Anonymous sourcing was an issue in BuzzFeed's
story about Michael Cohen saying he was directed
to lie to Congress.
The story as I recall was sourced to two people
who were involved in an investigation of Trump
Tower Moscow.
But we don't know who they are.
We have to suspend disbelief, and believe
the reporters, and decide whether BuzzFeed
news and those reporters have our confidence
and enjoy a high level of credibility.
I actually, after Merchants of Truth, looking
so deeply at BuzzFeed news, thinks that they
are careful.
They have 20 investigative reporters, some
quite experienced.
They have great investigative editors.
I think that BuzzFeed news does deserve trust.
Ben Smith, the editor of BuzzFeed, has made
it clear that the two reporters — Jason
Leopold and Anthony Cormier — had worked
on the story for months.
And then they finally got hard confirmation
from two sources that they were very confident
in.
So I'm not sure that a rush was one of the
contributors to what happened there.
And, frankly, I'm holding my breath, hoping
that BuzzFeed is able, as soon as possible,
to show that its story was true.
I mean, anonymous sources proliferate all
over the news landscape.
When I was at the Times, my predecessor as
executive editor went on a campaign to cut
down on them.
But I'll give you a big reason why it's so
difficult to do so.
Because many of the stories where you most
commonly see a not anonymous sources are Washington
stories.
And presidents Bush W and Obama initiated
eight separate leak investigations.
These were unheard of in an earlier period.
And that meant the sources could be prosecuted
for leaking classified information.
And they were left with jail time, in some
cases, and huge legal bills.
So that put a deep freeze on sourcing in Washington
and people's willingness to put their name
behind the information that they're giving.
But information has so much more credibility
when it is attached to a named source.
It just does.
The Times actually succeeded in cutting down
on them for a while.
But to get crucial information before the
public, some anonymous sourcing is just necessary.
And news organizations have all different
standards for when use of an anonymous source
is allowed.
And in the case of the Times, a senior editor
must know the identity of the source.
