Wardrox, She Wrote: Try to Name Your Sources
After my rant-of-sorts last night I figured I best explain myself a bit better.
Editorial, Article Tags: Anon, glasses, journalism, meta
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here here! No I’m going to, go away. :(
Yes, it could get you fired. Actually on almost any job you aren’t allowed to talk about ANYTHING that happens at work with outsiders.
Any writer agreeing to anonymous sources needs to, up front, before the interview gets too serious:
(A). Try to talk the source into going “on the record”
(B). Remind the source that if it turns out they’re just screwing with you, you’ll sell them out as the source in an instant.
If (A) happens you no longer have a problem. If (B) happens, they’ll think twice about what they say to you.
And if (B) does come to pass and you lose a source, who cares? They were just trying to use you for their side of the story.
When I think bouncer types I think of a bunch of guys who spend too much time in a gym who wear very tight black t-shirts and bad sunglasses. That or Patrick Swayze.
But I can see if someone was reporting internal disagreements within greater Activision would get fired, not directly for their leaking of info but rather for something else that would be insignificant but justifiable in court.
It comes down to using an anonymous tip more as a starting point of an investigation of sorts or stating that it might not be fact. The move through other more open channels to confirm or debunk what was divulged by the anonymous party.
the ending was the best part. “oh thats silly. Go Away”
Has anyone seen Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe? There was a good bit about anonymous sources on that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cT0TSp9Mm0
At about 06:10.