The main research question that is directing this paper is: What is the current thinking of journalists on the topic of anonymous sources being used in the media? The purpose of this paper is to provide undergraduate students specializing in Communications (as in journalism and news writing) information on how exactly anonymous sources are viewed in the mass media by others like themselves and the main population. Often times it is shown that anonymous sources are useful; that’s why they were invented in the first place after all. However, according to several editors and news writers, anonymous sources aren’t so useful because they tend to expose incorrect information and act as a shield to hide behind.
Throughout the articles I have thus far read, the points made are in controversy with one another with each side arguing for or against anonymous sources. I will cover both sides in my paper to present an objective viewpoint, a must for all journalists, and explain why each side believes what it does, while providing examples of cases in which anonymity has helped or hurt various people. Concluding my paper, I will develop on how anonymous sources does in fact do harm in general, but explain ways of how to still be able to use them sensibly without causing an uproar. I will describe this approach so as to help future Communication majors find a foothold in the vast world of journalism so they might not make the same mistakes countless others before them have.
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