My amazing predecessor, Rebecca Aldous, said in her parting column that interviewing sources was a bit like having multiple one-night stands. As a middle-aged happily married mom, I would not put it quite like that, but her point is valid. Each time I interview someone for a story, there is a level of intimacy that has to be established. I think of it more akin to the relationship between a hairdresser and a client. There is a trust on both sides. (We feel just as hurt if sources go to the competition, just so you know.)
I have liked, on some level, everyone I have ever interviewed. I couldn’t write each story if I didn’t.
Recently a story I wrote on the Science World and Liquefied Natural Gas tour caused a bit of stir. What is interesting to me is how polarizing the topic is, but how decent – and I can find no better word than that – each of the players was. Bryan Tisdall, the Science World president, was a really nice guy. He was generous with his time, didn’t shrink from my questions and what he said made sense to me while we were talking. Likewise with chemistry PhD Eoin Finn, who was opposed to the pairing of Science World and the government’s LNG tour. He was passionate and thoughtful and made what I thought were reasoned arguments.
The bottom line is, I appreciate and respect anyone who is willing to stand up and speak on the record.
According to 2011 Statistics Canada data, there are four public relations professionals to every journalist in this country. In 1991, the ratio was 2:1. This means that more often than we would like, reporters have to fight through usually kind but determined spin doctors whose job it is to redirect us or attempt to manage our story or limit our access to the stakeholders. This can be when trying to talk to heads of corporations, developers, and law enforcement or government officials (Goodness help you if you want to talk to a federal government scientist.)
Whichever side of an issue someone is on, being open and transparent is far better for any organization’s image or cause, for democracy and for the story than any amount of spin or silence.
So call me, let’s talk.
