SiteWarning Your Sources About Where the Article Will Appear
Earlier this year I interviewed a wonderful woman on a sensitive topic for a national health magazine. The article came out a few months ago and all was well. Then, I received an e-mail from the source: the article had been picked up by a national news service’s website, and it’s the first thing that comes up when you Google the source’s name. If she had known that the article would appear online, she would not have participated since the subject was so sensitive.
It never occurred to me that the article would end up online since the magazine itself doesn’t typically put its print articles on its website and I didn’t know they had a deal to supply articles to the news service. But it was a good lesson for me: If I know an article will appear online as well as in print (as is the case with some magazines I write for), I should let my sources know so they can opt out if they want. [lf]
8 Responses to “Warning Your Sources About Where the Article Will Appear”
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Amanda Nicole
Said this on July 16th, 2008 at 12:46pm:Wow, that’s a really good point. I’d never thought of that before, but now I’ll definitely keep it in mind for my next article. It’s as Deb from Freelance Writing Jobs recently wrote, “online is forever.” Thanks for the tip!
Susan Johnston
Said this on July 16th, 2008 at 2:06pm:Ouch - poor woman! Linda, I’m surprised that they wouldn’t mention that to you, because wouldn’t that be part of your contract that they might distribute the article online? I guess this is one reason I should be glad most of my pieces are fluff lifestyle pieces that wouldn’t make (most) people uncomfortable.
Stephanie
Said this on July 16th, 2008 at 3:05pm:Hrmmm. How does one do damage control for something like that?
Star
Said this on July 16th, 2008 at 3:06pm: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…
Beth Morrow
Said this on July 16th, 2008 at 6:51pm: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.
wordwych
Said this on July 17th, 2008 at 5:27pm: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.
Denise
Said this on July 18th, 2008 at 10:21am: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!
Liza R
Said this on July 21st, 2008 at 7:52am: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!