One issue that has come up recently, however, is one I’m never really sure how to deal with: what to say to people who request a draft copy of the story to “look over” before it goes to print. On one hand, I can understand that people want to be portrayed accurately/fairly/not as gigantic genetically engineered evil wolverines and that they want to be able to see that I’ve quoted them correctly so nothing they’ve said could be taken out of context. However, I don’t know what level of control journalists give (or should give) to the people they interview. What if someone reads the draft and decides they don’t like the angle of the story, or (worse) tries to force the journalist to come from a very specific angle of their own choice? What if the interviewee decides they weren’t quoted correctly, or tries to change a statement they made?
It’s a question that has unfavorable results regardless of whatever answer you give. If I answer yes, I open myself to all the disastrous outcomes mentioned above. If I say no, I leave the interviewee thinking I’m going to scurry home to write horrible sekrit lies OMG about them which might forever result in their public defamation and destruction (or at least, this is what I figure they’re worried about).
And so I turn the dilemma over to all of you. Have you experienced this before? What have you said, or, what are you supposed to say? If you’re supposed to say “no”, how do you deal with an interviewee’s irritated reaction? Any guidance would be extremely helpful. Seriously. I’ll bake you cookies or something.
- Miranda
Hey Miranda,
ReplyDeleteNope, don't give out your copy to sources. I say this because they may try and say, "Oh I didn't mean that" or "You're making me sound stupid" etc. It's ok to call them back and have them clarify details because we're not all experts on all the things we write about, but giving them an advance copy is risky.
hey .. cookies sound awesome haha...but yea, that issue has come up for me a couple times. It actually happened the other week when I was interviewing someone for a story. The person asked if they could see a draft and I responded, "Umm no, that's against journalist ethics..." Since I wasn't writing hard news and I'm just an intern, I did ask if there was any detail that she would not like to be ran, which she responded with, "no, just stop recording this interview, so I can talk." So basically, you need to establish whether the interview subject is talking "on the record" with you or "off the record." When talking on the record, that's when you can quote someone, but if you get information off the record...then that's information you can store in your head, but you can't identify the source in your story--or that's against ethics. For more JRN ethics see www.spj.org
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest with you, I may have gotten this question once or twice, but it's been a looong time, leading me to speculate that people try to take advantage of inexperience. So for the record - NO. We do not send drafts of stories out to be "reviewed" for accuracy. Be as polite as possible, ask what their concerns are, offer to fact-check or have an editor fact-check, but you have already identified yourself as a reporter. They know what the purpose is.
ReplyDeleteBe careful with "off the record" as well. This means different things to different people. I take it to mean - as Connor did - that the information helps you make sense of the situation and gives you material you can ask others to confirm, but not quote or make public. Obviously, going off the record is not a first choice. Some people use the term just to feel safe and/or savvy - try to understand your subject's motivation with the request.