CYP Now - Editorial: A lesson in communication for us all

As a trainee journalist a decade ago, I was always taught to never accept quotes for articles by letter or fax. People write anodyne quotes, I was told, and you'll never get to find out the all-important "who, what, when, where, why and how" required for every story.

I've tried, where possible, to abide by this rule and more recently have always rejected organisations' offers to "email me a quote". This month, however, my hand was forced and not by over-cautious adults but by two of our young contributors. James, who doesn't want us to use his surname, is a 19-year-old transsexual who attends the project Gay and Lesbian Youth in Calderdale. He's uncomfortable talking to people over the phone but was keen to tell me about how grateful he was to youth worker Jan Bridget (see page 6). Reluctantly, I agreed to email across some questions. What came back was an extremely emotive response and, thanks to instant messaging, all of my queries were answered in minutes, rather than days.

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