Credit Where Credit Is Due

It's probably the nightmare of every journalist -- professional or vanity (we bloggers belong to the latter type) -- to get stung by a source. Source. You know -- the person who feeds you "insider information" to post on your blog (or in your column) so you can get the scoop on everyone else.

You should be able to trust your sources. Being really new to this world, I'm not sure what the source gets out of it (professional sources probably get money, but bloggers are not rich. At least, I'm not). Vicarious thrills, maybe, that the "tip" went public, and they had something to do with it?

There are bloggers out there who have built up such a following as to be almost professional. Indeed, some of them could be -- possibly should be. They have sources. They trust those sources. And the readers trust the bloggers.

So, what happens when a source burns a blogger?

I don't imagine much is going to happen to the source, except that his credibilty is forever shot. He'll never, as they say, "work in this town again."

But what happens to the blogger?

Well, that depends entirely on what he does next. This one and this one both got burned by the same source on the same story. Go read how they handled their end of things.

Well done, Stephen and Angry. Class acts, both of you.

Professional journalists -- take notes!