[meteorite-list] my response to an approach by a journalist

From: Carl Agee <agee_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2013 08:40:56 -0700
Message-ID: <CADYrzho2tvcW9vPDtb3S_-5622rL8-eiO-hisfwhL7mXCF80jA_at_mail.gmail.com>

Bob,

Good points! Ideally we should engage the press and tell our story.
One publication that I interviewed with recently really impressed me,
because they had a fact-checker who called me up about a week after
the interview. She literally went through the interview question by
question asking me "is this what your answer was?" And so I was given
the chance to make what I said as accurate as possible. So, one
option is to request or ask if there will be a fact checker before the
article is published.

The other thing that is important is to have a good relationship with
local media, because their stories can get picked up by worldwide wire
services. Here in Albuquerque, I know two really good newspaper
reporters who write great stories and get front page coverage, and we
have one TV channel that is really good with "in depth" science/space
reporting.

On the other hand, when NWA 7034 (Black Beauty) was published in
Science in January, I probably did two dozen impromptu phone
interviews that week, and not one of the stories came out distorted or
false.

Interestingly, the only story that seemed to have an agenda was that
one in the NYT a few years ago on Gebel Kamil - which by the way, did
not use a fact-checker. But I was not misquoted in the story, so I
can't complain about that, I think a lot of the negative actually came
from one of the other individuals who was interviewed -- which of
course the reporter used in the article.

Carl Agee

--
Carl B. Agee
Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
MSC03 2050
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
Tel: (505) 750-7172
Fax: (505) 277-3577
Email: agee at unm.edu
http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/
On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 6:57 AM, Bob King <nightsky55 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> As a journalist (I'm a newspaper photographer) and someone who works
> with journalists every day I have a few thoughts on this topic. In
> newsrooms and TV stations across the U.S. the number of reporters is
> dwindling. The few left are asked to do stories well outside their
> areas of expertise, and although many try to get it right, they
> unfortunately lack the background and often the time to provide the
> depth needed to satisfy a particular interest group. That should still
> not be an excuse. I do know this - reporters hate being wrong. The
> last thing they want to see is a fact in their story in the
> "corrections column" in the next day's paper. The better reporters
> will call the subject back during the writing of or after they've
> written the story but before publication to verify they've got it
> right.
>
> My suggestions:
> 1. Carefully frame what you want to say so a reporter fully
> understands the essence of the story.
> 2. Respectfully suggest to the reporter to call you back anytime with
> questions or for verification of details.
> 3. If the story is factually wrong when published, call or e-mail the
> reporter and request a correction. If you get flack, ask to speak to
> his or her editor.
> 4. If #3 doesn't work, write a letter to the editor.
> 5. Remember that in the end you don't control the story. The reporter
> will be talking to other experts (we hope!) in your field of interest
> and blending in different points of view. Again, a good reporter
> should call you back when there's a big discrepancy between what you
> say and the other subject's point of view.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 7:19 AM,  <jim_brady611 at o2.co.uk> wrote:
>> I run an ad in Ireland thats been up for a couple of years now and I
>> was approached by a journo who wanted to talk to me and maybe do a
>> piece.I googled him and saw his work and immediately knew I wanted
>> nothing to do with him or his article.You can see my response to him
>> about halfway down the comments on my ad.His name was Samuel Hamilton.
>>
>> http://http://www.adverts.ie/crazy-random-stuff/meteorites-for-
>> sale/400040
>>
>> there are fair and reasonable journalists out there who are interested
>> in the truth about meteorites no doubt.Just be careful and do a bit of
>> research first would be my suggestion.
>>
>> all the best from Ireland
>> Jim
>>
>>
>> http://www.emeraldislemeteorites.com
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Received on Sat 02 Mar 2013 10:40:56 AM PST


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