R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to sources

Thanks to John Scalzo of Gaming Target for pointing me to his editorial about the hypocrisy of video game violence crusader Jack Thompson. Mr. Scalzo sent me the link to highlight Mr. Thompson's quote calling game journalism "an oxymoron," but I'd like to use the article to discuss the more important issue of how to respectfully handle sources.



In the article, Scalzo details his attempts at correspondence with Thompson. In the first sentence of his first e-mail, Scalzo says:



I would like you to know that I have nothing but contempt for the way you have continuously ignored the mounting evidence that video games are not harmful in your tireless crusade to make gamemakers "pay."



Scalzo goes on to call Thompson ignorant and a fraud, and then takes Thompson to task for resorting "to petty name calling in response to a serious question."



In his defense, Scalzo said he was just trying to get his point across as directly as possible. "I thought it was a rather simple message," he said in the editorial. "Yes, I was probably a bit more harsh than I needed to be, but I did not want to speak in code. I wanted to make my opinions known so that he would make his."



While it's good to be up front about your position, there's a difference between being direct and being rude. If you antagonize the source from the get-go, all you're likely to get back is an antagonistic response (which gets into the issue of baiting your source, but that's for another time). If you show them respect and courtesy, they're likely to return the favor with a respectful and courteous response that addresses your questions.



Here are some quick tips from my (admittedly limited) experience with talking to sources:

• Always address your source as Mr. or Ms. in your first contact with them. Use your discretion in subsequent contacts. If they use your first name informally in their response, then you can usually feel free to do the same for them.
  
  
• Always identify yourself and the organization you're writing for. Provide a web site link if possible so the source can check you out. This helps establish trust, assuming your web site is trustworthy.
  
  
• Make it clear that anything they say in response is fair game to use in publication. This helps avoid problems down the road if your source suddenly tries to take back something they said earlier. Anything they say after you give them this warning is fair game for printing.
  
  
• Frame your questions in a way that allows equal possibility for a positive or negative response. A contrived example (from outside of video games):
  
  Good question: "What is your positon on abortion?"
  
  Bad question: "Do you support the murder of thousands of innocent fetuses each year?"
  
  
• I always like to end my e-mails with, "Thanks in advance for your reply," or some similar polite enticement for them to respond quickly. You'd be surprised how far a nice "please" or "thank you" will go in establishing a good relationship with a source.
  
  

Use these tips and you should have no trouble getting along just fine with your sources.