I used to reply to these and used to talk to reporters. I have never been misquoted or taken out of context by a reporter for a major publication on anything travel-related.

However, a few months back a reporter for a major business daily got an airline employee who had posted on these boards into hotter water with her employer than she already was. The reporter named the employee, even though the employee did not want to be in the story and refused to comment for it (which the reporter also stated).

I consider this a major invasion of the privacy of a person who is not a public figure or otherwise newsworthy at the national business press level. As a result, I have since ignored all these requests. If they can do this to someone who did NOT talk to them, whose only sin was to be supportive of her employer on these boards and who got into trouble as a result of people distorting the meaning of her posts, what could they do to someone who DOES talk to them if they think it will spice up their article?

To all the well-meaning and honorable writers out there: sorry, but one bad apple has soured me on you.

To my fellow FTers: the fact that it hasn't happened to you yet doesn't mean it can't.

To the afore-mentioned reporter for that paper, who surely recognized herself if she read this post: I hope whatever you got for that article was worth the knowledge that you ruined a major part of someone's life, that of an innocent person who never hurt you. If you have a shred of remorse, I hope you'll rethink your standards of sensationalism at any cost to anybody.