Tips for eavesdropping journalists

Watch what you say to your personal trainer. If you accidentally mention a snippet of classified company information, he/she may immediately begin phoning, e-mailing, and text messaging your secret around town.

PR and marketing company Marketeer ran a quick, 100-person survey into the source of information leaks.

Predictably, dining at restaurants is the most likely situation in which to overhear privileged information, closely followed by train and tube journeys and eavesdropping on mobile phone conversations. But personal trainers, supermarket queues and unisex loos all make it into the top ten places for leaks to spring up.

Apparently, 83 per cent of respondents would automatically repeat what they had overheard to friends and colleagues – a great argument for using the leak-issuing school of PR.

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