Call your podnuh up and see if he cares if you publish it on the web.

It's simple, really. Tell your friend that you maintain a web site that distributes your opinions on news and current events, then ask if you might share that information he gave you with your readers.

Yes? Post away.

No? Fine, move on to another topic and finish your lunch together.

Is your relationship exactly the same afterwards? No. Forever after, when he speaks with you, there will be that slight pause, that brief span of hesitation while he considers whether or not he is speaking 'on the record,' and whether it might be better to just skip the topic altogether and confine himself to safer topics like weather, sports, etc.

Is it unfair that people who make a living in the media often find such constraints placed upon their interaction with other people? I think so. And I think most people outside the business realize that, too. If you only knew how many times we get someone who wants to give us the dirt on someone else, but only on the condition that they remain totally anonymous, totally unconnected ... and probably still enjoying a good relationship with the person they've attacked - through us, the ones with the dirty hands.

Eric,

Once again, you have moved me to type. That takes some effort, by the way. The fact that you think before typing is one of the reasons that I am glad that you did not quit your blog. In my opinion, blogging is comperable to conversing in person. If you would tell someone else the news, then it is probably ok to mention it. If you would not feel at ease mentioning it to another friend (gossiping?) then you shouldn't mention it here. I think that you probably know the right answer. Speaking as a "friend", I would say that his telling you was in confidence, probably needed an outlet. If it is big, would he be as sure to tell you next time if he thought that it might be published? The only way to be sure is to ask and then try to make sure that Jeff's experience doesn't kick in because that would be the worst outcome.

Scott, Jeff, Will...you've all given good advice, based on common sense, and I appreciate your taking the time to share it.

I especially appreciate Jeff's perspective, because he's something of a journalistic "triple threat": he has significant experience in broadcast (news show anchor), print (newspaper editor) and online media (webmaster for the "800-pound gorilla" news website in West Texas).

I guess the fact that I had second thoughts about publishing this "scoop" probably should have clued me in not to do it. Asking permission to do so, while being a valid thing to do, seems to put me in the ongoing role of a journalist, which I'm not and have no aspirations to be. I don't want my friends and acquaintances to have to "be on guard" whenever they're around me.

The scoop will remain unshoveled! (But, if you hear it somewhere else, just remember...I knew it first! ;-)

Simple.

E-mail me about it and then I will blog on it.

Natalie, I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to make some emoticons available just for your comments. ;-)

Um, you *were* kidding, weren't you? :0

Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn't. Depends on how good the scoop is.

You already know from my altered Instaphoto posts what a hit-whorin', link-sluttin', ping courtesan I am.

And you make it sound like that's a BAD thing!

Eric, I realize I'm late to the party on this one, but I figured I'd throw another journalist's voice into the fire. Don't publish it. At this point, it is just gossip by another name. The fact that the guy spoke to you about it as a friend is far removed from speaking to you about it with some knowledge of future publication (known in the biz as "on the record").

And even asking permission afterward opens up a new area of your relationship that you may not want to open. Remember that you are in a fortunate position because you are *not* a journalist. You have no real responsibility to blog about something. Everything doesn't *have* to be aired.