New thoughts on blogger journalism

The same thing has happened twice in a week and it tends to piss me off. I request interviews for the SAP Global Survey and someone asks if I would be willing to submit my questions in advance.

The answer is no, resoundingly so. You would not ask the NY Times or ABC or your hometown newspaper to do that? Why would you ask me?

The implicit answer is that I blog my interviews, and therefore, I must be less than a full journalist. I want the interview to increase my readership and therefore I should conduct them with an implicit wink and a nod. I'll get back to that in just a second.

In the interest of transparency, let me state a few things that regular readers of the survey probably already know. I conduct most of my interviews by email. So the recipient gets to see and consider the questions for a week or so before answering them. The recipient can easily fool me, and get help from internal people. I will never know.But I insist on naked conversations. If an interviewee sends me back Corpspeak or standard talking points,I will not publish it. This has happened only once. I have had respondents decline to answers a question, and the only way it shows, is that there are fewer questions to the interview. This is also fine with me.

Finally, the likelihood of getting burned is small. Why? Because SAP my sponsors and I are looking for insights and information that will add to the body of knowledge on social media's impact on culture and business. I ask people for interviews because I think they have something to contribute.

So far there have been 58 interviews. I have posted a few broken links and in one case, I posted the wrong middle name of an interviewee (my worst mistake so far). No one has contacted me to claim I misrepresented them.

I am educated and experienced as a journalist. I have worked for newspapers, email newsletters and briefly as a radio commentator. I am now practicing journalism as a blogger. The rules have changed slightly. I get to stick my opinion in when reporting. I am obliged to make clear when it is opinion and when it is reporting.

Bloggers as journalists are just evolving. We bloggers have brought much of this on ourselves.  When I am interviewed by other bloggers, they often ask me to promote that I am on their sites. I rarely do this and when I do, it is because I feel new ground was covered, that contributes something to the body of knowledge. I did it twice recently and felt uncomfortable, so it will probably be a while before I do it again.

As a reporter, I never asked an interviewee to promote what I wrote. If she or he liked it, then they might cut and copy a newspaper clip, or forward my email newsletter or in blogs, link to it. But to collaborate in the promotion of those materials, to me is as unjournalistic as asking me for questions in advance.

I also have the issue of interviewing friends on my blog. I will always be transparent. This is not new to blogging. I had friends who were part of my state house beat as a yong reporter. I once dated a young woman whose father served on the local Council for the Elderly  When that council came under scrutiny for questionable practices, I had to recuse myself and that is the way it should be.

Blogging is breaking new ground in so many days.  For me, it is difficult to keep straight, that one day I am a speaker, another I am a blogging reporter and very recently I was a consulting blogger who sometimes wrote about clients. New ground is often shaky and it requires a few hops and occasional stumbles.

The way I try to keep it straight is to remember my customer is my reader and that is where my loyalty rests when I blog.

Comments

[Dennis Howlett]

Why is this still a problem? Most people I bump into don't see a difference between bloggers and journalists. We sure don't on ZDN. Strikes me this is more of a problem tied to old school PR perceptions but then as I am discovering, who outside Silicon Valley is remotely up to speed on these developments?

[shel israel]

Neither of these requests came from tech sector companies. Neither is immersed in social media and neither is Silicon Valley based. Earlier this week, Target refused an interview with a blogger because they don't participate in "alternative media." There is still a tall hill to climb, Dennis and our toes are still at the base of it.

[Erica Ross-Krieger]

There is something comforting to me throughout your post, Shel, but particularly so in the last line. I like knowing that who I am reading is loyal to me. I appreciate the strong "no" you give when asked for questions in advance -- it tells me you will say "no" to other ridiculous offers and bribes and "yes" to things that are important. Keep on requiring naked conversations...I will keep reading.

[jesse]

Shel,
Very interesting to read this-because I am me...
What that means is this: I started my "journalism" uh...let's say, ordeal, haha, back in the 80's when I was a DJ at a radio station on Sunset Blvd.
Now, I had a press ID, and I did commercials for my sponsors and I played some music, oh, and we had to "train" as though we were "journalists" in order to be allowed to broadcast...but yet, I was by no means a journalist...and the internet? Well...sigh...can you say TRS-80 or Commodore 64? Point rested.
So...then I work construction for a really long time...then get sick of that, take a CSR job at a publishing house (newsletters for the Alumni/ae of Greek orgs...) and then work into position there as managing editor-which didn't last very long-I expected the freelancers to actually do their job; they had tenure, I got fired.
So I decide I'll attend Indiana University-what degree to pursue? Journalism. Love to write, want to publish kids books...avid reader, etc…
Wellll...so I'm in the midst of a journalism degree when all "this" (new media) hits (the fan?). Sure...my education was in a time of total change for "our" industry but...guess what...? The only reason I am a journalist now, is because I blog, but do I use any other than those very skills taught me by the "old media" folks I learned from (Dan Drew- '80's news anchor-KTLA ch.5, etc)...NOPE. It's still the same process...
So at long last, my point: Target is wrong.
Wow...took a minute to get there, but there it is...
And why do I like it this way…well…’cause I can say ‘cause, and I can say, ;)…try that in an article for the NYT in the early ‘90’s…not gonna (slang for “going to”) happen…I love it, I live it…this allows me to be me and do what I do-but principles still need to be the same-so yes, there’s a lot more “buyer beware” in this age of “alternative media” but you know what? So the heck what…we need more buyer beware-we need more personal responsibility, and this is one way to achieve those needs.
"Audios"...hehe ;)
Jesse

[Kyle Hansen]

Thank you for saying no. Sadly, there are a lot of people out there that try to pull the same trick on "mainstream" media. Every time a reporter gives in, it damages our profession.

[Jacqueline]

I get the "questions in advance" all the time as well. Most of the time it isn't the actual interview subject, though, it is their PR reps (I tend to talk to lots of designers, artists, and other creative types, along with others in the fashion/luxury goods/travel industries) trying to control the message.

I also get a lot of requests to "approve" the final article or post - which always get met with a resounding no!

[Aaron]

Perhaps I am missing the point of this thread. I have lived on both sides of the Aisle, as PR pro and as the interviewee subject, so allow me to weigh in on the issue more broadly than just the SAP Survey (since we did the interview over email, it was a moot point).

When I am getting interviewed by a publication, I always like to have the questions in advance--so I can be better prepared. I don't demand it, but it helps me frame out my thoughts before I get on the phone. I always go into these meetings with my own message/agenda, but it helps to know where the reporter is coming from as well. Perhaps they want to know about a particular detail of our business that I don't have at my fingertips, or I want to get an anecdote to make our point more strongly, or even draw in an additional expert to participate. What is so nefarious about that? I think it makes for a better interview, it makes me more quotable for you, and ultimately results in a better article. A good interviewee is going to review their talking points and messages before the meeting anyway, so I doubt having the questions in advance is going to lead to a monotone scripted answer.
In only a few cases did we pull out of the interview because it wound up not being as relevant as we thought it would be. Isn't that a good thing? Why waste everyone's time. In one case the reporter was going to ask us a question we just were not going to answer, we alerted the reporter, and they actually decided to pull out of the interview since it was central to what they wanted from us. Isn't that better to find out before getting on the phone?

And I agree with Jacqueline, asking for approval is heresy, of course.

[shel israel]

Aaron,

Interesting sequence. I'll put aside editing your answers to my questions. I let everyone know when I request an interview what it is that I want to talk to them about. When it's done by email, it also make it easier for a subject to know. The issue is that some Communications people want to see the questions before they agree to an interview. This is something they would not so if I were a NY Times editor. And that is what I am objecting to.

[Aaron]

Thanks, well that is a different take indeed, and I agree on some level. And I get the issue around being treated the same as the NY Times. Personally, I believe this area of bloggers as journalists is an interesting one. Clearly some bloggers have journalism backgrounds or leanings, and their blogs reflect that. We should then interact with you similarly. I think as the interviewee I have a slightly different take on getting the questions in advance, but hinging it on accepting the meeting seems odd. Thanks for clarification.

[cambodia]

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