A lesson in journalism terms for ya'll
I made some nice progress today on the Jewish Property story, in fact, it could have gone on the wire if my editor hadn't needed to go home early, but that's life.
One of the my sources for this story works for the state department, and spoke only on background. That means the information is not attributed to their name, but can be used. When I finished the interview, he said he'd speak with a press officer about what he could say on the record, and get back to me.
There's a good reason for this: when he is quoted, he is speaking for the entire department of state and a bad quote on his part can royally screw up foreign relations. Thus, I allowed him to speak on background.
He called my desk phone after I'd left, and got my message which included my cellphone number. When I got to my apartment I checked my voicemail and heard his message. It was interesting, because he was scared.
He was very scared indeed. Scared that I, a young reporter, would not keep him on background and get him fired at best and screw up our relations with Russia at worst. He must've said"it was not on the record" five times. Poor guy must've thought he'd started World War III.
In case you're still wondering, no, I did not identify him.
One of the my sources for this story works for the state department, and spoke only on background. That means the information is not attributed to their name, but can be used. When I finished the interview, he said he'd speak with a press officer about what he could say on the record, and get back to me.
There's a good reason for this: when he is quoted, he is speaking for the entire department of state and a bad quote on his part can royally screw up foreign relations. Thus, I allowed him to speak on background.
He called my desk phone after I'd left, and got my message which included my cellphone number. When I got to my apartment I checked my voicemail and heard his message. It was interesting, because he was scared.
He was very scared indeed. Scared that I, a young reporter, would not keep him on background and get him fired at best and screw up our relations with Russia at worst. He must've said"it was not on the record" five times. Poor guy must've thought he'd started World War III.
In case you're still wondering, no, I did not identify him.
posted by Logan C. Adams at 4/05/2005 09:25:00 PM
1 Comments:
Good luck with journalism. I use to work with lots of reporters, not any more (switched profession).
If you hadn't seen already, I recommend that you rent Veronica Guerin. Based on a true story, with Cate Blanchett playing lead, about an Irish reporter taking on the drug culture, and how that impacted her life.
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