CT Daily Briefing – 10-31-2024

From staff writer Emily Belz: I sometimes think the biggest difference between a reporter and someone who is not a reporter is how often you call someone you don’t know out of the blue. When I started working as a reporter almost 20 years ago, I made cold calls all the time. That’s how I got scoops: Someone would pick up the phone and decide to answer my questions. 

I remember one of my first editors told me to keep calling different staffers at a congressional office one afternoon until someone talked to me. Emails don’t have quite the same effect. Someone might mull for hours or days about whether to write you back. If they answer the phone, they will talk to you.

I still find it necessary to do cold calls, even though the practice is less in vogue these days. I cold-called several sources in New York for some recent reporting I’m working on. I’m not trying to ambush people, so I want the person on the other end of the line to immediately sense some level of Christian hospitality from me. I often find that people do want to be called and asked questions about something they experienced or something they know. But digging up the truth for a story can also mean calling a congressional office ten times in a row. Then hospitality can start to look less hospitable, but the Christian journalist always has to balance love and truth in reporting.