What sources bug you the most?
Today I had to call a few retailers for a short piece I’m writing for the Boston Globe. Many of my freelancing colleagues hate talking to professors (“they’re too academic”), doctors (“they’re totally unreachable, and when you do get them, they can only spare a minute”) or corporate types (“jargon city!”).
For me, it’s mom-and-pop shops. I have to laugh because many of these places shell out money for newspaper ads, but you call to confirm they carry a certain product because you’re mentioning them as a source for it in your article, and they say:
* “How much are you charging for this?”
* “I’m not interested.” Click, dialtone.
* Or, what happened to me today, “I have paying customers here. I can’t help you.” Click, dialtone.
What sources get on your cranky side? Post your stories below. Come on, if you can’t cry about them, let’s at least laugh at them. [db]
Doctors have made themselves available to me, but I know I need to be ready to write fast and to write down “big” words. Most seem to want to impress me with their vocabulary. After asking the few questions I need answered, I sometimes throw in one or two that don’t matter. As they answer, I review my notes to make sure I have what I really need. Then I ask follow-up questions, translating doctor talk to English to make sure I understood correctly!
One peeve: Readers who send in news tips to my profiles column and then never reply when I get in touch. The column name is “15 Minutes of Fame” — too bad their 15 minutes has dropped down to a mere 5 of passing through my mail servers!
I actually love talking to professors/PhDs because they are often so excited about their work, but it’s rare that anyone is really interested. So a lot of them will talk to you forever if you want to listen. I get inspired by seeing someone that dedicated to their work. Doctors can be good too but yes they hardly ever have any time and tend to want to give canned answers that don’t really tell you anything. They have to be pestered a bit, which isn’t my strong suit. Trying to work on that!
I like interviewing entrepreneurs for the same reasons that Angela mentions.
Also, Diana, I feel your pain. I write for a well known daily newsletter that covers new stuff opening in my city (many of you know which one I’m talking about). They will only cover it during a very narrow window when the store/restaurant/bar/yoga studio is first opening and the owner is usually not thinking about press at that point. They want to set up their website and get a few customers first, but by then it’s too late. Getting a photo and a definite open date, plus confirming details, can be a real PITA sometimes.
I second the mom-and-pop shop! That happened to me yesterday. I walked in to a story, explained to the owner that I was writing a holiday gift guide and asked her if we could feature one of her products. She said “how much is this going to cost me??” I can see how SOME people might confuse a gift guide writer with a ad salesperson, but this particular woman actually already knows who I am and knows what I do for a living.
I deal mostly with academics at the moment…They can be pretty snooty if they try. And they are political–they trash their fellow players in the subject. Sometimes I am asked to check people’s quotes and they try to change the other person’s quotes. This has happened! It’s all in a day’s work. One time, though, I did ask my editor about a source…”Will she be mean to me?”
Sometimes people are thinking about their response, rather than listening to what you have to say. I can maybe understand over the phone – I get a TON of calls from telemarketers, or people telling me I’ve won a free trip that costs money. But for Dawn, actually in person, that’s even more surprising! It’s too bad people can’t just hope for the best from each other.
People who refuse to check biz speak at the door – especially when they are saying absolutely nothing. I would love if every “full service premier provider of XYZ” would just tell me they make and sell software, or do great marketing. But I love talking to entrepreneurs – is there a more excited source in the bunch than someone who’s willing to take a leap of faith based on an idea they’re passionate about?
POLITICIANS!!
The left-wing ones spent half the interview telling me how to do my job (“YOU should be asking the conservatives about -insert hot-potato issue here-”)
Meanwhile the right-wing ones don’t tell me anything and if they do, they’re reading off a script.
The other one that got me was when I had to do “word on the street” interviews…walking around asking random people what they thought about something and the people who gave the best answers were always the ones who wouldn’t give me their name afterwards.
I hate the sources who gush and burble in their enthusiasm to help you when they’re first approached, and who turn around and flake three days before deadline. Argh!
I’ve found some academics who are great to interview, and others who can talk for an hour without producing a single usable quote. Asking lots of open-ended questions usually helps with this, but some people are just uncomfortable speaking to others, and interviewing those guys can be a frustrating experience.
Some lawyers will practically hang up on you before they’ll talk to you about ongoing litigation.
I know. I used to be one of them. (All because of a very bad experience I had in J-school . . .)
Fortunately, they’re not all as “media averse” as I used to be. And, when it comes to talking about legal issues not related to a specific case, they’re usually quite helpful.
Star–yes I have academics try to change other people’s quotes all the time! What is that about?
Interviewing sources is probably one of the aspects of writing I most enjoy. Overall, the folks I’ve interviewed have been a pleasure to talk with, and so generous with their time and knowledge. Often, they’re so smart, interesting, and all-around awesome, I have pinch-me moments. I’m so grateful that they’re sharing their time and insight! I’m also floored that they’re (usually) so honored and excited to talk to me. (Who doesn’t love to talk about themselves and their pet projects to a journalist who lends a willing ear?) This is why, when I encounter a second-tier source who is a) grumpy, or b) demands a large fee or royalty (ha!), I’m given to laughter. There’s one person, in particular, who wanted me to advertise for her service AND pay her a large fee. I declined on both counts. Is it even ethical to pay sources? Maybe it would depend on the circumstance? Again, though, this person is the exception. I love talking to sources and I learn so much! It’s also the only human contact I get to have, if I’m locked away in my writing hovel.
CEOs and their ilk always seem to be problematic. They tend to be control freaks, so they want to approve what I’m writing. (Like I need another editor???!!)
People who talk in acronyms or Bible verses make me crazy. You get a lot of acronym-speakers when you’re interviewing military (the all time champion of acronyms), law enforcement, firefighters, academics, and so on. Earlier this year, I interviewed a preacher who literally could not speak for more than 30 seconds without throwing in a Bible verse. I found myself thinking, “Please, please, PLEASE say something original, dude, something YOU thought of yourself!” I sort of felt like I was Captain Picard in that ST:TNG episode where he’s trying to communicate with the guy whose species speaks in metaphor.
I also do a lot of personal interest articles, and recently had THE most frustrating situation of my writing career: We were contacted by a woman who wanted us to do an article about her husband’s very impressive accomplishments. When I contacted her w/questions, she basically said, “Oh, just go read our blog. It’s all there.” Yes, it was there, over a year of blog posts for me to wade through in search of pertinent info.
The runner up for most frustrating is source that present a story that ISN’T a story. Example: The high school kid who contacted our newspaper to tell us that she and a schoolmate had been “ambassadors” to Australia as part of the People to People program. When I asked her what duties she had as an ambassador, she cocked her head (clearly, thinking caused some sort of blood rush to one side of her skull, resulting in neck instability), blinked several times, and said, “Um, like, I showed some kids some ballet moves?” in the most perfectly sincere and genuine Valley Girl voice I have ever heard in my life. The People to People program is basically a wealthy-kids-get-to-travel-and-call-themselves-ambassadors program. It was founded by Dwight Eisenhower, who, I’m sure, meant it to be a peace-endorsing exchange between cultures, but it has morphed into rich-kids-get-to-travel. My editor actually apologized for assigning me that one!
I like interviewing professors, as they are intelligent but used to explaining things in a simple way for students etc. They have also been interviwed before in most cases, but not so much that they give rote answers. Sometimes a fascinating discussion develops and I usually learn something! I hate interviewing anyone who has been briefed by a PR and just rambles on promoting their own interests, not answering what I’ve asked, or who acts like they’ve never spoken to a human being before and gives me nothing useful… this can happen in all walks of life!
I hate to say this, but ‘real people’ can often be the trickiest – often they haven’t been interviewed before, will go off on tangents and sometimes say really inappropriate things that I edit out to spare them the humiliation (not fair to stitch them up by revealing their marital problems in an article about wooden flooring or whatever) but that some journalists might leave in…
Earlier this year, I had to talk to some people working in domestic violence outreach, doing great work, but very hard to get hold of, and very untrusting of my motives. I’m very determined but even so, I was on the brink of giving up hope of getting any interviews at all. It’s a shame other journalists had abused their trust and that they came across to me as so abrasive, when they had such an important message to share and I was writing a positive piece.
I do think some interviewees forget that journalists are people and service users, too.
But worst of all for me is when a potential source says “I charge for quotes” (or words to that effect). I’m barely solvent, working for a small publication. Where’s the cash coming from?
Okay, after that long rant, how about we have a discussion on the best interviewees we’ve had? I’ve got a few of those, thankfully!
xx