Ethics and Writing in a Small Town

State College is a good place to be a writer. While there are people like me, who are full-time freelancers and write for a variety of publications, there are plenty of writing jobs around town. Most of the writers I know who have a steady day job also dabble in some freelance work.

The well-known mantra of writing is <93>write what you know.<94> That<92>s often coupled with a lesser-known <93>use who you know.<94>

For a writer, the two most difficult tasks are coming up with solid ideas and coming up with good sources. I admit, I get a lot of my writing ideas from conversations I have with people I know. Like the idea for this week<92>s column. A local writer friend of mine had some concerns about a conflict of interests in two writing jobs she had, and I thought the ethics of writing in a small town would be a great idea.

When I get these ideas, I also don<92>t hesitate to ask the source who provided it to be interviewed or provide me in the direction for more information. I suspect most writers are the same way. If there is a real conflict of interest between story idea, story source, and writer, most writers will offer it off to someone else.

In a town like State College, those edges between story idea and story source get blurred fairly often, particularly when the writer holds down a regular job. When is it okay to use your job for another writing assignment? When is it not okay?

My rule of thumb is when in doubt, ask. Know a faculty member who is doing some fabulous research that could be the greatest thing since sliced bread? Don<92>t pitch the idea until you talk to the researcher first and get the okay. They may not be allowed to reveal the information to the general public. My personal action point is that unless told otherwise, I kept my query letters to myself until the press release landed on my desk.

Another trick is to look at the overall picture. When I worked on campus, my boss<92>s research wasn<92>t ready for public consumption, but the underlying for his research was very important and only beginning to get the press it deserved. I had an editor who I knew would be interested in an article, so I talked to my boss and promised him that he would be my top expert source. He was thrilled to get the message out.

One thing to remember about State College is that the University and local publications are intertwined more than most folks want to admit. There will always be overlap. If you write with a local focus long enough, the odds are very good that you will be asked to write about someone you know or, if you work on campus, write about someone in your department or college. If that<92>s the case, approach it like any other interview or any other article, with an open (and slightly empty) mind. (Sometimes to do a good interview, you have to forget about everything you know about the person or subject. Otherwise, you risk slanting the article to your opinion, rather than focusing on the expert.) If you don<92>t think you can do that fairly, the most ethical thing to do is turn down the assignment. After all, no matter where you live or who you interview, the most important is to always report fairly and accurately.