Got interviewed today for the local paper- how to thank the reporter?

Nothing wrong with a thank you card.

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Sending cards is fine.

If you want to send her a card now for paying for your tea, do it now.

Otherwise, wait until the article comes out, then you can thank her for doing a good job (if she did) and thank her for the tea at the same time.

Congrats on the article! Bless you for the good work you do!

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

A card or a note would be appropriate.

But...

...wait till the article comes out, in case she trashes your business!

I agree with waiting until the piece comes out to send a note, as that way you can mention the article itself.

You can call and leave a message or send a short email saying you enjoyed chatting with her and to please feel free to contact you if she has any follow-up questions though.

Just btw, she pays for your tea/lunch/whatever. She's the reporter, that's what expense reports are for.

As a former reporter, a card would be earthshattering. A kind email would be above and beyond the call of what is normally received.

*waves at fellow Delawarean* Was it the News Journal? Congrats!

I'd send an email now to thank her for the interview and the tea and a note after the article is published.

Congratz!

It seems to me you co-operated fully in helping her do her job. Isn't that sufficient? Bottom line she is not doing free promotion for you as a favor--she is reporting something about you that will sell papers.

Wait to see if the story runs and how badly you are misquoted before doing anything more. Ambush stories are more common that you might think.

I think I'd send the card now. If she planned to say anything uncomplimentary, maybe it will guilt her into changing it.

Also, congrats!

But she wrote the article for the publication that pays her salary, that is my point.

Odds are it will be a great article. But I have felt that way in the past and found it was just a cover for attacking my work.

veinglory said:

It seems to me you co-operated fully in helping her do her job. Isn't that sufficient? Bottom line she is not doing free promotion for you as a favor--she is reporting something about you that will sell papers.

Wait to see if the story runs and how badly you are misquoted before doing anything more. Ambush stories are more common that you might think.

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I've been interviewed a couple of times for newspaper articles (I'm a vet in Maryland). The reporter was getting a story out of it. They get paid. They didn't do it for nothing. However, a card or e-mail would probably be nice.

Fenika said:

I should get animal themed thank you cards! *adds to business expenses list*

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We get a lot of our note cards from Barx Brothers. We use them for sympathy cards and notes when needed. Huge assortment - really well done.

I'm another who would wait to see how badly if you've been misquoted before you send thanks.

And she should definitely have been paying for the tea - she'd be putting it on expenses for sure!

I know you are excited about the forthcoming article, but here a few more thoughts:

You are not required to send any kind of thank-you message.

Most people interviewed never thank the reporter.

Don't send a note before the article appears, because that can look like you're pressuring the reporter to say nice things.

Don't call the reporter before the article appears to learn its status. If you must, you might ask about date of publication, but even that can be perceived as exerting a little pressure.

You'd be surprised at how many interviewees mistake a reporter for a publicist. It is not the reporter's job to promote you or your business--no matter what friendly feelings may have arisen between you.

The tea comes with the territory.

Approaching this from the other side: I interviewed a few sources recently for an article that I was writing. I didn't expect them to thank me--actually, I thanked them for their time as they're all very busy people.

Then again, no-one minds getting a thank-you card out of the blue...

I'm glad you got an interview, Fenika! I bet it's a great article.

A few random thoughts from a reporter's standpoint...

Nymtoc said:

I know you are excited about the forthcoming article, but here a few more thoughts:

You are not required to send any kind of thank-you message. No, not required, but we think it's extremely nice, especially after all the horrible things people say about journalists most of the time. Thank you notes/emails make our day.

Most people interviewed never thank the reporter. True, but see above.

Don't send a note before the article appears, because that can look like you're pressuring the reporter to say nice things. It can be taken either way.

Don't call the reporter before the article appears to learn its status. If you must, you might ask about date of publication, but even that can be perceived as exerting a little pressure. It can be frustrating, especially if an article has been put off for awhile by our editors.

You'd be surprised at how many interviewees mistake a reporter for a publicist. It is not the reporter's job to promote you or your business--no matter what friendly feelings may have arisen between you. That's true, but I enjoy working with willing, interesting, excited interviewees. However, there are some who get a bit crazy. (I'm sure that's not you, Fenika!)

The tea comes with the territory.

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Fenika said:

Well, I got all impulsive after lunch, wrote the note and dropped it off at the office.

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Hey, now that it's done, I'm sure you'll be all right. My list of "don'ts" (above) was based on years of reporting experience, and there were times when I got PO'd at interviewees who kept pestering me after an interview: "When's it gonna run, huh?" One persistent person came at me several times and finally phoned my editor to complain that I was taking too long to write it. It didn't do him any good. The editor was responsible for the delay.

An exception that I should have mentioned is that if you have additional information for the reporter, it is natural to let her/him know: "I forgot to tell you that we're opening a branch in Lithuania next month, and by the way, that figure I gave you should be five hundred, not five hundred million."

(All this leads to a related topic--giving gifts to reporters. This is a very sticky area, since a gift can sometimes come close to the B-word. Okay, I'm talking about Bribery, which is not unknown, especially if the reporter and the source expect to interact again. Most reputable publications have rules about that sort of thing. But even if a publication doesn't, the general understanding among journalists is that you may accept a smallish, token gift after a piece has run, but anything expensive should be sent back. So feel free to send your reporter a box of chocolates or a slim volume of your poems, but skip the 65-inch TV.)

My crystal ball tells me the article will be very positive, and you and the reporter may even sit down for another cup of tea. After the article appears, you can pay for the tea.

You'll be fine, Fenika. Cheers and congrats!

Ex-reporter here. I get that the deed is done, but my suggestions would have been to wait. Nice during an interview doesn't always translate to good reporting.
Meanwhile, a thank you after the story is welcome.

The best way to thank a reporter is in person, before they leave. The reporter is just doing his job, and probably wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. He's assigned to cover such things. Thank him for taking the time to do it right, if he did, and let it go.

Jamesaritchie said:

The best way to thank a reporter is in person, before they leave. The reporter is just doing his job, and probably wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. He's assigned to cover such things. Thank him for taking the time to do it right, if he did, and let it go.

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Beat me to it. "Thank you very much," works surprisingly well in nearly every situation.

caw

Nymtoc said:

A card or a note would be appropriate.

But...

...wait till the article comes out, in case she trashes your business!

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Haha this! I've also had the experience where a journalist interviewed our music business and tried to do a good job...but she wrote our website address incorrectly and put down the wrong contact info. What was the freakin point?!

On the other hand, thanking a reporter is always nice. Especially if they write a good article about you. It's also nice to keep in touch, because having a journalist contact can be a big help sometimes. It's come in handy for me before! Even if they publish your business website incorrectly, it's not worth burning a bridge over.

Now if she slams your business, that's another story...

Anyways, congrats on the interview! Let us know what the outcome is.

Awesome! Let us know about the article when it comes out.

Just want to point out that not all reporters get to expense work meals. But maybe that's because I work at an alt weekly! If it's just tea, hey, no big deal. And what you did sounds fine.

I don't expect any particular thanks from sources. I do like it when they email me to say they liked the article, if it was something I spent lots of time on. I'd rather not get gifts from authors because I reviewed or even just mentioned their book, though. A couple of self-published authors have done this, and it feels like they see me as a publicist, which I'm not.