I’m lovin this AP thing. Silly, sure. Plenty of people have mentioned that to me. But I can’t help it. Say my name in the same sentence as “the Associated Press” and I blush.
In two days, I’ve received dozens of phone calls about that railroad story. I stopped counting after the 30th phone call this morning. I like the feedback. I like people reading.
I suppose the calls aren’t unusual. With most stories, people won’t hesitate to contact a reporter when they have a few questions. I think it’s fair to even say that many people will go to a reporter before picking up the phone and calling one of the story’s sources directly. Makes sense if you assume that their questions relate to the story’s content, wording, whatever.
But honestly, the questions usually don’t.
Almost all of those calls came from people who think, or wish, I had something to do with the railroad. I’ve returned all the calls, usually just to offer the railroad’s contact information (which was published). Some don’t get that I don’t have any more information than what was in the story. One woman hung up on me this morning because I declined to book her train ticket for her.