Calling sources at home

Robert MacMillan, an editor at Reuters, writes Thursday about how a reporter at the news service has been chided by a PR person at a well-known company for calling board members at home instead of going through the corporate communications office.

MacMillan writes, “A reporter who asks only for the company’s comment, gets told that there won’t be one, and then stops reporting isn’t doing his job.

“What struck me was her comment about never before having ‘issues’ (problems) with a Reuters reporter. That must mean that we were not trying hard enough to break news. Well, we are now.

“I understand that reporters often break big stories thanks to leaks that come to them, and through companies that decide that a certain reporter will get an exclusive. That’s fine. But trying to confirm a tip means knocking on doors, or calling telephones. And a standard part of that means calling people at home. If you can’t get them at work, and you don’t have a mobile phone number handy, home is the next best place to try.

“People have screamed at me for daring to call them at home, but nobody until today has ever suggested to me or one of my colleagues that we are unethical because we try. If someone tells you to stop calling, perhaps you should consider not calling anymore. At least for a little while. But to say that calling people at home is unethical is something that would stop only the most timid reporter — and they are not the people I work with.”

Read more here.