Today's in-house New York Times "Innovation" email-it comes out every Friday from the web folks and it touts, well, online innovation-addresses one of our favorite topics: The idiot emails that reporters blast the newsroom with when they are looking for random sources for a story.

To: The Staff
From: Jonathan Landman and Denise Warren
April 17, 2009

Those of us who work in the newsroom have grown accustomed to occasional e-mail blasts titled "Newsroom Reporting Help." They're pleas for help, reporters looking for sources. Sort of like this: "For a story about struggling artists and writers I am looking for struggling artists and
writers. Do you know any?"
Crowdsourcing
OK, fine, but if you're going to ask the crowd for sources why limit the inquiry to such a small, insular club? Maybe you prefer struggling Upper West Side artists, or ones from Montclair. Maybe you don't want to tip off the competition. To the folks at ArtsBeat, that's oldthink.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/attention-artists/

Well, the point they make is actually a good one! We see a lot of these emails from reporters and we always think: that is so sad that you are talking to your little echo chamber, looking for random "sources" to put in your story. Because they're just going to end up with a bunch of other people who ALSO went to Princeton! Taking it to the blogs is at least a step up. That way they'll just get the extroverts and the exhibitionists-but of all stripes!

Sadly, the Times didn't praise young TV reporter Brian Stelter, who, for a time, was regularly vomiting onto his Twitter requests for sources. It's an insanely effective technique! But one that has recently quieted-one wonders if he was asked to cool it. (Probably not! Innovation, however ugly, has no enemies!)