When, and why, business stories get killed

Ben Tucker of Crain’s Cleveland Business writes in the latest issue about a reporter who came to him and said she’d heard that he had killed a story she was working on because it involved a friend of the publisher.

Tucker wrote, “For the record, Dick Pogue has never in my more than 22 years at Crain’s suggested to me that we stop a story. I believe he wouldn’t suggest such a thing because he knows I wouldn’t do it. It’s that simple.

“Now I admit I have had some requests from other folks over the course of that time, but they have been few and far between. Most people have heard the drill from me and our editors about how Crain’s Cleveland Business operates.

“There are only two reasons we kill a story that’s in progress: if we’re scooped on it by a competitive media organization before we can get it on the web or in print, or if our reporter determines the story premise is faulty and there is, in fact, nothing worth pursuing.

“So, to review: Don’t bother trying to ‘kill’ a story. We publish our stories on their merits. No outside pressure, from advertisers, friends or influential people will stop a story. Ever.

Read more here. That’s the way it should be.