InvestorsHub Logo
Boards
News
Market Data
Markets
Discover
Discover
Subscribe Login/Register
S&P 500
5,127.79
(
1.26%
)
US TECH 100
17,446.00
(
2.17%
)
Dow Jones
38,675.68
(
1.18%
)
Brent Oil
82.77
(
0.00%
)
Bitcoin
63,637.07
(
1.19%
)
Post# of 472946
Next 10
Reply Private New
Public Reply Private Reply New Post
Keep Last Read
Keep Next 10 Report Keyboard Shortcuts
Next 10 Prev Next

F6

Send PM Follow Ignore
Followers 59
Posts 34538
Boards Moderated 2
Alias Born 01/02/2003

F6

Re: F6 post# 28550

Thursday, 06/09/2005 2:17:14 AM

Thursday, June 09, 2005 2:17:14 AM

Post# of 472946
(COMTEX) B: U.S. survey shows many newspapers never permit use of anonymous
sources ( AP WorldStream )

NEW YORK, Jun 08, 2005 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Editors at about one in
four U.S. newspapers who responded to a survey say they never allow reporters to
quote anonymous sources, and most others have policies designed to limit the
practice. One editor said his paper's rules are so strict they would have
disqualified Deep Throat as a source.

The use of anonymous sources - people who give reporters information only on
condition that their identities not be divulged - has been much in the news
recently, notably in a case that prompted a Newsweek magazine retraction. The
issue came up again last week with the disclosure that Deep Throat, The
Washington Post's legendary Watergate source, had been an FBI official.

The Associated Press and the Associated Press Managing Editors association
decided to jointly survey American newspapers to find out what their practices
are. The project, believed to be the most comprehensive of its kind conducted in
recent years, drew replies from 419 publications - about 28 percent of the
nation's 1,450 daily newspapers.

Editors at 103 papers, nearly all of them in small and mid-size markets, said
they do not ever permit reporters to cite anonymous sources in their articles.

"Our policy is to get people on the record. Period," said Eileen Lehnert, editor
of the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot. "Once you operate from that standpoint,
you rarely have to reconsider your position."

Newspapers that do allow use of unnamed sources include those based in large
cities and operating bureaus overseas or in Washington, where requests by
sources for anonymity occur often. Most of these papers say they have formal
policies intended to minimize the reliance on anonymity.

"The use of unnamed sources is limited to the most compelling cases where an
important story can be told no other way," said David Boardman, managing editor
of The Seattle Times.

Carl Lavin, deputy managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said that his
paper discourages the use of unnamed sources, but "this needs to be balanced
with the need to present vital information to the reader that cannot be obtained
by other means."

Ken Stickney, managing editor at The News-Star in Monroe, Louisiana, said he
bars his own reporters from using unnamed sources, but will carry news service
stories with such sources "because sometimes you can't get anything out of
Washington without them."

Phil Lucas, executive editor of The News Herald of Panama City, Florida, said
his paper has quoted anonymous sources only about once every three years, under
restrictions so tight that "we would not use a source such as Deep Throat," who
turned out to be former FBI official Mark Felt.

"We do it only if the information is compelling. ... and if we understand and
can justify exactly what ax the source is grinding," Lucas said. "The internal
politics of the agency he (Felt) worked for, what his motivation might be - that
would be an issue for us."

Many other editors say they have similarly narrow limits on anonymity, allowing
it only when someone could lose his job out of retribution, or to protect the
identity of a rape victim, illegal immigrant or someone suffering from
addiction.

The AP's own policy permits use of anonymous sources only when the material is
information - not opinion - vital to the news report; when that information is
available only under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the source; and when
the source is reliable and in a position to have accurate information.

The survey arose from a long-term APME project examining issues of newspaper
credibility, and its timing dovetailed with the heightened debate over anonymous
sources.

In the most publicized recent case, Newsweek magazine came under criticism from
the White House and retracted a story regarding alleged desecration of the Quran
by U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. The story was based on information
provided by an anonymous source who later told the magazine he could not be
certain he had read about the alleged Quran incident in the government report
Newsweek cited.

Geneva Overholser, a professor based at the Washington bureau of the University
of Missouri School of Journalism, welcomed what she described as a "dramatic
tightening" of anonymity policies.

"Of course I worry whether stories will be lost," she said. "With this very
important tool of journalism at risk, we have to protect it by being more
disciplined and cautious about when we use it."

Many papers require information from one anonymous source to be corroborated by
at least one additional source. Many require that at least one senior editor be
told the source's name and, in some cases, require an editor to speak with the
source.

"The executive editor or editor must know the names of the sources," said Tonnya
Kennedy, managing editor of The State in Columbia, South Carolina. "We try to
print enough information about the sources that signals to the reader, 'This
person is real,' without giving away their identity."

Several editors said they would consider allowing anonymous sourcing under
exceptional circumstances but in practice have done so rarely or never.

"Over the last 10 years we have not used a single anonymous source," said Ana
Walker, editor of the Longview (Texas) News-Journal. "We might as well be
writing fiction if we cannot give our readers a source."

Several editors said they are considering applying their papers' tough policies
not only to staff-written stories but also to stories obtained from wire and
syndication services.

"Our policies for locally written stories. ... are stringent," said Elaine
Kulhanek, executive editor of the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune. "We are getting
more demanding of wire stories and are less likely to use material with unnamed
sources, although decisions are made on a case-by-case basis."

Asked whether they share details of their policies with their readers, 164
editors said yes. This is done through editor's notes, columns and other means,
they said.

Editors at 35 papers said they are currently considering toughening their
sourcing policies. Rick Hall, managing editor of The Deseret News in Salt Lake
City, said he is part way through drafting a new policy; Louise Seals, managing
editor of the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, said a crackdown is under way
on "casual and lazy uses of unidentified speakers in features, columns and other
subject areas."

APME is an association of editors at AP's member newspapers in the United States
and publications affiliated with the Canadian Press in Canada.

---

On the Net:

AP: http://www.ap.org

APME: http://www.apme.com

---

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

Copyright 2005 Associated Press, All rights reserved

-0-

*** end of story ***

[F6 note -- in addition to (items linked in) the post to which this post is a reply and preceding and following, see also (items linked in):
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6617399 and preceding (and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=6583219 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=6574890 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6543211 and (the many) preceding (in particular http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5451512 and preceding and following) and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=6135753 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=6130284 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5860996 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5825700 and preceding (and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5766106 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5733659 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5727677 and (preceding and) following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5720205 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5699564 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5651759 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5605093 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5573731 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5570637 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5570065 (and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5570637 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5567442 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5565810 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5548546 and preceding and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5544739 and preceding (in particular http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4323793 );
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5504292 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5497543 and (preceding and) following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5442093 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5419017 (and preceding and following);
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5388324 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5260293 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5211491 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5202370 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5199767 and preceding;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5167689 and following;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5156096 ;
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=5088601 ; and
IN PARTICULAR (for an OUTSTANDING overview) http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4069714 ;
and for a more extensive view of the whole related Patriot Act/etc. side of things, see also (items linked in[!]) http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=6607193 and preceding and following (in particular, among others, http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4659247 and preceding, and http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4641971 and preceding and following)]


Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07

"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790

F6

Public Reply Private Reply New Post
Keep Last Read
Keep Last Read Next 10 Report Keyboard Shortcuts
Next 10 Prev Next

Join the InvestorsHub Community

Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.

Sign Up