"Can You Send Me A Copy Of The Story Before It Runs?"

Sometimes you'll get an interviewee who wants to see the story before it runs. The reasons range from a fear of being misquoted to an effort to influence the overall shape of the piece.

Since the relationship with sources in technical journalism (where I earn my money) is seldom adversarial, and since you often want to come back to use the source again, the request puts the writer in a difficult situation.

First, of course, keep in mind who you're working for. You're working for the magazine, not the source's company, and your first loyalty has to be to the magazine.

It's a sticky question for writers because the last thing you or your editor wants is to have the story reviewed by some outside entity. At the same time you don't want to lie to your source.

There are several ways to handle this situation. One is flat refusal, explaining it is against the magazine's policy -- whether there is any such formal policy or not. Most of the time the source will accept that, although some of them get testy about it -- limiting the source's use in future stories.

A more sophisticated version is to say you'll take it up with your editor, then mention it to the editor without making a big deal about it.

Personally I never provide a source with a copy of the story. If they have a copy in hand the sources' instinct is to run it by his boss. The next thing you know the guy is calling back demanding changes because the legal department, PR agency, vice-president, etc., didn't like what the guy said.

A compromise I'll use is to tell the person you will call them after the story is written and read them their quotes. In making the offer you explain that you're under a tight deadline and the window may be as little as a couple of hours and you're not sure when that window will fall. You have to make contact in that time frame, you explain, or the opportunity for review will be lost.

This has the advantage of being mostly true and it limits the time available for other people in the company messing with the story.