Before offering a source anonymity, you and your news managers must be convinced there is no other way to get the essential information on the record. You and your news managers must be convinced the unnamed source has verifiable knowledge of the story.
Even if the source cannot be named, the information must be proven true. Consider these questions: What does the use of a confidential source mean to the factual accuracy and contextual authenticity of your story? Will revealing the source threaten the safety of the source, their family or their livelihood?
Most news organizations say they will grant anonymity to a source only as a last resort, but in reality, it happens on a daily basis, which makes it even more important to explain this practice to the public. The term anonymous can be misleading, but contrary to this tweet by President Trump, anonymous sources cited by legitimate news outlets are real, and the reporter and at least one senior editor know who the source is and have vetted them for credibility.
They will also consider why a source is willing to provide that information: does it advance a personal agenda, attack a rival, or offer information of great public interest?
While every news organization has its own guidelines on anonymous sources, here are the general ground rules:. Most states have some type of shield law that protects journalists and their sources, but there is no federal shield law, and in cases involving national security, a reporter can be jailed for refusing to reveal their sources. Case in point: New York Times reporter Judy Miller was jailed for 85 days in for refusing to disclose her confidential source.
She only got out when her source, I. More important, they might ban or attack any journalist they see taking pictures. If they know that you have handed pictures over to the police before, they might distrust all journalists. Again, the profession as a whole will have been harmed. A final word on eavesdropping - the obtaining of information without the consent or knowledge of the people communicating it. Good journalist should always keep their eyes and ears open for story ideas, even if this occasionally means listening to someone else's conversation on the bus or in an office.
If you do this by accident, people may complain, but they cannot usually prosecute you. However, if you do it deliberately, such as opening private mail or bugging a telephone call, you will probably be breaking the law. The problem arises most often in broadcast journalism, when reporters try to record someone without their knowledge. Journalism codes of ethics usually state that you must tell people who you are and who you work for before doing any interviews for broadcast.
Further, in many countries the law itself states that you must ask the person being interviewed if you can use the recording on air. If you believe that you may have obtained information by illegal means, you must be especially careful how you use it. A prosecution will not only mean trouble for you and your organisation - it will often distract people's attention from the main issue for which you got the information in the first place. However, there are many occasions when a good journalist can get confidential information without the need to obtain someone's agreement or break the law.
One enterprising journalism student regularly used to search through waste paper bins next to the university's photocopying machines. He knew that secretaries often threw away poor quality copies of important documents they had photocopied.
The photocopies were rubbish to the staff who threw them away, but for the journalism student they were the source of many good stories for the university newspaper. Although the electronic age makes it more difficult to access physical information people discard, the practice of searching waste bins and skips has been used by generations of journalists and other invistigators, including the late Ole Anthony, a Christian activist who dedicated his life to exposing corrupt American television evangelists who became millionaires by defrauding their followers.
He called his method "garbology"! You must assess the reliability of all sources of information; this determines:. Avoid agreeing to keep information off the record unless there is no alternative. A quick way to find what you're looking for in The News Manual is through the Index.
It has more than links to concepts throughout the manuals. Click here:. Website by Diopdesign. Chapter Sources and confidentiality. Deep background. The information can be used but without attribution.
The source does not want to be identified in any way, even on condition of anonymity. In general, information obtained under any of these circumstances can be pursued with other sources to be placed on the record. Reports from other news organizations based on anonymous sources require the most careful scrutiny when we consider them for our report.
AP's basic rules for anonymous source material apply to material from other news outlets just as they do in our own reporting: The material must be factual and obtainable no other way. The story must be truly significant and newsworthy. Use of anonymous material must be authorized by a manager. The story we produce must be balanced, and comment must be sought. Further, before picking up such a story we must make a bona fide effort to get it on the record, or, at a minimum, confirm it through our own reporting.
We shouldn't hesitate to hold the story if we have any doubts. Anything in the AP news report that could reasonably be disputed should be attributed. We should give the full name of a source and as much information as needed to identify the source and explain why the person s credible. Where appropriate, include a source's age; title; name of company, organization or government department; and hometown.
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