At a movie premiere in 2023, journalist Sebastián Garrido was the next in line to interview one of the blockbuster’s stars, who was making her way down the red carpet. As he waited, he saw the journalist beside him ask the actor, who’s known to keep her personal life private, a question about her significant other.
She wasn’t happy. In one fell swoop, the star’s publicist pulled the actor away and said no more questions.
“The actress seemed so upset and she didn’t give any more interviews after that,” Garrido said, noting that he lost the opportunity to interview her because of the incident. “Everyone around the press paddock was mad at that journalist and we booed him.”
Garrido had witnessed a journalist breaking a boundary in a journalist-source relationship. Whether a reporter is talking to a public figure or a local citizen, it’s important to create and respect boundaries with interviewees, making sure the relationship stays professional, within the bounds of the assignment and doesn’t venture into any murky territory — ranging from unnecessarily provoking them to becoming their best friend.
“Most people speak to journalists when they’ve had a personal trauma or tragedy and emotions are high,” said Nina Sen, director of news standards for race, class and gender at NBC News. “It’s crucial to recognize if you are putting yourself in a potentially vulnerable position or creating a conflict of interest, such as invitations to holiday dinner or free tickets. Keep your editors informed about your interactions and never assume because you feel close to a source they are always trustworthy.”
The Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics addresses these boundaries, including recommendations that reporters refuse gifts and special treatment and be cautious about making promises.
“The idea was simply to give journalists guidelines on how they should behave, which includes the journalist-source relationship,” said Fred Brown, a retired journalist, professor and longtime member of the SPJ’s professional standards and ethics committee, which encourages use of the code. “We don’t have sanctions against people who violate the code. It’s a warning that if you don’t behave ethically, you’re going to ruin your reputation.”
I spoke to several journalists about effectively creating and maintaining boundaries with sources. Here’s what they had to say.
Set the tone from the beginning
Brown pointed out a common phrase he heard during his 39-year career at The Denver Post, which included 30 years covering the statehouse. At the end of an interview, a source would sometimes say, “Everything I just told you is off the record.”
“That doesn’t work,” he said. “That has to come upfront, not at the rear end of an interview.”
While speaking off the record is a boundary that should be established at the start, former TV journalist and etiquette expert Jo Hayes noted that it’s not the only boundary to set early on. She advises reporters to set the tone of the conversation — and relationship — early. Many sources aren’t used to being interviewed by journalists, in which their words are recorded and end up in articles, TV news or audio stories. It’s always good to inform them of that in advance.
“It’s far easier to maintain than attain boundaries,” she said. “If you have very firm, wide, clear boundaries, it’s easier then to, after a while, move backward from them, rather than having boundaries that are not strong enough. Then you have to build them up when you realize, ‘Oh, this is actually getting far too personal, and I’m not comfortable with this.’”
While in college, Garrido had the opportunity to interview an Australian band — it was the first interview of his career. Before he met the band, Garrido’s boss pulled him into a room and told him to be direct and let them know this was his first interview.
When he met the musicians, he told them, “So, sorry beforehand if I seem a little bit nervous. It’s my first interview.”
And it made a difference. “After that, they told me ‘Don’t worry,’ and they were so friendly with me,” Garrido said. “It helped the interview flow naturally.”
Be friendly, but not friends
The journalist-source relationship is a delicate balance. Reporters should be professional and friendly, but it’s a fine line between being friendly and friends, especially when you cover a beat. During his years as a statehouse reporter, Brown saw and spoke to many familiar faces every day — but always kept a professional distance.
“You don’t want to approach your sources with hostility,” Brown said. “You should respect them, and that means being civil, being polite but not getting too close.”
He recalled a source once remarking, “You’re not going to burn me on this, are you?” which insulted him. “I always hoped that sources understood that I’m trying to get information to tell the public, and I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble,” Brown said. “My primary goal is to collect facts.”
On the other hand, some sources start to think the reporter is there solely to write good things about them or their business — a sign it may be time to strengthen boundaries with the source. Licensed clinical psychologist Holly Schiff said the reporter should also look to their own body for cues, including feeling overwhelmed, tense and fatigued, or having a gut feeling that things aren’t right.
“Make sure to address this directly, but in a respectful way,” Schiff said. “Make sure to communicate clearly and reinforce the professional nature of your relationship. Be explicit about what types of communication are appropriate and set limits.”
Garrido uses the approach of treating his sources — often celebrities and filmmakers in the entertainment industry — not like a complete stranger but like a distant friend he hasn’t seen in a long time.
“You really have to hook them from the beginning, and if you don’t, then the interview will not flow at all,” he said. “I think it’s a good approach to be friendly, but not that friendly, and I think that that helps them. At the end of the day, they are famous, but they open up more if you treat them as a human, because they are people.”
Don’t divulge too many personal details
As a journalism professor, I teach my students to be personable with their sources and to treat their interviews like a conversation, but early-career reporters also need to make sure they don’t put too much of themselves into the interview. The end goal is always to get the facts from the source.
Hayes suggests reporters stay very general in the information they relay. For example, if the interviewee asks the reporter how their weekend was, the reporter can respond they enjoyed the nice weather without giving specifics. Then, the focus should go right back to the source.
This is because talking about personal topics may lead the source to think the reporter is their friend. Hayes, a former speech-language pathologist, says back-and-forth chatter is the nature of conversation; humans taking turns sharing about themselves builds healthy relationships. But journalists need to limit that natural inclination to share and stay professional.
“We may be tempted to share personal information because they are sharing so much personal information, but that is crossing a professional boundary,” Hayes said. “We need to be very much like psychologists, doctors and other professionals, keeping those personal boundaries very firm.”
Communicate professionally and limit the frequency
After good interviews, young journalists will likely have sources who want to keep in touch, but Hayes cautions against following them on social platforms other than LinkedIn, a professional networking tool. She also advises against using emoji in written communication, because the source may interpret that as very friendly.
“Even if they follow you and you’ve got a public profile, do not follow them back,” she said. “That shows far too much interest in their personal life. I would also encourage [not to] reply to any of their replies and try and shut down any further communication with them that is not professional.”
Communication should also stay limited to the stories the reporter is working on. Schiff said if it veers from that or becomes excessive, it’s a red flag that the journalist’s boundaries may need to be re-established by stating them directly and firmly.
“Beware of the smarmy people who try a little too hard to ingratiate themselves with you,” Brown said. “Rather than succumbing to that, you should get your BS detectors operating full throttle.”
