I agree that it might depend on your industry. As a former newspaper reporter, I can’t think of a single newspaper that would condone a reporter showing interview notes or a copy of a story to a source prior to its running or being published. Is it okay to run a couple of direct quotes by a particularly touchy but necessary source because otherwise he or she won’t go on the record with you? Perhaps. I’ve done it because a source matters so much to a story. Would I let that source change his direct quote? No. But similar to what you mentioned, I might let him expound upon it, though, and then decide what information is best for the story–and is the best explanation for the reader. Many reporters also run information by a source to make sure it’s correct, prior to publication; for example, I once spent an hour on the phone with a city planning director, going back over information from our earlier interview about the city’s controversial zoning requirements. All of those are pretty standard practices.

But given what you do, I can see why you operate the way you do. You’re probably not trying to shed light on a very sensitive political subject, I’d guess, or pin anyone down to make sure that someone’s not misusing tax dollars. What you’re doing definitely makes sense for your situation.

But Cynthia, for other stories, you certainly would want to be sure that you’re not helping your source to “spin” information a certain way or hide things from the public. And if your celebrities say something about the product they are producing that the consumer might think is important, you should publish it. Like, for example, if they let some nugget of information slip that might affect whether or not someone would want to see the movie you’re interviewing them about, I would publish that. I don’t think journalistic ethics demand you publish nuggets of info about their private lives, though.

No matter who you interview, it’s worth explaining how it works before you start the interview. When I interview children (with permission, of course), I always explain this to them in advance. I say something like, “Now, I’m going to be writing this down. And it might end up in the newspaper/magazine/online publication. So think about what you want to say before you say it. And think about what your parents might say, okay?” With an average Joe, I would give a similar explanation. But with a press-savvy person, like the director of communications for the governor or a corporation? Ha. They’re professionals. This is what they do. They know how it works. If they want something to be off the record, they know darn well they need to say so first. And that goes for publicists, too.

I once had a governor’s spokeswoman call me back after a phone call and try to retroactively take something off the record. I very nicely explained to her why I couldn’t do that. She demanded to speak with my editor, who backed me up 100 percent. Guess who treated me with much more professional courtesy in the future? Yep!

Terreece, great post, by the way. I agree with all of your points…except that I do think it’s okay for you to take a Coke or a bottle of water from a source.

I interview a lot of celebs and sometimes they say more than they should or talk about a personal matter that on retrospect they shouldn’t have mentioned.

Not only do I allowed “take backs” but I’ll ask to be sure when it comes to quotes that contain delicate subject matter. A small example being when a star mentioned the name of the hotel the cast of a movie was staying at at the time. Posting that fact might have made me popular with the fans but not so popular with the actor who slipped.