How to record and transcribe interviews as a journalist

A simple interview workflow

1. Tell your source you're recording, and get their agreement on the recording itself.
2. In person: put your iPhone between you and press record. You can lock it. On a call: on a Mac, choose Mic & System Audio.
3. Stop and let Spiik create the final transcript with speaker labels, then rename each speaker.
4. Search for what you need, and tap the line to hear it. Never quote from a transcript alone.
5. Ask the chat things like "what did she say about the budget?", then check the answer against the audio.

I use it to transcribe Zoom interviews. It's accurate and saves a mountain of time.Jenny Mackenzie, journalist, App Store review

Sensitive sources

Normally, Spiik uploads audio to create the final transcript, and the upload storage deletes files after one day. If a recording shouldn't leave your device, use local transcription on a Mac with Apple silicon, which runs offline. Speaker labels come from cloud transcription, so a local transcript won't separate speakers.