It never ceases to astound me that one of the unwritten rules of journalism seems to be that you never, NEVER, let your story be read by one of its source people so such glaring errors might be caught before publication. This is especially puzzling with stories like this one, that don't have an urgency in reaching the public immediately.

As a source person at times, myself, I've even asked the journalist if I may see his/her draft before it's submitted for publication, to help check its accuracy, and most of the times I've been refused. As a result, I've joined the countless numbers of people who are held responsible for published "quotes" that were never made and "information" that was never given. It's no wonder that many who have experienced this will, like myself, often turn down any more requests for journalists' interviews. We very much recognize that journalists cannot be experts in every subject they write about, and with all kindness at heart, we want to help them to understand our fields of expertise. Perhaps someone familiar with journalistic principles can enlighten us on why our willingness to help must be turned down.