JRN 300: Patient But Persistent

Recently I received this email from one of youze:

Hey Omar,

So I have e-mailed my contacts multiple times and tried calling them, however none have picked up or responded. Should I just keep trying or wait for them to respond because I don't want to annoy them or feel like they have to give me a bs answer.

This was my response:

This is a common frustration for journalists. You should both keep trying to reach them, and at the same time start looking for backup sources to contact. The worst thing that happens in that situation is too many people get back to you, which is a good problem. It's not their job to get back to us, but it is our job to have something usable by deadline. So be polite but persistent, and seek backups immediately.

Best, Omar

That's the reality of the business. As professional journalists we aren't paid to write or shoot video or do stand-ups; that's the easy stuff. What we are paid for is solving the problem of finding relevant people to talk to and then actually getting them to talk to us before deadline.  That's the skill we need to refine here.

Is there a magic approach to get people to call you back and talk to you? No. It's very case by case, just like a first date approach with one person doesn't work with another, and it can be hard to predict what will work.

So, what we need to do is be polite but persistent with primary sources: don't just email; call them. Don't just call them; stop by their office. Don't just wait on a return call; make a follow-up call.

Then, immediately after we put out our first round of calls to primary sources; immediately identify and reach out to secondary sources. Don't wait for your primary sources to first blow you off; again, the worst thing that happens is too many people call you back before deadline, and you have a huge amount of material to choose from for your story.

It beats the hack out of the alternative: nobody calls you back, and you're staring at the clock minutes before deal dine with nothing to write.