As the New York Times navigates rough terrain with its employees – which include reporters for both the Times and the Boston Globe – a nice nugget appeared today on NPR’s Marketplace. Reporters, it seems, have become the story as they vote on negotiated pay cuts.

The story itself is worth a listen.

The reporter, Tess Vigeland, however, did a smart thing: She asked the story’s subject, Boston Globe reporter Scott Allen, what it’s like to become the story rather than reporting on it.

His response should be mandatory reading for all journalists who interact with PR personnel:

“I have a great deal more respect for public relation officials, than I did two or three months ago. It’s not a position that I want to be in. I’d like to get back to the business of writing down notes, and running the tape recorder myself instead of answering these questions. But it’s a really important story; it’s about not just the Boston Globe, but it’s about how are we in American are going to get our news and information, and it’s changing very rapidly. And right now a major American paper is on the brink, and it’s an important story. And I’m happy to play the role of source instead of reporter, even if it makes me uncomfortable (source).

Image: Scott Allen of the Boston Globe, retrieved from Marketplace.org.

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