This week, the Poynter Institute is publishing installments from “Shut Out: Strategies for good journalism when sources dismiss the press,” our report from a 2023 symposium by the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership about the growing trend of sources bypassing independent reporting.

You can read the full PDF of the report here, or return each day for a new topic of discussion. 

The COVID-19 pandemic halted the practice of building relationships face to face. And the deepening political polarization in which newsmakers have increasingly vilified journalists with whom they disagree has also served as a deterrent for journalists to venture to places that may now seem unsafe. 

Attendees at Poynter’s ethics symposium discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the practice of journalism, from the proliferation of remote and hybrid workplaces to the fracturing of in-person relationships.

“Legislators and other elected officials got used to the fact that we weren’t in their face anymore, or we weren’t even showing up,” Klas said. “And so there’s been a behavioral shift that signals they don’t really want reporters — especially those with hard questions — to come.“

Mesfin Fekadu, senior music editor at The Hollywood Reporter and former entertainment reporter at The Associated Press, saw the behavioral shift among journalists, too: “The pandemic allowed a lot of us to do our jobs at home, and it can be very comfortable. You can report from your computer as much as you want. But you need to be in the weeds of things to get the real story.”

Symposium attendees discussed how early career journalists, particularly those who started during the pandemic and an especially unstable era of layoffs, need to be coached on how to have less transactional interactions, including showing up to happy hours or lunches. 

“It’s not easy to do, but it can be done,” said Schiff, the longtime political consultant. “Part of this is because our entire society is changing. The internet, the 24-hour news stations, the pandemic. All of those things are colliding to make us a different society than we used to be.” 

Consequences of the pandemic were often unavoidable, but some more intentional actions in which newsmakers treat journalists as part of a political strategy have created a chilling effect on newsgathering. 

In January 2023, Arizona Capitol Times reporter Camryn Sanchez started looking into whether Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers actually lived in the legislative district she represents. Conflicting records raised questions.

Sanchez, a credentialed journalist, started knocking on doors and approached Rogers at the capitol to ask about the conflicting information. Rogers filed a restraining order against Sanchez in April 2023, claiming this shoe-leather reporting amounted to harassment. In the initial hearing, Rogers asked the judge to ban Sanchez from the capitol entirely. Afterward, Rogers said she didn’t “trust that this person wouldn’t lash out and try to physically harm me in some fashion.” 

The initial judge didn’t prevent Sanchez from entering the capitol, but did uphold the injunction to stop her from talking to the senator and visiting her homes. The news organization appealed, and another judge dismissed the case, writing that Sanchez had a legitimate purpose for her behavior.

He referenced other legitimate door knockers: trick-or-treaters and politicians seeking reelection, like Rogers herself. 

Efforts to block reporters’ work can go further than restraining orders.

Former President Barack Obama prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all prior administrations combined. And, in 2013, the Obama administration obtained the records of 20 Associated Press office phone lines and reporters’ home and cell phones, seizing them without notice, as part of an investigation into the disclosure of information about a foiled al-Qaida terrorist plot, according to the AP, even though it was not the target of the investigation. 

It’s a truism that most journalists don’t do well at educating their audience or sources about how they work. A lack of understanding and trust alone can work against journalists getting access, but it can also lead to a more complex dynamic: sources in the public eye attacking the newsgathering process to avoid accountability. 

Stern said journalists are going to see more hostility, especially if they stop being persistent, as it would make door-knocking seem more out of place. “Stop doing these things like knocking on doors, and politicians stop expecting it. You’re going to have more people who actually think it is creepy when journalists knock on your door and not realizing that that’s what journalism is, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Klas, who was formerly the capitol bureau chief at the Miami Herald, said she has seen the stoking of distrust of journalists create a chilling effect when she covered the DeSantis administration. “There are people in his administration who had good relationships and have long had good relationships, and I’ve used them to work to get information. But here’s what happens: They can’t talk on the record. Because if they do, their governor is going to notice they were quoted, and that’s not cool.” 

Schiff, the Republican political consultant, agrees and said hostility is directed not only at the journalist, but also at other elected officials when they fall out of line. “The meanness, the ugliness, the personal attacks, has gotten really out of control.”

Klas sees this as a toxic cycle. “I believe at least the people that have denied access to me and to my organization have done it because they don’t want the full story. They can then point to our stories as biased. And then their base will say, Yeah, you’re right. And that just fuels this whole thing.”

Recommendation: Invest time (yikes!) in relationship building

Journalists should try to get in front of sources as quickly as possible. Being present is also an opportunity to educate them on their jobs and their intentions.

“I always made a practice of meeting with freshmen legislators,” Klas said. “And many of them used to have relationships with their local reporters, because they were doing the voter guide.”

With the decline of local newspapers and corresponding rise in news deserts, there are fewer reporters out in the field to connect with and build sources. 

“Now, nobody has any idea” how reporters work, Klas said. “And I think what they think reporters are, are the ones they see on cable television. They think that’s what everybody does. They think that everybody has a point of view or is partisan.”

Conclusion

Developing good sources is the central work of good journalism. It was never easy, and now it’s even harder. Economic pressures have reduced the number of reporters, and chasing online revenue has put a premium on the frequency and volume of reports rather than the depth and quality of stories. That has meant decidedly less time for face-to-face reporting. That very pullback from more expensive relationship building renders journalists of less value to sources who used to rely on getting their knowledge, their stories or their viewpoints out to the public. Many don’t know us at all, and a lot of others have decided they don’t need us.

At Poynter, we interact with newsrooms across the U.S. and the world, in addition to those who generously gave their time at our symposium. They tell us these dynamics are real and growing. Efforts to circumvent the press are increasing, as are denials of public records and partisan media outlets masquerading as mainstream. Journalists lack the authority and, yes, usefulness, we once had, which makes it easier for the cycle to perpetuate and sources to bypass us. 

But giving up is not an option. 

“We must recommit to the core values of beat reporting, recognize the value of talking with people less by Zoom appointment and more face-to-face so that our journalism is richer than short transactions,” said Poynter president Neil Brown. “This will require a commitment of time and improved training on craft that feels out of reach in challenging economic times. But the long-term health of the business — the relevance and service to our audience relies on it.

“Good journalism that makes change in a community has value. We must remember the power of our work to improve people’s lives. That will ultimately be the thing that gets our audience to care, and will keep us relevant to citizens and to sources,” he said. “We have to find ways, as we’ve laid out in this report, to keep pushing to tell complete and fair stories.”

Join the discussion and share your experiences with or questions about resistant sources with us at sources@poynter.org for potential use in a future poynter.org article. Look for information soon about a LinkedIn Live with our team to discuss effective strategies for informing our audiences. Poynter intends to continue work on this dynamic, present at conferences and offer public and custom training for journalists in the future. 

About the symposium

Thirteen experts attended or otherwise contributed to a symposium at the Knight Foundation offices in Miami, Florida for a daylong discussion with Poynter of the dynamic of sources shutting out the media. All discussion was considered off the record. Participants have approved the use of the quotes and anecdotes cited in this report. 

Poynter wishes to thank the Knight Foundation for the use of its facilities and the help of its team, and the journalists and other professionals who shared their time and knowledge to help tackle this growing issue in our industry. 

Symposium participants: 

• Tracy Brown, chief content officer at Chicago Public Media
• Sergio Bustos, vice president of news for WLRN South Florida Public Media
• Mesfin Fekadu, senior music editor, The Hollywood Reporter
• Justin Garcia, state and local accountability reporter for the Tampa Bay Times
• Alan Halaly, former editor, The Independent Florida Alligator, University of Florida
• Mary Ellen Klas, politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion 
• Cindi Lash, vice president of news for WESA Public Media
• Rebecca Lewis, senior state politics reporter at City & State New York.
• April Schiff, president, co-founder, Strategic Solutions of Florida
• Seth Stern, director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation
• Hollis R. Towns, vice president of content and editor-in-chief, Alabama Media Group
• Don Van Natta Jr., investigative reporter, ESPN
• Mike Wilson, deputy editor of The Great Read feature of The New York Times

Poynter participants:

• Neil Brown, president
• Kelly McBride, senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership
• Fernanda Camarena, faculty
• Jennifer Orsi, senior director for publishing and local news initiatives
• Mel Grau, director of program management
• Lara Shelton, events and experiences manager

This report was edited by Neil Brown and Jennifer Orsi

Coming Friday: The complete report