Who Do You Know?

"In an e-mail exchange with a friend of mine this morning, he was marveling at how I seem to be able to come up with experts when he needs one. Exact words: "It never ceases to amaze me who Richard knows." And I had to smile when I read this--not that smile of smug satisfaction, by the way.

No, I smiled because my friend had just defined what journalism is all about. Do journalists need to know lots of things and become subject matter experts in a wide range of areas? Of course not. I will take a journalist with a fat list of contacts over a know-it-all any day. It truly is a case of who you know versus what you know. I think good journalists are always looking for one more source, one more contact and one more person to add to their database.

Which brings me to the next thing in a good journalist's arsenal. The next best thing to knowing somebody who knows something is to know somebody who knows somebody who does. I've often said some of my best sources are ones I never quote in my articles. Instead, these are the people I can call any time and know that they will be able to tell me exactly the person I should call to get an answer to my question. Then they proceed to give me that person's contact information and offer me the option of saying that they said to call. Priceless.