Anonymous Sources and the Trust Factor
The use of anonymous sources in news stories is a controversial and often misunderstood practice. The public doesn’t like--or trust--them because it’s impossible to know who is making that statement, claim or charge. That means the reporter has a much heavier lift when it comes to establishing a story’s credibility. All reporters would prefer to use named sources in their stories because information attached to a specific person is more credible and can be more easily verified. But sometimes they have no choice. Sources who work in national security or the highest levels of government may fear retribution if they speak on the record and will only share information on the condition of anonymity. Same for whistleblowers.
Award-winning international business journalist Sissel McCarthy is a Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Journalism Program at Hunter College and founder of NewsLiteracyMatters.com, an online platform dedicated to teaching people how to find credible information in this digital age. She has been teaching news literacy and multimedia reporting and writing for more than 16 years at Hunter College, NYU, and Emory University following her career as an anchor and reporter at CNN and CNBC. McCarthy serves on the board of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents.