When Mark Cuban posted the e-mail trail that led to a less-than-kind piece about him in the NY Times, it caused a hoo-haw among bloggers. I alluded to it myself in a previous post, noting that it isn’t uncommon for journalists to kiss up to interview subjects in order to get a story, even when they know they are going to write something negative.

Anyhow, I was following links in Nicole Stockdale’s excellent blog, A Capital Idea, when I came across the post, “Buttering up for an interview.” Nicole’s post references a 2001 correspondence between a NY Times staffer and author Dave Eggers. For those of you who haven’t read it, it’s even more interesting than the Cuban post.

Long story short, the Times published a story on Eggers that had an “angry tone,” by Eggers’ estimation, and he retaliated by going public with the e-mail trail. At one point in the set up, the staffer e-mails Eggers: “Hello! I have to tell you, I belatedly read your book over the weekend, and I really was blown away—- I have never read anything even remotely like it.”

I can’t play holier than thou; when I was a reporter, I did this same kind of thing on occasion. It can be difficult not to — especially when you want a story badly.

Nonetheless: take heed.