A little pushback
The executive editor for the Raleigh News & Observer took a novel approach to a White House request for anonymity:
When U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited recently, his staff initially requested that our interview be on background. We would not have been able to attribute his comments to him.
We insisted the conversation be on the record. Geithner agreed. We published a front-page article in which Geithner defended the Obama administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy.
Great job. Perhaps Washington correspondents should “just say no” a little more often. Some research has shown that many unnamed sources would go on the record if the reporters simply insisted.
Ben Bradlee, the former Washington Post editor, tried to put the kabash on “deep background” sessions in the 1970s. He told his reporters to walk out of the room whenever a White House official refused to go on-the-record. After a few days of getting scooped by the New York Times, Bradlee rescinded the ban.
Any reduction in unnamed sourcing can’t just be unilateral — either all the media outlets buy in, or it just won’t work.
Sources: Gassaway, B. M. (1988). Are Secret Sources In the News Media Really Necessary? Newspaper Research Journal, 9(3), 69-77; Bagdikian, B. H. (2005). When the Post Banned Anonymous Sources. American Journalism Review, 27(4), 33.
