Comments on: Warning Your Sources About Where the Article Will Appear

By: Liza R

Liza R — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:52:52 +0000

A friend of mine almost lost a regular gig of hers after the foreign newspaper in question noticed that a story she’d done for one English-language Israeli website was picked up by an Israeli government news website (she hadn’t known about the agreement between the website and that particular government ministry). The newspaper thought she was writing for the government (which she wasn’t), which would have destroyed her credibility with them. She definitely learned her lesson!

By: Denise

Denise — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:21:36 +0000

When its a sensitive topic, I often suggest that my source use a ‘pen name’, even if they
don’t mind sharing their real name. I also tell my editor, and give them the real name if they
need to fact check. However, I’ve never had an editor object to a pen name from a source. That
might help prevent anything from going sour down the road!

By: wordwych

wordwych — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:27:35 +0000

It would be terrible to have a source who was the crux of the story back out upon learning where the article might end up. I mean, I can see someone not wanting their name in an article in, say, “Double-Jointed P*rno Babes Magazine” or something, but it could kill – or at least seriously wound – your article to have someone back out because they didn’t want too much exposure. I think I’d offer someone who was uncomfortable the option of using their first name and first letter of their last name, and explain in the article that the person opted to try and protect their identity.

By: Beth Morrow

Beth Morrow — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:51:15 +0000

Yes, making sources proactively aware that this can happen is definitely good advice. In fact, I’m going to do it myself on the article due tomorrow for a national health magazine. Much better safe than sorry. Thanks for sharing, Linda.

By: Star

Star — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:06:40 +0000

Those darn work-for-hires….they can get around. I had that once with a famous website–the overseeing physician added studies I had considered but did not think showed for sure that a given condition was a precursor to serious ills…And the story ended up everywhere–Fox, MSNBC, AOL! All with my byline and wrong information. I even got a call from a famous person saying, “I am not getting those diseases!” I said, I know, I know…