Email interviews will now only be allowed in the Stanford newspaper with the permission of top editors, similar to the policy of the ‘Prince.’ Billy Gallagher, the president and editor-in-chief of the paper, explained in a letter from the editor that email interviews made the paper “serve merely as a conduit for community PR.”
Gallagher said email interviews allowed sources to more closely control their message and illustrate “reverse quote-approval,” referring to the campaign reporting practice exposed by The New York Times earlier this summer.
“Because interviewees can write out exactly what they want and review it before hitting ‘send,’ they can review any and all quotes before they even reach the reporters,” Gallagher wrote.
The ‘Prince,’ which does not practice quote approval, announced its email interview policy change at the beginning of this semester.