By JHANE CAGO
Global Business Journalism reporter
Establishing trust with sources is a fundamental aspect of effective journalism, particularly in politically charged environments, two veteran American journalists told Global Business Journalism students in a guest lecture this fall.
“Trust is the name of the game,” said Warren Richey, a longtime foreign correspondent with the Christian Science Monitor.
Richey and Christian Science Monitor Washington bureau chief Linda Feldmann were guest speakers in Professor Rick Dunham's Multimedia Reporting class on October 14. The married couple discussed a wide range of issues, from the U.S. presidential election to the ongoing war in Gaza. During the discussion, they offered their personal perspectives on source development in political reporting and armed conflicts.
For Richey who has reported from war zones such as Iraq and Lebanon, gathering diverse perspectives is vital.
“You don't always get the full story from any one person," he explained. "You have to kind of triangulate to get what is happening from multiple people.”
This approach allows journalists to identify common ground and understand varying perspectives.
And even when sources have a strong point of view, understanding their motives is crucial.
“Everybody has an agenda,” Richey explained. "The key is to understand their motive, cross-verify, and put the information into context.”
It is crucial, he emphasized, to recognize that a single source may not provide the complete picture.
Richey advises aspiring journalists to become disciplined early in their careers by “writing down names and numbers” of potential sources, ensuring that they maintain a secure and organized system for future reference.
Meanwhile, Feldmann, who has covered the White House since 2001, emphasizes that establishing trust with various leaders, officials and low-level staffers is a gradual process.
“For them to tell you what's really happening, you have to get them to trust you," she said. "It may be a matter of building trust over time.”
There are occasions when key figures from the White House opt not to disclose complete information.
Your job as a reporter, Feldmann notes, is to do your best to "extract information from them. But you don't want to push too hard. You have to understand the pressures they are under because it's not their job to tell you what's really going on.”
Journalists shouldn't take "no" for a final answer, however. She said reporters must learn to circumvent their official sources to find the information “that the government doesn't want you to know about."
Good reporters often can persuade reluctant sources to reveal important information that is in the public interest – if they have developed a strong relationship of trust.
As Richey puts it, “Your job as a journalist is to get people to tell you the truth."
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