If you are a reporter looking for a source to help you complete an assignment on deadline, check out www.HelpAReporter.com, a website started by Peter Shankman. This site was originally a FaceBook group, but has now outgrown its original home.

I have participated for a couple of months. Many of the reporters' questions are so interesting, I want to read their work. If you have useful insights or compelling stories, this service, which is free, creates opportunities for getting your name and business mentioned in the press. Just make sure to stay on-topic when responding to reporters' queries.

And while it is true that, on the surface, a service like this helps advance raw, PR-seeking commerce, I think that it does more than this. On a deeper level, Help A Reporter facilitates the function of the Fourth Estate. The more easily that the press can gain access to stories and data, the more likely it is that truth and good ideas will emerge for the benefit of all. And while it is true that active speech will not guarantee progress, silence is sure to stifle all hope.