“Why should I tell you?” A guide to less-extractive reporting

At Paper Giant, we often talk about ways to make the research we do less ‘extractive’ – to pay attention to structural power relationships, and to never treat people as things to be mined for information.

It’s exciting to me to see this same conversation about power happening over on the journalism side, where public reporting can have serious consequences for the subjects of a story.

Natalie Yahr at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism’s 12 guidelines are based on interviews with journalists as well as with former interview subjects. They have value for researchers and journalists alike.