Journalistic Do's And (Mostly) Don'ts

Wanta know what folks had to say about my journalistic dilemma, but too lazy to read through everything yourself? That's totally understandable. That’s why I’m here to give you some of what seemed like the most interesting comments and quotes -- most of which are (one way or the other) pretty critical.

Read all the way through and I'll even show you the objectionable post. At this point it seems ridiculous not to.

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“It sounds like you'd burn a stranger but not a friend. To me, that raises issues of fairness and credibility on your part.”

“With colleagues -- other journalists -- I generally consider the conversations to be off-the-record and a professional courtesy… I think, oddly enough, in your situation the journalists don't know they're on the record.”

“You are in a nebulous zone that may be hard for people to know whether you are talking to us as a colleague or as a reporter/commentator.”

“Having someone interview you and seeing yourself quoted later in an unflattering way really opens your eyes to how some sources must feel.”

“Janet Malcolm had a famous essay in which she says something to the effect that all journalists are betrayers at heart.”

“Teachers feel betrayed all the time by reporters. I think there's probably a good human behavior story here. Teachers are extremely sensitive to any hint of criticism and aren't generally very media savvy.”

“Here the policy is exactly the opposite: It's off-the-record unless we agree otherwise… I'd never repeat or relay something without express permission.”

Note: The full text of the comments is contained below the original post "Warning, Other Reporters..."

Here's the post that started it all: WBEZ Staffs Up for Expanded Education Coverage Pretty anticlimactic, right?