July 25, 2011

Politico
“Anonymous sources are the crack cocaine of journalism,” professor Wendell Cochran tells Politico. And yet journalists are depending on them to cover the debt ceiling debate. “The volume of information delivered in a stage whisper on the deficit and debt limit story has been extreme,” Politico reports. Ironically, Politico’s story on the subject quotes two named sources and two anonymous ones.

“I can’t recall any recent story so heavily reliant on anonymous sourcing. It’s a matter of concern for every journalist in this building,” said a White House reporter for a national newspaper chain.

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Julie Moos (jmoos@poynter.org) has been Director of Poynter Online and Poynter Publications since 2009. Previously, she was Editor of Poynter Online (2007-2009) and Poynter Publications…
Julie Moos

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