SALON

Monday, Jun 14, 2010 6:15 PM UTC

Continued misuse of anonymous sources shows contempt for readers

Ombudsmen at New York Times, Washington Post point out ongoing violations of internal rules

By

Topics: Media Criticism,

Continued misuse of anonymous sources shows contempt for readers

In April, New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt published a critique — not his first — of the newspaper’s flagrant, ongoing misuse of anonymous sources. He wrote, among other things:

Despite written ground rules to the contrary and promises by top editors to do better, The Times continues to use anonymous sources for information available elsewhere on the record. It allows unnamed people to provide quotes of marginal news value and to remain hidden with little real explanation of their motives, their reliability, or the reasons why they must be anonymous.

Yesterday, Washington Post Ombudsman Andrew Alexander published a critique — not his first – of the newspaper’s flagrant, ongoing misuse of anonymous sources. He wrote, among other things:

The Post’s internal policies set a high threshold for granting anonymity. It “should not be done casually or automatically.” Further, “merely asking should not be sufficient to become anonymous in our stories.” If sources refuse to go on the record, “the reporter should consider seeking the information elsewhere.”

But too often it seems The Post grants anonymity at the drop of a hat. 

Sense a pattern?

My mind-reading skills are limited. So I won’t try to explain what motivates this behavior by journalists who should know better, apart from urging you to read the half-baked mea culpas Hoyt and Alexander extracted from several editors at their respective organizations.

But I will echo the sentiments that Alexander, Hoyt and other media critics — especially Slate’s Jack Shafer, a relentless hunter of what he aptly calls anonymice — have expressed repeatedly over the years, and add a few of my own:

Whether the reporters and editors who so casually violate their institutions’ rules are simply arrogant and/or lazy, or whether they genuinely believe they’re providing information that readers need to know, they’re undermining the credibility of their news organizations almost every time they do this. In reality, whether they understand it or not, they betray contempt for their readers, not respect.

As a reader, I’ve trained myself to treat anonymously sourced stories with the most extreme skepticism. Unless I can infer a truly compelling reason for the anonymity, I now actively disbelieve — or, at best, assume a sleazy motive on the part of the source — what I read in these circumstances.

The journalists’ serial abuse could stop today, if the top editors at newspapers made it clear that the rules mattered — and that violations would negatively affect the violators’ careers. It’s blatantly obvious that these editors have given their tacit approval. Through their inaction, they tell us that rules are for other people, an all too common belief among those who inhabit the top rungs of our political and business worlds. They, much more than the people they supervise, demonstrate the deepest contempt for readers.


A longtime participant in the tech and media worlds, Dan Gillmor is director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Follow Dan on Twitter. More about Dan here.

Dan Gillmor

A longtime participant in the tech and media worlds, Dan Gillmor is director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Follow Dan on Twitter: @dangillmor. More about Dan here. More Dan Gillmor.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 19 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Video of the Day

Watch More Here »

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Check out the full Bank of America whistleblower details (affidavits) "Read former staff describe getting Target gift cards as a prize for foreclosing on people, and other awful schemes"
366 points367 points | 17 comments
vote
The full Bank of America whistleblower details (affidavits)
325 points326 points | 7 comments
vote
Study: Young people are more liberal than they think they are.
66 points67 points | 22 comments
vote
How cash secretly rules surveillance policy: Today's congressional hearing was a joke. The reason: Firms like Booz Allen bankroll and own Congress. Here's how
40 points41 points | 6 comments
vote
The internal war between House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings blew up again Tuesday, when Cummings released the full transcript of a five-hour interview with the conservative Republican IRS screening manager.
37 points38 points | 6 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations