Is interviewing a fellow journalism classmate unethical?

I was doing an article about Sisters United and The Onyx and I wondered if there would be an ethical issue with interviewing Shade Fakunle, the head of The Onyx. In past journalism classes we had talked about how it's kind of sketchy territory interviewing someone in our journalism class. However, Shade was the source of the information that I needed for my story. I wasn't sure what to do so I asked Professor Hinchey.

Here is his reply:

Here's my take: You, the reporter, are trying to get facts about The Onyx. You are not a member of The Onyx. You are not a member of Sisters United. Yes, Shade, is in your class. I don't know how well you know Shade. But even if you know her from 350 as only a classmate, I think it would be ethically OK to interview Shade about The Onyx in her role as someone who is involved in The Onyx. I would talk to her in a neutral setting, say Ham-Will? Does that make sense? Plan B would be find someone else in The Onyx, maybe someone that Shade could suggest as a resource. It would be one thing if you were BOTH on The Onyx, and you were interviewing Shade.


That really helped me a lot. I realized that it is kind of inevitable that I will run across someone who has been in one of my classes. As long as I keep it professional it should be alright.