Confidence through attribution

Normal follow-up crime reporting consists of checking case progress on Casenet and checking in with attorneys. But Monday, after I finished a story about a woman facing prostitution and weapons charges, I was given the opportunity to follow-up in an unusual way: directly calling the defendant. She had called the newsroom with complaints about a few details in the story (which were apparently wrong), requesting that I call her back to talk about it. I’m glad that Elise, the ACE on duty, didn’t commit me to returning the call – Elise just told the woman I might – but I did anyway, because I felt confident about everything I used in the story. I couldn’t know for sure if it was all accurate, but I did know for sure that I wasn’t liable for any false information because it all came directly from either the probable cause statement, the prosecuting attorney or the jail. And I was always clear about that. Although I never got a hold of the woman, the experience really cemented the value of attributing. Since I had attributed, and was careful to directly pull the information, there was nothing to fear about talking to the woman. She can blame the probable cause statement, but she can’t blame me. This confidence has been a major area of growth for me throughout the semester, and has made reporting much easier, faster and stress-free. Thank goodness.