He was a ground breaker who became a CBS News icon; a game show host and pitchman who became such a hard-nosed journalist that his name made up half of "the four most dreaded words in the English language: 'Mike Wallace is here.'" His death …
Interviews are an essential building block for just about every news story, so it's obviously important to know how to conduct a good one. Most interviewing advice comes in the form of tips and hints, like these dos and don'ts from Canadian journalist John Sawatsky and …
Beginning a new year by looking backward is a time-honored tradition among procrastinators and (true confession here) I can procrastinate with the best of them when I'm not on deadline. So herewith, a look back at the posts that got the most traffic at NewsLab …
How far will you go to protect the identity of sources who give you information on the condition that you not reveal their names? If you haven't thought about it, you should. Every reporter eventually runs into a story so important that it's worth getting the …
I love reading what other journalists have to say about their work and sharing their insights here, but sometimes I find myself in a bit of a quandary. What to make of this comment? "You're in the wrong job if you think that political journalists …
The mayor of Seattle is telling local TV stations to back off. In Georgia, the governor's office went so far as to ban an Atlanta station from a public event. What's going on here? Elected officials often don't like the way they're covered but they usually …
Mark Twain is one of the most quotable of American writers, especially on the subject of writing. Two of my favorites: "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." And: "Substitute 'damn' every time …
Too many stories depend almost entirely on officials for information and sound bites. Watch a newscast or read a news site on any given day and notice who gets to talk. Are most of them people with titles and business cards? Would those stories be …
People who have lost relatives or friends in a disaster are often the first target of journalists seeking to report on the event. How can journalists do their job of covering breaking news and informing the public, while showing sensitivity to victims? Sue Carter and Bonnie …
It's often said that one of our missions as journalists is to give voice to the voiceless. But if you look at the stories we produce, you won't often hear those voices. For instance, a lot of stories about children or issues that affect children …
What you get out of an interview is directly related to what you put into it. Even if you're in a rush, which most of us are these days, you owe it to yourself, your subject and most importantly your audience to spent some time …
Most interviews we do for television or radio are on the record. Seems obvious--after all, we usually show up with a microphone! But there may be times when you have to make a deal with a source in order to get any information at all. …
