Editing the Editors

People approached me with tips for a "good story" when I was a working newspaper staff member, a radio news reporter, and later as a stringer for a major paper. Then they were miffed when I didn't write about the topic they "gave" me (as if it were a present!) I'm sure they had no notion of the work entailed in tracking down the facts about an issue or story. Also, reporters then seldom had the opportunity to present new stories to the people who decided what to pursue and assigned the jobs (editors).

A similar phenomenon takes place currently in the arena of "grassroots journalism". It is both more and less difficult to find the facts when someone posts on a discussion board or forum that a certain website is a good resource, so why don't I write about it here? Often those posts are anonymous plantings of lightly veiled advertising. If they contain negative comments, the source may be disgruntled former employees, customers, or even competitors.

Take "Editor Report" for example. On the surface description, it sounds good: a place freelancers can post inside scoops on what certain editors are like to work with, how publications treat writers -- all without fear of retribution. A little deeper probing reveals:

• site hosted on a free service
• only one page
  
• no identification of owner available
  
• appears to be based on a particular gripe
  
• contains cryptic linkage
• no dates on complaints
• vague references to a lawsuit
  

I suppose there might be entertain value as gossip, but for useful information? Nada. Grudge value? High. Noteworthy? Only as an example of a bad apple. I suspect it is the work of one of the members of the lawsuit mentioned or a supporter and not a public service for freelancers.

And it took me 30 minutes to dig up these facts and pull them together in this post, based on what I could learn online. Add a few minutes more to find and upload a relevant photo, then plug the whole message into the blog. That's why most leads are so fruitless. Or, you could say I made sour lemonade out of this one.