Saturday Scruples
1. a close friend will be interviewed for a job with your employer. he asks you for a list of the questions in advance. do you supply it? No. I would tell him what the job entails, what's expected of him, etc. to help him prepare for the interview. But giving him a list of questions in advance would be cheating.
2. you work for an optical store. jimmy has broken his glasses and his parents are agonizing over the price of replacements. a competitor is selling identical glasses for half-price. do you send jimmy's parents there? It would depend on how I felt about Jimmy's parents. If I had a good feeling about them. First I'd talk to my boss and tell him about the competitor's prices, hoping he'd lower our price. If that didn't work, I'd suggest Jimmy's parents shop around for a better price but I wouldn't actually send them to the competitor.
3. you are a reporter. the family of a murder victim has refused your requests for picture and interview. your editor demands that you keep calling them. do you? This, folks, is one of the myriad reasons I'm no longer working for a newspaper. Sometimes editors forget sources for stories are people -- with emotions. The last thing these people need is for some reporter digging around in their personal lives. It doesn't matter if it's the family of a murder victim or a small business owner whose store is closing or someone who was harassed by a rogue cop. If they don't want to talk, they don't want to talk. Reporters who push too hard and are willing to do anything to get a story are the people who give reporters a bad name. I wouldn't want someone hounding me like that. What makes other reporters think the people they're trying to interview are any different? Anyway, to answer the question: What I would do is call them one last time, make sure they have my name, phone number and e-mail address and tell them I'm ready to listen when they're ready to talk. A lot of editors wouldn't be happy with that (in my experience, anyway), so I would try to talk to the victim's friends, people he worked with, etc. Usually you can find someone who will talk. If the editor still wasn't happy, I'd quit.
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