The use of anonymous sources -- people who give reporters information only on condition that their identities not be divulged -- has been much in the news recently, notably in a case that prompted a Newsweek magazine retraction. The issue came up again last week with the disclosure that Deep Throat, The Washington Post's legendary Watergate source, had been an FBI official.
The Associated Press and the Associated Press Managing Editors association decided to jointly survey American newspapers to find out what their practices are. The project, believed to be the most comprehensive of its kind conducted in recent years, drew replies from 419 publications -- about 28 percent of the nation's 1,450 daily newspapers.
Editors at 103 papers, nearly all of them in small and mid-size markets, said they do not ever permit reporters to cite anonymous sources in their articles.
...Newspapers that do allow use of unnamed sources include those based in large cities and operating bureaus overseas or in Washington, where requests by sources for anonymity occur often. Most of these papers say they have formal policies intended to minimize the reliance on anonymity.
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