So far, I've learned that many people find anonymous sources harmful in the sense that they often rile up trouble and that many don't even exist or can't be traced. Also, many anonymous sources don't actually help in cases and take up valuable time and resources as people follow leads that might not go anywhere. And businessmen often hide behind the term when making comments about competition businesses to avoid getting in trouble or called on an inappropiate comment.
It is also agreed upon by several reporters that the use of anonymous sources decreases the value of a newspaper: it's much more believable and trustworthy if there is a name involved that can be contacted on the basis of the statement.
Overall, I'm still focusing my paper on how anonymous sources are often hurtful to others. Some more things I'd like to find are other cases where the use of anonymous sources harmed someone (Valerie Plame, flushing the Koran, etc.) and more opinions on why anon. sources are bad.
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