we perceive others holding about
us, on our past achievements and failures, on
memory-banks of good, bad and neutral actions
and impressions.
Our concept of self interacts with our view
of the world. Having been formed by experi-
ence, it is shaped and modifi ed by subsequent
experience, though rarely straightforwardly. Th e
psychologist, for example, speaks of the extra-
vert personality and the introvert personality.
On the face of it, the extravert is characterized
by a confi dence in public performance that may
indicate inner assurance, while the introvert may
demonstrate a public shyness or guardedness
refl ective of inner uncertainty.
However, the outer confi dence may well be