By: Cameron Pellegrino '27
The Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Gormley ‘95 returned to his alma mater to speak to UMass Journalism students on Nov. 17. His guest lecture, titled “The Art of the Interview,” covered everything about the interview process, from garnering and talking to sources to building strong relationships over the course of a career.
As a writer for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, Gormley gained firsthand experience during his time at the school. He credits his time in the department with developing his values he holds as a journalist today and the experiences that set him up for his current job. He urges students to spend their time in college exploring and searching for their true passion.
“Find out or think about the subjects you’d like to write about the most,” Gormley said. “What is it that gets you the most excited, most inspired? That kind of energy you have is going to show through to your readers or your viewers.”
In his current role, he primarily covers venture capital and healthcare for The Wall Street Journal. While these are crucial topics that have an effect on a large percentage of the general public, they aren’t necessarily subjects that Gormley knew he wanted to write about during his years at UMass.
“I definitely did not know I’d be writing about these subjects when I was here at UMass,” Gormley said. “I was sure I wanted to write about politics — I majored in political science and journalism. But as I got out into the field and I started writing about a lot of topics, I found out that I just like writing about business. That eventually got me to my current beat.”
Gormley’s biggest piece of advice to aspiring journalists is to never view an interview as one, but rather a conversation. The more comfortable and relaxed the discussion is, the more productive it will be. It’s difficult to get helpful and reliable information out of people when they’re up-tight with their guard up.
When it comes to tackling substantial news pieces, Gormley conducts extensive background reading to familiarize him with the topic at hand as much as humanly possible. He immediately figures out who the people are that he needs to talk to and how he can get into contact with them. Seeking out sources and reaching out to them can be a daunting process, but Gormley emphasized the importance of being authentic, confident and trusting your abilities.
He also highlighted the sheer value of preparation when it comes time for a face-to-face interview. He recommends entering every interview with a clear sense of what you hope to learn and being transparent with the interviewee. Still, he stressed that preparation shouldn’t prevent journalists from asking the tough questions or pressing further when an answer lacks substance, noting that the commitment to digging deeper ultimately lies in curiosity.
“I think the best habit you could have is to be endlessly curious about the world in general and about people, and be constantly learning about them and getting to know them,” Gormley said. “If you’re doing that, you’re going to get good stories because you’ll have invested the time and the background research to draw that out of people and bring them to life.”