Journalism issue: Email interviewing

The art of email interviewing has come under scrutiny owing to no tone of voice in responses, no spontaneity (follow up questions etc), legal repurcussions and uncertainty of getting a response. The label as the 'McDonalds of journalism' fast and serviceable has been attached to email interviewing also, but this could be seen as an advantage for the time constrained journalist. Email interviews have a number of advantages for a modern journalist. They are quick, simple and effective in eliciting well thought out and constructed responses as opposed to spur of the moment answers. It is impossible to misquote with cut and paste technology and email can be used to send complex reports and documents for experts to comment on. Certainly, the email interview has its downfalls, but as a modern journalistic practice it is certainly worth consideration.