Lockdown has given reporters some new interview techniques

There is a more intimate connection between reporter and interviewee now most of the other social interactions of the day have been stripped away, writes Clémence Michallon

Everything from Santa’s grotto to reporters’ interviews with authors now happens on Zoom (AFP via Getty)

It took me months to start feeling the full effects of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown. I’m an introvert. I do better in small groups. I like quiet. If this were an online dating profile, I’d tell you I like walks in the park, early drinks at a bar, and curling up on the sofa with a good book. It’s not that I’ve enjoyed having to stay home and forego most fun activities – I, like everyone else, really could have done without the global pandemic, thank you very much. But I coped OK. My temperament meant I was relatively well equipped to deal with lockdown, and for that I was grateful.

Then came November. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the holiday approaching. Maybe I finally spent too many hours working at the same table in my little studio. I started feeling restless and exhausted at the same time. I lost interest in daily activities. For a few days, I couldn’t put a finger on my malaise. Then, it hit me: in the words of Justin Bieber and the song he released in October, I was “so loOoOoOonely”.

This was an itch that Zoom drinks wouldn’t scratch. I craved spontaneity and authenticity. I craved the kind of conversation you lose yourself in. I craved connection.