I don't know whether other reporters feel this way, but I almost always have a slight wave of fear in my gut when I know someone has read or watched or listened to a story I wrote about them. Did I misquote them, take them out of context, portray them fairly? Of course reporters want to be fair all the time, but sometimes we're not.
Last December, when I wrote about a convicted fraud expert and former meth addict , (Lisa is not her real name; she continues to work with the DA's office) I asked whether anyone could ever trust her again. Would someone give Lisa a job when for more than a decade she supported her drug habit by stealing mail and stealing identities. "How can you believe someone who was so good at fooling everyone? . . . I hope she finds her way. But I wonder what great leap of faith it will take for someone to trust a thief," I wrote months ago.
Lisa read that blog post and she wrote to me a couple weeks ago:
"I remember in your article that you wrote about me online and in it you talk about how can I get people to trust me, well Ms. Faryon I think that I am accomplishing it. Life is so GOOD!!"
Daniel Saltman
December 19, 2008 at 02:07 AM
Man, meth is a really terrible drug. I've seen that stuff just destroy families. I'd venture to say that meth is even worse than crack or heroin.
