Building an ongoing relationship with disabled sources

To the extent you’re able, stay in touch with disabled sources after the interview, as you would with any other sources. Ask whether there are things you should be aware of, policy initiatives coming down the pike, or other people you can or should talk to. Follow discussions on social media, using hashtags relevant in the disability community (see Annex, hashtags). Ask people to refer you to their allies, their critics, and their friends. Don’t bother people, but do check in once in a while. Read your sources’ work. Read the things they cite. Ask about them.

 
One very important caveat here: intellectual work by disabled people is not yours to take without asking. By all means, cite work by sources you’ve interviewed, but that means actually citing the work as theirs, not passing it off as your own. If you learn a lot about policy from a source, use what you’ve learned and tell your audience where you got the information. Time and time again, I have seen disabled people give brilliant and insightful interviews while showcasing their relevant knowledge and experience, only for their expert input to be reduced to a sound bite about how they are hurt by something that has happened or how it makes them feel. And the knowledge the reporter acquired in that same interview is presented as something the reporter got on their own or is attributed to a source without lived experience. This problem is so commonplace that many disabled people do not want to be interviewed, because they’re worried that their words and actions will be misinterpreted and their knowledge will be appropriated. Similar to what Duncan McCue says, don’t parachute in to take stories[1].

 
It’s not considered good journalistic practice to allow a source to vet their quotes and the story in which they are presented. But considering the complexity of disability policy and the variety of lived experience, it might be a good idea to at least read back parts that include the source’s quotes and see whether there are any errors or whether some facts could be misinterpreted. This collaborative approach will lead to a better story and allow you to build more trust with your sources.

 
As we know as journalists, sometimes we have to cut interviews. That’s unavoidable. But cutting interviews does require communication with the source, and it’s a good idea to consider alternative methods of including the information. Perhaps you could post the interview as a stand-alone audio or video piece on your outlet’s website, do a web piece to go with a broadcast feature or use that interview as the basis for a later piece. If such options are available to you, let your source know and explain that the work was still valuable to your story. Make it clear that you’d like to interview them again some other time, for another story (if indeed you do).