OPINION -- The direct approach
By Gene Price
Published in News on April 19, 2004 1:57 PM
Incentives can be a good management tool.
I was working in the Washington office of Congressman Herbert C. Bonner back in the late 1940s and a rumor surfaced that the president's daughter, Margaret Truman Daniels, might be "expecting."
One of the editor's of The Washington Post (or it could have been The Star) announced that a bonus awaited the reporter who was able to break the story.
A few minutes later, a female informed the editor that she had the story -- confirmed.
"How did you do it?" asked the pleased editor.
"I simply called Margaret and she was delighted to tell me about it!" responded the reporter.
The direct approach paid off -- as it usually does.