There is a difference between asking questions and conducting an interview. Asking questions is what reporters do all the time. They don't necessarily do interviews all the time. We will deal with questions first.

Questions

A reporter in the middle of a breaking news event, either on the spot where it is happening, or in the office on the telephone, will be busy enough just asking questions and looking for more people to question. He or she will not be fussy about how the questions are asked. It will not matter, for instance, in what order the questions are asked. What will be important is, were they asked? And who was asked? There will be no time, or need, for fancy footwork. Just get the information.

At their core the questions in such a situation will be those we have encountered already – who, what, where, when, why and how, in various ways.

And then, perhaps:

Questions that ask who, when and where usually produce short responses – names, times and places. Unless the names introduce an extra dimension to the story, answers to these questions may be brief.

The what, how and why questions are the ones that are likely to produce more extensive copy.