The Importance Of Anonymous Sources In Journalism

Consequently, the political sphere is now being colonised by the media, and politics has begun re-orientating itself to satisfy the logic of media organisations (Meyer, 2002, p. 71). Therefore, the media are active participants in the policymaking process and the ability to stimulate change or maintain the status quo depends on their choice of subject or policy issue and how they frame it. Active investigative reporting attempts to shape policy outcomes, but this does not necessarily mean that it always represents the most successful approach for gaining policy changes (Spitzer, 1993, p. 7). In fact, sometimes passive, straight reporting can have a greater influence on policy choices. When this occurs, media independence is largely bypassed, as the news generated depends solely on the information released (as public relations material) from legitimate news sources. For example, in the United States, White House staff routinely make ‘leaks’ - expressively to influence policy decisions (Davis, 1992, p. 143; Robinson, 2001, p. 948). Robinson noted that journalists regard “leaks… as indispensable to their work” and that they are aware of their use by officials in return for scoops (2001, p. 949).

“… to gather news it is often necessary to agree either not to identify the source of information published or to publish only part of the facts revealed, or both; that if the reporter is nevertheless forced to reveal these confidences to a grand jury, the source so identified and other confidential sources of other reporters will be measurably deterred from furnishing publishable information, all to the detriment of the free flow of information, protected by the first amendment.” (3)

In, “One Man’s Rumer I Another Man’s Reality, Gregory Rodriguez, an author of the Los Angeles Times he argues about the power of broadcasting the truth and its effect on the people. As a result, “can false rumors and off-the-wall theories be corrected by broadcasting the truth” (Gregory Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2009)?

With the recent explosion of social media, many rely heavily, often excessively, on the internet for their news about the world. While being bombarded with fabricated stories and corrupted facts, the public struggles to find the actual truth, creating an entirely new realm of responsibility for journalists. They are forced to delve deeper than ever before, beyond comfort, in order to superficially scratch the surface of truth. This practice of exploitation and rooted research was coined “muckraking” by Theodore Roosevelt during a speech in 1906. While this term had carried a negative connotation for decades, Jessica Mitford, the late investigative journalist, transformed that perspective and graciously accepted the title “Queen of the Muckrakers”. Mitford was correct in her prideful title, as muckrakers have fulfilled a valuable role in the creation of policy over time, as well as acting as an integral component in modern day media, full of deception and bias.

This paper goes over the effects the media had on the O.J. Simpson case and how the media interfered. The O.J. Simpson murder case is touted as the most televised criminal trial in history and from the second the murders were discovered there was a media frenzy. On the night of June 12, 1994 the bodies of Nicole Brown and her waiter Ronald Goldman were found outside of Nicole’s condo both stabbed to death. The suspect, former athlete, icon, and actor Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson was the main suspect of the crime. On June 16th, 1994 the LAPD pressed murder charges against him and placed a warrant for his arrest

These examples of how the media negatively impacted the Simpson murder case continued on through the most crucial parts of the case, jury selection. After the media had been talking O.J. Simpson for months and months there was a survey down of the mostly people who would believe O.J. innocent and the results came out that black women would be more likely to believe that Simpson was innocent (Linder). The ending jury pool for this case were eight out of the twelve jurors were black female. In order for anyone one be convicted there must be an unanimous decision of the twelve jurors. With those odds, O.J. Simpsons chance of receiving a fair and unbiased trial become very slim. The juror pool already greatly favored him and was a huge way why he was found not guilty even though facts suggest otherwise. Polling was done on

Public trust is at the heart of journalism. Such trust is built upon the credibility journalistic efforts. In the past, though mistakes have been made by even the most reputable of news providers, credibility was maintained and public trust in the journalist industry was steady. However, with the Internet taking its first infant steps into the reporting world, concern is being vocalized that public trust in journalism will be damaged by mavericks, such as Matt Drudge, who, without any foundation in reporting seek to tell the entire world every little secret he can dig up. And he’s been wrong.

What happened in this specific case is that the newspapers published the name of their source without permission. In this case, the press was not even immune from its sources because the source wished to remain anonymous and the journalist wishes to disclose it. The current laws of the land, and the gray areas of forecasting potential consequences of publishing a story with confidential sources places the press in a very precarious situation (“Shield Laws in the Unites States”). Which brings up the question of shield laws protecting those who ask the reporters for their names to be kept anonymous in the story.

News sources long to be the first one to put their story on the front page of every iPhone, Android, and app pop-ups. Not even giving it a second thought to if the story was a hundred percent accurate. Sadly, and our fast-paced society trust and accuracy is a rare commodity acquired by only the few who are willing to listen to both sides of a story. Even though rumors has no value, the stories themselves are hard not to listen to and even harder not to incorporate in our daily conversations. Rumors are a insignificant social phenomenon that constitute to no man's

Here’s the issue: Anonymity straddles the edge of credibility and full truth. We must decide what is more important- taking the chance that someone could be

“Muckrakers”. Who do they consist of? What do they represent? According to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, this term was used to criticize and insult certain journalists who went too far in the pursuit of their stories. Since decades this term has had negative definitions in society, so how can investigative journalist Jessica Mitford be delighted to accept the unappealing title of “Queen of the Muckrakers”. Although some may say that the term is an excellent way to describe the passionate journalists who are seeking juicy information about prominent individuals and businesses, I strongly believe it does not correctly allude to whom they actually resemble in our realistic society today.

Many authors had agreements and disagreements about the media 's role. Authors such as Mary Melton in “How High-Speed Car Chases Became a Citywide Pastime in Los Angeles” makes an interesting case by arguing that over 5000 car chases happen in California and that the media over reacted on this one because it was a famous athlete. Authors such as Richard L. Fox, Robert W. Van Sickel, and Thomas L. Steige in “Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy”, argue that the trial was literally the trial of the century. Derek H. Alderman argues in “TV News Hyper-Coverage and the Representation of Place: Observations on the O. J. Simpson Case” that the media spent a enormous amount of time covering the trial. My argument agrees with there’s and is that they spent a lot of time on the trial and use strategic

The media has been adversely affected by the explosion of information sources. It has become a tedious and cumbersome endeavor to accurately locate information sources that can stand to even the slightest bit of scrutinizing. For those who attempt to report the truth, they continue to find it

Sit tight for the journey ahead as I explain to you, on my coffee-induced, sleep-deprived binge-writing, the ethics of source anonymity in journalism—for the purpose of this paper, I will be writing about Canada specifically. More specifically, I will touch upon the following: What is the reliability of the source? Why would a source have to be kept anonymous? To what extent does a journalist keep a source confidential? Firstly, I will go on to briefly describe the Canadian Act that protects whistle-blowers (the term used to describe someone who brings an issue to light, almost always in their organization) and the shield law. Next, I will be discussing the ethics in keeping a source anonymous from the utilitarian point of view, as well as

Nowadays journalists have the responsibility to report facts as accurately, objectively, and disinterestedly as is humanly possible. ‘’The, honest, self-disciplined, well-trained reporter seeks to be a propagandist for nothing but the truth’’ (Casey, 1944b).