Nothing feels better than getting a phone call or an e-mail from a source I used for a story today or last week or even last semester, thanking me for a fair and balanced story, or simply for "a job well done." Of course one is doing something wrong if that is all one receives in response to their articles (isn't it part of our job to point out controversy?), but every now and then it feels nice. On the opposite side of the same coin, it's good to know when I have missed the mark on a story—gotten a fact wrong, missed a key source, lost the reader on analysis, didn't get the answer to an important question—so I appreciate critical feedback as well.
On my own end, I hereby resolve to do a better job following up on stories by informing my sources when the articles are completed and published, so they may have the opportunity to see the finished product. This will naturally result in developing a relationship of trust between my sources and me, they will see how their involvement affects the larger picture, and it will drive traffic to the publications for which I write.
Everybody wins when follow-up is involved.
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4 comments:
I think that I have another opinion about winning and losing. There may be a lots of way to be a winner but one who try to make all happy is only one way to be a failure.
In response to digital sansar:
I think you misunderstand me. I am not trying to make everyone happy, I am simply trying to do the ethical thing. Accuracy is the most important aspect of journalism, and if I am not doing all I can to strive to achieve that, I should find another job.
"Everybody wins when follow-up is involved."
See, here's the part where you THINK
I'm going to make a crass, tasteless joke. But see, I'm not. Seriously, I'm not. Stop looking at me like that. Watch me as I walk away, without making any jokes.
(Whistling ...)
wlh
Ah, too funny. I just found your comment, Will. After, like...a month and a half. And now I'm laughing.
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