Is your inbox as useful as it could be? Consider how your station might use email more efficiently to find sources and story ideas. Several newsrooms already do. These tips are adapted from a report by Ken Sands, interactive editor at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, WA, who says email has become a great way of finding "the RH (real human) factor" for enterprise stories and breaking news.

If you have suggestions to add, please let us know. And feel free to contact Ken if you'd like his help to set up your own system.

Why solicit email?

• Email can help you find the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack: for example, someone in a rural community who had been treated by a doctor who is under criminal investigation. It's great for deadline reporting, too.
  
• You'll have better luck finding articulate, well-informed sources, and the responses you receive typically cover a wide spectrum.
  
• People have a much stronger sense of being connected to your station if you ask them for input. Soliciting their input also demystifies how news-gathering works.
  

Some yellow flags

• Using email is not scientific and input received by email should never be characterized that way.
  
• Using email is not a substitute for connecting with your community in more traditional ways. If you use email, you need to be even more diligent about reaching out to communities that are underrepresented online.
  
• Email is not a replacement for traditional reporting. It is simply a cool new tool. Be rigorous about verifying information you receive by email.
  
• You must not spam. Follow Internet etiquette at all times.
  

• Decide how you will get email addresses. If you already offer news alerts or have a feedback section on your Web site, you can start with those lists. Ask all staff members to pool their list of "real human" contacts. Ask sales for their list (but make sure they know you won't share yours with them). Put a page on your Web site where people can sign up for the list.
  
• Make yourself accessible. Put staff email addresses in an easy-to-find location on your Web site, and put them on the air.
  
• Choose a database for storing names. Using something powerful like Microsoft Access allows you to search and sort for specific kinds of people--by location, topic, profession, and so forth. Data entry takes longer but it gives you more flexibility. Using a Web sign up page allows people to enter their own information, but you'll still need to monitor for errors.
  

• Always make sure you put recipient addresses in the BCC (blind carbon copy) box, so you don't give every recipient access to everyone else's email.
  
• Be careful what you put in the subject line, and how you phrase the question. Users are very attuned to perceived bias and they tend to ignore questions about topics that are inherently boring.
  
• Don't send email to any one person more than once a week. If multiple staffers are using the database, you'll need a way to note when emails are sent so the list is not abused. Always include an opt-out line at the end, making it easy for people to remove their names from the database.
  
• Know what you are looking for and solicit specific input. Do you want tips on a particular story? Someone to talk on camera? Comments for your Web site? And be absolutely clear about how you will use the information you receive.