Secrets to Share

How do you find someone you don’t know—someone who may not want to be found, but who has newsworthy information that may be in the public interest?

“Start with talking with people you know, especially people who trust you,” says Greg Miller, Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative reporter for The Washington Post. “See if there is someone they can point you to and see if they can make an introduction or will vouch for you.”

Miller’s job is to track down people who know secrets, secrets. He must convince them to share these confidences with him, either on-the-record or anonymously, which will then appear as quotes or paraphrases in the newspaper. Often,