« February 10, 2004 | Main | February 16, 2004 »
February 12, 2004
More of a cardinal guideline
Most newspapers do not show sources a story prior to publication. I've never heard of papers doing it regularly. It's almost a cardinal rule of journalism. Apparently it's less a rule than a guideline.
Willy Stern, who teaches journalism courses at Vanderbilt and Fisk universities, lists six reasons in a column in Nashville Scene why the newspaper routinely show articles before publication. Romenesko mentioned it today.
The Romenesko item was posted late in the day, so it may take a day or two for journalists to react to it. I don't recall ever showing a story before publication. I've read quotes back, I've read explanations, I've made a lot of calls back to get something clarified, which others have told me they never do either. I did it because I wanted the story to be accurate and fair.
I've called people and sources after the paper was printed but before they had received their copy to let them know there was a mistake or some other goof-up. I wanted them to hear it from me first.
Posted by eubie at 10:43 PM permalink
Tech news web sites
Sree Sreenivasan's latest column on Poynter Online lists good Web sites for tech news and tech tips written by journalists for tech reporters. Most have either an email or RSS feed.
I felt he overlooked Lockergnome's Technology News. Maybe it was too tech oriented for his column.
Posted by eubie at 7:12 AM permalink