Rafat Ali on PaidContent.org & Getting That Story

As I've mentioned in the past, Rafat Ali and his trade blog PaidContent.org were a real inspiration when I started ProHipHop.  Though I haven't really moved in the same direction, I'm always curious to see what's up with the development of his business.

I mention this because of a recent interview with Rafat at mediabistro.com [via Media Biz 2.0 Thinktank] that's getting some attention.

One of the nice moments in the interview is when Rafat tells interviewer Greg Lindsay what he learned listening to Lindsay do phone interviews:

You were always the guy they gave a story to when they couldn't figure out anything else to do, and then you would call 50 people. I learned to call as many people as you can and that somebody will get back to you; somebody will tell you the story. People ask, "How do you get a story?" I say that there are as many sources within the company as there are employees in the company. Somebody will talk. I'll email everybody, I'll call everybody I have to, and somebody will talk. That's what I learned at Inside as a general principle: Do whatever it takes to get the story. That's what they don't teach you at school.