Practical advice for developing sources
by Drew Sullivan

• The best sources are developed over time. Commit to the long run
• Everyone is a source. Everyone.
• Sources must be maintained. Regularly contact them to see what is up. Take them out for coffee or lunch. Every week 2 sources.
• Beats are the best places to develop sources.
• Let people know you are looking for stories and you would welcome tips, suggestions or criticisms. Always accept these calls and be patient.
• Explain to sources how your industry works. Explain deadlines, what “off the record” means and anything else that will help them deal with you better.
• Be yourself and don't be afraid to be human
• Make sure they have your phone number and e-mail. If it's appropriate, give them home, cell and pager numbers, too. Make yourself available 24-7
• Never lie, cheat, steal or misrepresent yourself. Sources will respect your credibility. Credibility must be slowly earned and is quickly destroyed.
• Be honest about what your story is about. If a story is likely to reflect negatively on a source, let them know.
• Show that you care about accuracy. Ask for proof, documents and details that show you really want to be sure.
• Seek out sources who aren't the "usual suspects" on your beat
• Make friends in low places. A secretary or maid see and hears more than most people know they do and they are more willing to talk.
• Talk to consumers or users. If you are investigating a bank, ask the people who use the bank what they’ve noticed.
• Get references. “Network” through the people a source knows to get other valuable sources.
• Deputize sources. Free them to work on your behalf.
• Tell your sources what topics you are interested in. You can even tell good sources what other stories you are working on. Maybe they know someone who knows someone else who can help you.
• Admit you're not an expert. If you don't know or understand something, ask. Get people used to educating you.
• Become an expert.  The more you understand about a topic, the more sources will respect you and give you more time. If they know you know, they’re more likely to talk to you than other reporters. 
• Be courteous and listen to sources talk about something you don't necessarily care about. It may be important later, but even if it is not, you showed that you are willing to listen.
• Face the music.  When you write a story that is likely to anger someone, call them or give them an opportunity to disagree with you and to be heard. Listen to what they have to say and explain yourself but don’t get into an argument with them. Let them know you care what they have to say. 
• Admit your mistakes. Act on mistakes as strenuously as you would act on a story. Call sources personally. Show them that you do not tolerate inaccuracies.
• Answer a sources questions. Don't always fell you need to control the relationship.
• Get every address and phone number you can for a source. Keep it stored safely in a book or on the computer. Get phone numbers for their office, home, pager, mobile phone, vacation home, spouses work number, email address, etc. You never know when you have to track someone down.
• Keep track of the names of those people or things close to a source:  secretaries, spouses, children, hometowns, former jobs, alma maters, anything you learn that might later be handy to know.
• Write a profile as a way to get to know an important source.
• Get sources used to you asking for documentation.
• Establish boundaries - beware of getting too close. Make sure you know whether someone is a friend or a source. Adjust the relationship if necessary if a source moves beyond friendly to friendship.
• Listen to people on the fringe: homeless, criminals, prostitutes, the extremely paranoid.
• Respect the sources importance in their career and life. When you call people, ask them, «do you have a minute?».