In a world of clickbait and misinformation, trust is everything. Journalists need to trust their sources to feed them reliable information, but they equally need to be trustworthy if they expect sources to open up to them.
Writing for IJNet, freelance writer Jennifer Sizeland shares lessons on how to cultivate trust with your sources, reflecting on her own career and speaking to fellow media pros.
Be clear about what their contribution will be and where it ties in with your story angle. It can come as a late shock when they see the article after publication, and you have only included a handful of passages from them. It pays to manage expectations from the get-go.
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