The “outing” of Deep Throat earlier this month has thrown the subject of anonymous journalistic sources into the spotlight. Woodward and Bernstein’s history-making scoop about corruption in the Nixon Whitehouse would never have seen the light of day without the strict anonymity given to FBI number two Mark Felt. And there is no doubt that use of secret sources will always have a role to play in journalism.
But are the various anonymous “insiders”, “friends” and “sources close to” that pepper news stories being overused?
Can readers trust stories to be true if the sources of the information aren’t named? And is there a danger of newspapers simply becoming vehicles for people wishing to snipe anonymously at their enemies?
Press Gazette asked a selection of leading news organisations what their guidelines, if any, are on quoting the unnamed.
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National newspapers
The Guardian style guide provides exhaustive advice for its journalists on the use of anonymous sources.
In it, editor Alan Rusbridger says anonymous pejorative quotes should be avoided in particular and he admits to “the unthinking damage of which we have been guilty in the past by casual repetition of derogatory unattributed remarks”.
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He adds: “There may be exceptional circumstances in which anonymous pejorative quotes may be used, but they will be rare – and it should be only after consultation with the senior editor of the day.”
That judgement should be made, says Rusbridger, after first considering the quality of the source, the public interest case and the source’s motive.
In general, Rusbridger says that unattributed quotes can be a “menace” that readers distrust. He advises journalists to avoid using the phrase “friends of” as a “transparent reference to the actual source” and says he prefers “a source who declined to be named”.
If sources insist on remaining anonymous, he urges journalists to press them for some sort of identifying information such as calling them a senior minister or Cabinet minister rather than just an MP.
The Financial Times also has strict guidelines on use of anonymous quotes.
Spokeswoman Joanna Manning- Cooper says: “As a media organisation which prides itself on accuracy and authoritative reporting, we always work hard to encourage our sources to go on the record. Unfortunately it’s simply not possible in many instances, particularly where regulatory strictures constrain sources from speaking openly.
“But when we do use anonymous sources we ensure that we follow a set of internal guidelines, including the need to put direct challenges, allegations or criticisms to the person or company concerned and putting their response in the story, even when it’s no comment.”
Observer editor Roger Alton outlines the policy at his newspaper thus: “A lot of unattributed negative opinion about people you can disregard, but if we get a large volume of them you think: ‘There’s something else going on
there which we need to substantiate’.
“At the same time there are a high number of stories that wouldn’t come about if people couldn’t stay anonymous.
“We had a story before I was here when an unnamed source speaking to Andrew Rawnsley said there was a view that the Chancellor had psychological flaws. It made a lot of running as a news story in 1997 to 1998 but the person who said that couldn’t have gone on the record.”
Alton believes anonymous sources were used too much in relation to the Government intelligence briefings held in the run-up to the Iraq war.
He says: “There was clearly an enormous amount of double-speak about weapons of mass destruction and it was coming from anonymous sources.
“It’s a complicated issue. Nobody’s going bonkers with anonymous sources, but sometimes you have to use anonymous sources or stories wouldn’t get written.”
At the tabloid end of the market, newspapers don’t appear to have clear guidelines on sources but rather deal with stories
on a case-by-case basis.
Sun managing editor Graham Dudman says: “Mainly it’s when someone asks us not to use their name or we choose
not to for fear of compromising them. You’ve got to judge each case differently.
“If [chief reporter] John Kay says ‘I know it’s right’ then someone won’t say to John ‘I need to know who your source is’.”
Daily Mirror group political editor David Seymour says: “There are so many political stories that are genuine stories and honest quotes but you can’t say who the person quoted is.
In journalism heaven every quote is attributable but you have to live in the real world.
“The situation in Westminster has got better in the past few years. When Blair came to power and Alastair Campbell arrived there were still these Lobby briefings where you couldn’t even say somebody had said something – these stories came out of the ether.
Now at least the reporter can say ‘the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said’.”
Regional newspapers
The use of anonymous sources undermines the public’s trust, according to Lincolnshire Echo editor Mike Sassi, who says journalists in the regional press use them more sparingly than the national media.
He says: “I am amazed at how many unnamed sources are used in the national press. On our letters page you could count the amount of ‘name and address supplied’ letters on two hands in a year.
“It’s much more important for regional papers to be trusted than the nationals. The nationals can report on a story, wreak havoc and rush off into the distance. We live and work in our community and can’t look as though we’re being biased or making anything up. This is what creates a divide between you and your readers.
“Papers need to be credible, reliable and trustworthy. Occasionally we have to use anonymous sources on professional sports stories because you often find that’s the way things work but in news it’s very rare.
“In recent years we have carried a few stories as facts and have used no quotes at all rather than quoting an anonymous source.
“You should never say never. In the past we have used unnamed sources. If there was a part two of a council agenda [press and public excluded] it might be appropriate to get a direct quotefrom the meeting, but only if it was strongly in the public interest. In that case we would write that it came from a source who did not want to be named.”
Assistant editor of the Eastern Daily Press, Paul Durrant, believes as long as journalists are confident their source is 100 per cent reliable, then it is acceptable to quote them anonymously in stories.
“If they ask [for anonymity], we will accommodate but it is important we know their credentials and that they are an impeccable, gilt-edged source. If we get a tip then it’s down to us to stand it up elsewhere but I am quite happy to keep their anonymity.
“The policy of Woodward and Bernstein was to get their story stood up by three sources. These are the sort of traditional standards that remain important today. I certainly wouldn’t go on one source, I would need at least a second source.
“This has not changed as far as the EDP is concerned, the traditional standards still apply. I don’t think it undermines the trust of our readers as there is a level of trust implicit with EDP readers. If our journalists were ever unsure they would know to check with the news desk.”
Simon Westrop, head of legal at Newsquest, warns that if a story using anonymous quotes went to court the source might be unwilling to help with any legal defence.
He says: “If what they are saying is potentially libellous, my advice would be against using anonymous sources on the basis that they are unlikely to come to court if it all goes wrong. There may be exceptional circumstances, Watergate would be
one, where you’d argue the story is so important it should be legally privileged even if your source is anonymous.
“Journalists can more safely use them as a research tool and get the information corroborated elsewhere. To found a story entirely on them is very risky.
“Journalists should ask: ‘Why are they asking to be anonymous? Are they reliable? Do they have an axe to grind? Why do they not want to face public criticism?’
“Unless there is good reason otherwise, if somebody is criticising a third party they should be prepared to put their name to that so the accused knows who their accuser is.”
Magazines
John Kampfner, editor of left-wing weekly the New Statesman, says there were “certain instances” in which the use of anonymous sources was necessary to get a good story out.
“My entire book, Blair’s Wars, was predicated on granting each and every source complete anonymity,” he says.
“This was even when some of them were quite relaxed about being quoted, because to have done so would have exposed others who could have been identified through a process of elimination.
“However, it’s not ideal and it needs to be treated with great care. Where possible on-the-record quotes should be used.”
He adds that there is a danger of being used by a source, who could hide behind the reporter to spread malicious gossip. “I wouldn’t use a particular quote from someone who required anonymity if I felt I was being used for non-journalistic purposes.”
At the New Scientist, writers are urged only to use anonymous sources in exceptional circumstances, according to deputy news editor Michael LePage.
But he claims the issue is rarely raised at the weekly science title.
“I would not use anonymous sources unless there was a very good reason and I’d have to discuss it with the editor,” he says. “An exception would be when you trust the source and can independently confirm that what they’re saying is accurate and there’s no way to get that on record.
But it’s come up very infrequently with us, it’s not generally something that we have a problem with.”
He adds: “In some contexts you might have a whistleblower who can’t go on the record for fear of losing his job and we need more of that kind of reporting, rather than less.”
John Grimond, foreign editor at The Economist, says all information from anonymous sources should be independently corroborated.
“There is a big difference between a source who is prepared to go on record and one who isn’t,” he adds.
Broadcasters
The BBC has re-examined its guidelines on the use of anonymous quotes following the Hutton Inquiry and the fallout from Andrew Gilligan’s conversations with the “senior intelligence source” later outed as Dr David Kelly.
The BBC has changed its producers’ guidelines to include more detail on the use of sources. These state: “When a source asks for anonymity as a condition of giving information, or a contributor demands anonymity when taking part, we must agree with them precisely the way they are to be described.
However, with an anonymous source, especially a source making serious allegations, we must give the audience as much information about them as is compatible with protecting their identity, and in a way that does not mislead the audience about their status.
“Whenever a BBC story involves an anonymous source, the relevant editor has the right to be told their identity. In cases involving serious allegations we should resist any attempt by an anonymous source to prevent their identity being revealed
to a senior BBC editor. If this happens, the reporter should make it clear that the information obtained confidentially may not be broadcast. When anonymity is agreed everyone must be clear about its extent.”
ITN head of compliance John Battle says: “We don’t have specific policy, we take it on a case-by-case basis, which we discuss with our journalists based on the credibility of the source.”
Reuters has reviewed its editorial standards and policies over the past year. A spokeswoman says its policy on anonymous sources has always been tough, but the new handbook for journalists goes into greater depth in explaining it.
It states that the use of anonymous sources is permitted in restricted circumstances when journalists cannot obtain the information in any other way. The sources must have first-hand knowledge of the information they provide and it must be newsworthy.
The agency does not run opinion or contentious statements attributed to anonymous sources and stories based on anonymous sources require rigorous cross-checking with other sources.
Reuters journalists are frequently reminded to press sources to go on the record and to negotiate hard to ensure they can describe the source in as detailed a way as possible so readers can assess the credibility of the sources.
The agency says it takes the view that a named source is always best, but it accepts there are times when critical information is in the public’s interest and cannot be obtained any other way.
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