Unnamed Sources: A Utilitarian Exploration of their Justification and Guidelines for Limited Use

Journal of Mass Media Ethics: Exploring Questions of Media Morality

Volumn 26, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 297-315

  Duffy, Matt J ^a   Freeman, Carrie P ^b  

^a ZAYED UNIVERSITY   (United Arab Emirates)

^b GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84858770009     PISSN: 08900523     EISSN: 15327728     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08900523.2011.606006     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Alderman, E. and Kennedy, C. 1997. The legacy of Richard Jewell. Columbia Journalism Review, 35(6): 27
2. Alexander, A. 2009, August 16. Post often ignores its own rules on anonymous sources. The Washington Post, Retrieved fromhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081401928.html
3. Alexander, A. 2010, June 13. For the Post, anonymous sources remain a problem. The Washington Post, Retrieved fromhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/11/AR2010061104313.html
4. Allen, D. S. 2008. The trouble with transparency. Journalism Studies, 9(3): 323-340.
5. ASNE. 2009. Statement of principles, American Society of News Editors Retrieved fromhttp://asne.org/article_view/articleid/325/asnes-statement-of-principles.aspx
6. Baker, R. E. L. 1958, June 8. Death and violence terrorize Negroes of Southern town. The New York Times,: A1
7. Bergman, L. 2007, February 13. News war: Secrets, sources and spin Boston, MA: PBS. [Television broadcast]
8. Blankenburg, W. B. 1992. The utility of anonymous attribution. Newspaper Research Journal, 13(1/2): 10-23.
9. Bloggers Code of Ethics. 2003. Cyberjournalist.net Retrieved fromhttp://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php
10. Boeyink, D. E. 1990. Anonymous sources in news stories: Justifying exceptions and limiting abuses. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 5(4): 233-246.
11. Bok, S. 1982. Secrets: On the ethics of concealment and revelation New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
12. Brown, F. 2003. Anonymity hurts reporters and politicians. Quill, 91(9): 38-39.
13. Bugeja, M. 2010. Living ethics: Across media platforms New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
14. Carlson, M. Looking back to look ahead: Anonymous sourcing in the New York Times's prewar Iraq coverage. Paper presented at International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
15. Christian, D., Minthorn, D. and Jacobsen, S. 2009. The Associated Press stylebook 2009 (), 43rd ed. New York, NY: Basic Books.
16. Coile, Z. 2005, June 1. Watergate case shows value of anonymous sources. San Francisco Chronicle, Retrieved fromhttp://articles.sfgate.com/2005-06-01/news/17376864_1_guantanamo-bay-sources-journalism
17. Crary, D. 2005, June 9. Survey shows that many newspapers never permit use of anonymous sources. Gadsen Times,: A5
18. Culbertson, H. M. 1978. Veiled attribution-an element of style?. Journalism Quarterly, 55(3): 456-465.
19. Culbertson, H. M. and Somerick, N. 1976. Cloaked attribution-what does it mean to news readers? Reston, VA: American Newspaper Publishers Association.
20. Day, L. 2006. Ethics in media communications Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
21. Duffy, M. 2010. Unnamed sources: A longitudinal review of the practice and its merits, Doctoral dissertation Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University.
22. Elliott, D. 2007. Getting Mill right. The Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 22(2 & 3): 100-112.
23. First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti. (1978). No. 76-1172, 430 U.S. 765
24. Fish, S. 2011, January 3. Anonymity and the dark side of the Internet. The New York Times., Retrieved fromhttp://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/anonymity-and-the-dark-side-of-the-internet
25. Gassaway, B. M. 1988. Are secret sources in the news media really necessary?. Newspaper Research Journal, 9(3): 69-77.
26. Gordon, M. R. and Miller, J. 2002, September 8. U.S. Says Hussein intensifies quest for a-bomb parts. The New York Times., Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/08/international/middleeast/08IRAQ.html?pagewanted=1
27. Hoyt, C. 2008, December 7. The privileged and their children. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07pubed.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
28. Hoyt, C. 2009a, March 22. Those persistent anonymous sources. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/opinion/22pubed.html
29. Hoyt, C. 2009b, August 16. Cloaked identities, even with names. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16pubed.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
30. Hoyt, C. 2010, April 18. Squandered trust. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18pubed.html
31. Kant, I. 2008. Critique of pure reason (), rev. ed. New York, NY: Penguin Classics.
32. Keat, J. 2005, October. Unmasking the source. American Journalism Review., Retrieved from,http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3982
33. Keller, B. 2008, June 9. Keller memo on anonymous sources. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytco.com/pdf/assuring-our-credibility.pdf
34. Kovach, B. and Rosenstiel, T. 2007. The elements of journalism: What news people should know and the public should expect New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
35. Kurtz, H. 2005, May 17. Newsweek retracts Guantanamo story. The Washington Post,: A3
36. Kurtz, H. 2010, June 15. Don't use my name: The anonymity game. The Washington Post, Retrieved from,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061501315.html
37. Lee, W. 2008. Left out in the cold? The chilling of speech, association, and the press in post-9/11 America. American University Law Review, 57: 1453
38. Maraniss, D. 1981, April 16. Post reporter's Pulitzer Prize is withdrawn. The Washington Post,: A12
39. Mazzotta, M. 2010. Balancing act: Finding consensus on standards for unmasking anonymous Internet speakers. Boston College Law Review, 51(3): 833-869.
40. Merrill, J. 1996. Journalism ethics: Philosophical foundations for news media (), 1st ed. Bedford, MA: St. Martin's.
41. Meyer, P. 2008. BALCO, the steroids scandle, and what the already fragile secrecy of federal grand juries means to the debate over a potential federal media shield law. Indiana Law Journal, 83(4): 1672-1693.
42. Mill, J. S. 1991. "Utilitarianism.". In On liberty and other essays Edited by: Gray, J. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
43. Ohlmeyer, D. 2010, May 25. Root of all evil? Even with policies in place, ESPN must use caution when relying on anonymous sources. ESPN.com, Retrieved from,http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=ohlmeyer_don&id=5220492
44. Okrent, D. 2004, May 30. Weapons of mass destruction? Or mass distraction?. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/weekinreview/the-public-editor-weapons-of-mass-destruction-or-mass-distraction.html
45. Pearlstine, N. 2007. Off the record: The press, the government, and the war over anonymous sources (), 1st ed. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
46. Priest, D. 2005, November 2. CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons. The Washington Post,: A1
47. Quinn, A. 2010. "Respecting sources' confidentiality: Critical but not absolute.". In Journalism ethics: A philosophical approach Edited by: Meyers, C. 271-282. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
48. Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). 2000. Code of ethics and professional conduct, Radio Television Digital News Association Retrieved from,http://www.rtdna.org/pages/media_items/code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct48.php?id=48
49. Ross, W. D. 1946. The right and the good Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
50. Seelye, K. Q. and Lewis, N. A. 2005, May 17. Newsweek retracts account of Koran abuse by U.S. military. The New York Times, Retrieved from,http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/politics/17koran.html
51. Shepard, A. 1994, December. Anonymous sources. American Journalism Review, Retrieved from,http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1596
52. Shepard, A. 2011, January 11. NPR's Giffords mistake: Re-learning the lesson of checking sources. NPR.org, Retrieved from,http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2011/01/11/132812196/nprs-giffords-mistake-re-learning-the-lesson-of-checking-sources
53. Sigal, L. V. 1974. Reporters and officials: The organization and politics of newsmaking Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
54. Smith, R. F. 2007. Impact of unnamed sources on credibility not certain. Newspaper Research Journal, 28(3): 8-19.
55. Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). 1996. Code of ethics, Society of Professional Journalists Retrieved from,http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
56. Son, T. 2002. Leaks: How do codes of ethics address them?. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 17(2): 155-173.
57. Steele, B. 2002. Guidelines for using confidential sources Washington, DC: Radio Television Digital News Association. Retrieved from,http://www.rtdna.org/pages/media_items/guidelines-for-using-confidential-sources167.php
58. Stevens, J. P. 1995. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, Vol. 514 Retrieved from,http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-986.ZD.html
59. Sternadori, M. M. and Thorson, E. 2009. Anonymous sources harm credibility of all stories. Newspaper Research Journal, 30(4): 54-66.
60. Strupp, J. 2005. Losing confidence. Editor & Publisher, 138(7): 32-39.
61. The Editors. 2004, May 26. The Times and Iraq. The New York Times,: A10
62. Tuchman, G. 1978. Making news: A study in the construction of reality New York, NY: Free Press.
63. Vultee, F. 2010. Securitization. Journalism Practice, 4(1): 33-47.
64. Weinberg, S. 1996. The reporter's handbook: An investigator's guide to documents and techniques (), 3rd ed. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.
65. Wilkins, L. 1997. "Anonymous sources.". In Journalism Ethics 117-122. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
66. Zhang, J. and Cameron, G. T. 2003. Study finds sourcing patterns in Wen Ho Lee coverage. Newspaper Research Journal, 24(4): 88-101.