Help! I just set up an interview with a fairly bigwig exec for a short article. Her secretary asked me to send my questions via email ahead of our meeting. She said it will help the interviewee to be prepared. I'm not sure I want her "prepared"! Is this common? Am I allowed to do this?
Well, as far as "allowed" goes, I think you're going to have to speak to your editor. However, I have found this to be a fairly common practice, especially with busier subjects.
Unless you're conducting a hard hitting, expose article, or the topic is fairly edgy, I see nothing wrong with this. You may send over some general questions, and call it a "rough outline" if you don't want to be held to these questions, or if you are wary of the interview appearing canned.
However, if you're very reluctant, that's your perogative. You can simply explain your reasoning to the subject, put them off, or call in your editor for back up.
