Anomymous Sources Reax

If someone were to tell you top state secrets and you asked who told you this and their response was "I cannot say," how likely would you be to believe them? This simple interaction is the main boiling point of anonymous sources. When I listened to the presentation about anonymous sources, I was interested in how controversial this topic is. I always felt that anonymous sources were necessary to protect the leaker, but as the presentation went on, I began to understand the other side more and more.

    First, I firmly believe that people who leak sensitive state documents are criminals, regardless of whether it helps protect the public. However, whether they should be seen as criminals is a question for another day. If someone leaks information and asks to remain anonymous, their names should be published. What they did was illegal, and there are consequences for their actions. However, there is another side to anonymous sources. It could be an employee who overheard a conversation with the CEO. People in these types of situations deserve to be kept anonymous. They have done nothing illegal to obtain the information they know, and if their names were to be leaked, they would likely find it very difficult to find work again.

    With all this in mind, reporters should have anonymous source privileges. As of right now, there are no federally recognized privileges that allow a reporter to keep an anonymous source. While the First Amendment protects reporters extensively in this area, having some law for reassurance would still be good. The main reason I say this is because in the presentation, the group mentioned the story of Judith Miller, and what happened to her should be illegal. She was held in jail for 85 days for not revealing who her anonymous source was, and the only reason she was freed was that her anonymous source said it was okay for her to reveal their meetings.

    With the advent of technology and modern media, anonymous sources will probably become more and more prevalent in our society; this rise in anonymity can be a danger to the credibility of journalists everywhere, or it can help produce breaking news at record numbers, but as of right now we are at a dangerous middle ground and only time can tell.