The Times Free Press stands by this story and the facts and quotes reported. The reporter has hours of audio and hundreds of pages of notes to back up everything that was stated in this article. Nails fully cooperated, consenting to allow the reporter and photographer to spend time with him, talk with him and take photographs. Before it was published the reporter spoke with Nails, explained the scope of the article. He was well aware that this article was about him and his experience, not traveling kids in general. He also knew we had contacted his father and interviewed him. As a newspaper we do not let sources read or approve stories before they are published. Often we are tasking with writing about hard truths that people would not want to see about themselves in the paper. We fact check stories and base our writing on interviews. We also do not need to seek permission from sources about using the names of public streets or Web sites that are public domain. The reporter identified herself from the beginning, had an audio recorder present and a notebook. Nails was well aware he was speaking on the record and that dialog was being recorded for the sake of an article. Many readers have responded to this article, expressing much thanks for being able to read about Nails and learn some about traveling kids through his experiences.
Hard like Nails?
The Times Free Press stands by this story and the facts and quotes reported. The reporter has hours of audio and hundreds of pages of notes to back up everything that was stated in this article. Nails fully cooperated, consenting to allow the reporter and photographer to spend time with him, talk with him and take photographs. Before it was published the reporter spoke with Nails, explained the scope of the article. He was well aware that this article was about him and his experience, not traveling kids in general. He also knew we had contacted his father and interviewed him. As a newspaper we do not let sources read or approve stories before they are published. Often we are tasking with writing about hard truths that people would not want to see about themselves in the paper. We fact check stories and base our writing on interviews. We also do not need to seek permission from sources about using the names of public streets or Web sites that are public domain. The reporter identified herself from the beginning, had an audio recorder present and a notebook. Nails was well aware he was speaking on the record and that dialog was being recorded for the sake of an article. Many readers have responded to this article, expressing much thanks for being able to read about Nails and learn some about traveling kids through his experiences.