Funny call I made today

A store owner called and said that some info in an article I wrote about the digital TV switch was wrong. I gave the guy a call back since he pointed out a great article in a community rag showing his info was correct. Too bad the article in the rag was written by the guy's daughter.

I called the owner myself and said his accusations concerning my "superficial journalism" were a false one since I had several people telling me their issues regarding picking up digital TV signals. And the fact that the conflict of interest wasn't noted in the rag's article was obviously poor journalism as well.

If people can call us out all the time, a private phone call to readers who e-mail us is a good thing to help readers know that we will defend ourselves if people call our journalism into question.

 

You should have asked if you could meet with the daughter and go over reporting tips and so forth.

 

The same reporter wrote an article about a new business in the area. The new business is owner by the reporter's sister.

 

Yup, it's always a good thing to treat readers like the enemy.

 

When the guy has an obvious agenda of promoting his business and the paper that his daughter works at, a call wasn't out of line.

 

Sorry, it is out of line.
You know his agenda, you ignore him.

 

Now, that's funny!

 

Um, what does his daughter look like? :

 

And then he calls your publisher, and the publisher doesn't bother finding out what you already know and just comes and reams you.

 

If that's the case: Leave. Work at Mickey D's instead.

Ain't been in the business long, but I've never met a publisher who I wouldn't trust to get the reporter's side of the story when dealing with reader complaints.

 

Your smile would be turned into a frown if you saw her. And if my publisher said anything, he'd tell the owner he's full of crap.

 

If a reader calls and leaves a message, it is never out of line to call them back. In fact, I consider it part of the job.

It is never out of line to explain your side. It is never a bad idea to defend yourself if someone accuses you falsely of something.

If the original poster handled himself unprofessionally, that would be one thing. Without official transcripts of the call, I guess we'll never know.

But in general ... there is nothing wrong with calling back an upset reader, explaining your side of the story, and defending your choices if need be.