Anonymous sources

Newsweek & Anonymous Sources
By Daniel G. Jennings
Hopefully, recent events at Newsweek magazine will convince the America new media to end the dangerous and despicable practice of using anonymous sources in their stories.
Newsweek got itself into trouble by running a story in which an anonymous source claimed that American officials at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba had desecrated the Islamic holy book the Koran and even flushed a Koran down the toilet. There was apparently no truth to this story which sparked outrage and riots in which innocent people died in the Moslem world. These moronic claims will undoubtedly inspire terrorist attacks against US interests and military forces in which more innocents will die.
Newsweek was able to get away with this slipshod journalism by quoting an anonymous source a shadowy individual identified as a high government official. Note: we don’t know who this source was or if they are an important official we have to believe Newsweek on that too. Since the source wasn’t identified there was no way other journalists could check out the story and verify its authenticity.
This reliance upon anonymous sources has created a terrible culture of deceit in Washington DC, so called sources can make the most outrageous of claims and have them repeated in the media as if they were fact. People are able to get away with saying anything because they will be anonymous. They won’t be held accountable for their claims.
Reporters conditioned by the media and the liberal arts colleges to think of the government as evil are willing to believe American officials and military personnel capable of anything. Media outlets overseas - which boost their ratings and sales by anti-American propaganda - are only too willing to pick up this garbage giving these gutter level journalists a global audience.
To make matters worse, politicians and others can only attract media attention in Washington by leaking information to reporters which is often done anonymously. To be a recognized Washington player one must play the game of being a source of juicy news for the media.
This means the major Washington media outlets are now using the tactics of the supermarket tabloids and the methodology of Joe McCarthy, and they’re getting away with it. Virtually no one questions the anonymous source cult even though it is destroying media credibility.
There is only one answer to this dilemma: our major national media outlets must go cold turkey on anonymous sources. They must say if a source is not willing to come public and take responsibility for their claims then they won’t use that source.
Reporters will undoubtedly read this and complain that sources won’t come forward out of fear of retaliation. My response to this is simple, is there an American death squad going around murdering sources who talk to the media? Where are all the bodies of media sources floating down the Potomac? The answer is there is no American death squad except in the minds of liberal elitists and those who talk to the media face no threat of death or violence. So there is no good rationale for anonymous sources.
Yes, some sources might loose jobs or reputations if they talk. Well if a person isn’t willing to risk their job or reputation on a claim, why should a journalist publish it and risk their reputation and job on that claim?
The public has a right to know, in particular the public has a right to know where their news is coming from and whether it is accurate. As long as our media relies upon anonymous sources the public’s right to know is being trampled.
Will, the deaths of those innocent people in the riots in the Middle East inspire some major media outlet to take the courageous step of saying no to anonymous sources? Probably not but maybe it’ll get them to think about it.
Still, if some major news outlet were to say we won’t use anonymous sources anymore they’d get a tremendous boost in credibility and public trust. The editors at Newsweek and its brethren in the media world should think about that.