unintervista

Unintervista is a term used in Italian journalism and media criticism to describe a non-conventional or meta-textual form of reportage that subverts the traditional question-and-answer structure of a standard interview. In its broadest sense, unintervista signals a deliberate reversal or critique of the conventional interview workflow, inviting readers to engage with a subject’s voice without the overt mediation of a direct Q&A.

Etymology and conceptually, unintervista is a neologism built from inter vista (interview) with the prefix un-, implying negation or reversal. The term does not have a single agreed-upon definition and is employed in different ways by different writers. Some usages present the subject’s perspective through curated assemblages of quotations from public statements, social media, and prior interviews, arranged to simulate a dialogue without new questions being asked within the piece. Others adopt a narrative or monologic voice that channels the subject’s point of view with minimal, indirect prompting rather than explicit interrogative prompts.

Forms commonly associated with unintervista include assembled voice-led passages that foreground the subject’s words, editorially mediated narratives that interpret or coordinate statements across multiple sources, and experimental formats in which the reversal of roles or the absence of a live interviewer becomes a critical feature. Proponents argue that unintervista can foreground editorial interpretation, reveal biases in traditional interviewing, or illuminate how a subject has spoken across different media. Critics warn that the format risks misrepresenting intention or fragmenting context, depending on how sources are selected and arranged.

See also: interview, narrative journalism, documentary criticism.