If you need to report a story or “blow a whistle” on something, any ideas where to go?
I went to a couple news outlets (e.g. RTBF) and they have a security gatekeeper forcing people to make appointments. The email addresses are generally Gmail addresses – WTF? They seem to think their vanity address hides the fact that they force sensitive info through a dodgy surveillance advertiser.
They push webforms that are CAPTCHA-encumbered. I don’t do CAPTCHAs.
Is there a media outlet where people can just walk-in, with no appointment, and expose a story without having to go through some shitty or insecure process?
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No clue but maybe instead of trying to contact the company (rtbf), try to find a journalist in the concerned domain and contact him directly ?
Maybe you have to go through gmail for the first contact but a good journalist should then be able to exchange info on more secure channels (signal etc.)
I appreciate the tip, but I’m not even willing to put an alternative form of contact through Google. In part because I find it disturbing that I have to do a dance just to send the email the way Google and MS want it sent (from an IP address blessed by the tech giants).
It is bizarre how Le Soir, De Standard, De Tijd, and RTBF all stick a gatekeeping surveillance advertiser from the US between them and their confidential sources who they need to earn the trust of. When I manage to reach someone at a front desk, they are always puzzled. They think it’s weird that someone would come into their front door with a story, and they say “we don’t work like that”. They don’t even have enough motivation to hear the gist of the story.
This is so contrary to my hollywood movie influenced perception of how contact with the press would work. I was expecting reporters to be eager to hear a juicy story, as if I would have to fight them off from over-probing investigation.
When I manage to reach someone at a front desk, they are always puzzled. They think it’s weird that someone would come into their front door with a story, and they say “we don’t work like that”. They don’t even have enough motivation to hear the gist of the story.
What language do you speak to them?
English. But the issue does not seem to be a language barrier.
