CHAPTER 13:

SOURCES • Identify the difference among: on the record,

on background, on deep background and off

the record.

• Examine the motives of anonymous sources

and identify the damage they can do.

• Deal with sources who are not public figures

with sensitivity.

DEFINITIONS

SOURCE

WHAT’S A SOURCE?

By Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Someone who gives you information for a story

ANONYMOUS

SOURCE

SOURCE

GENERAL

ASSIGNMENT

REPORTER

BEAT

REPORTER

WHAT’S A BEAT?

By Damian Kettlewell

An area of coverage: government, business,

education, sports, entertainment, health, science

ANONYMOUS

SOURCE

SOURCE

GENERAL

ASSIGNMENT

REPORTER

BEAT

REPORTER

ON THE

RECORD

OFF THE

RECORD

ON

BACKGROUND

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • On the record: Information that a source agrees

can be used in a story and attributed to him/her.

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • On background: Information that a source

agrees can be published but only under

conditions negotiated with the source.

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • On background: Information that a source

agrees can be published but only under

conditions negotiated with the source.

Which is best?

A. A government source

B.A source in Naypyidaw

C.A source who works in

Parliament

D.A Parliamentary source

with access to the memos

in question

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • On DEEP background: Information that can be

used but without any attribution.

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • Off the record: Information that a source gives

you that cannot be published in a story

EXPLAIN TO SOURCES • Off the record: Information that a source gives

you that cannot be published in a story

What if you get it later from someone else?

• In general, information obtained off the

record or on background or on deep

background can be pursued with other

sources to get it on the record.

WHEN TO ALLOW

ANONYMOUS SOURCES

1. Use only for facts, not opinions.

2. The source is known to you.

3. The source is in a position to know

the information he/she is providing.

4. The information is essential to the

story.

5. It is not possible to get the

information on the record.

ANONYMOUS

SOURCE

SOURCE

GENERAL

ASSIGNMENT

REPORTER

BEAT

REPORTER

ON THE

RECORD

OFF THE

RECORD

ON

BACKGROUND

CHECKBOOK

JOURNALISM

CHECKBOOK JOURNALISM • Paying news sources for information

ANONYMOUS

SOURCE

SOURCE

GENERAL

ASSIGNMENT

REPORTER

BEAT

REPORTER

ON THE

RECORD

OFF THE

RECORD

ON

BACKGROUND

CHECKBOOK

JOURNALISM

PRE-PUBLICATION

REVIEW

PRE-PUBLICATION REVIEW

•Allowing a source to review an article before

it is published

By Susornpol Joe Watanachote

ANONYMOUS

SOURCE

SOURCE

GENERAL

ASSIGNMENT

REPORTER

BEAT

REPORTER

ON THE

RECORD

OFF THE

RECORD

ON

BACKGROUND

CHECKBOOK

JOURNALISM

PRE-PUBLICATION

REVIEW

QUOTATION INDIRECT

QUOTATION

PARTIAL

QUOTATION

QUOTING A SOURCE • Which one is direct, indirect and partial?

A.“I am not happy with the budget

because it will hurt the poor, making

them pawns of the system,” the

president said.

B.The president said he was not happy

with the new budget because it will

hurt the poor.

C.The president said he was not happy

with the new budget because it will

make the poor “pawns of the system.”

CASE STUDIES 1. Which of the four principles from the

SPJ Code of Ethics are relevant in each

scene?

2. Did the reporter behave ethically?

1981 MOVIE: Absence of Malice

“Suppose you picked

up this morning’s

newspaper, and your

life was a front-page

headline….and

everything they said

was accurate but not

true.”

SPJ CODE’s 4 PRINCIPLES

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.

3. Act independently.

4. Be accountable and transparent.

KEY NAMES: Absence of Malice

• Reporter Megan Carter

• Michael Gallagher,

businessman wrongly

targeted as killer of

labor leader Joey Diaz

• Elliot Rosen, unethical

prosecutor who leaks

file to try to flush out

Gallagher

• Bootlegger = illegal

transport of alcohol

without paying taxes

CASE STUDY NO. 1 • Identify the difference among: on the record, on

background, on deep background and off the

record.

• Examine the motives of anonymous sources and

identify the damage they can do.

CASE STUDY NO. 1 • Elliot Rosen, an unethical prosecutor, meets

reporter Megan Carter for an interview. He leaves a

folder of evidence where he knows she will find it.

1. WHICH ONES APPLY?

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.

3. Act independently.

4. Be accountable and

transparent.

2. Did the reporter behave ethically?

Should she look at the file? If she

does, then what should she do?

CAN BAD PEOPLE GIVE GOOD INFO? • Yes, but always ask yourself: Why is he/she telling

me this? What’s his/her motive? Am I being used?

CASE STUDY NO. 2 • Examine the motives of anonymous sources and

identify the damage they can do.

CASE STUDY NO. 2 • Carter puts on a hidden recorder and arranges for a

photographer to shoot pictures of Gallagher

surreptitiously. Gallagher takes her to lunch on his

boat. Gallagher discovers that she is secretly

taping their conversation and having them

shadowed. He inquires about journalistic fairness.

1. WHICH ONES APPLY?

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.

3. Act independently.

4. Be accountable and

transparent.

2. Did the reporter behave ethically?

Should she record secretly? Should

she tell Gallagher her source?

WAS THE REPORTER FAIR TO GALLAGHER?

How did anonymous sources hurt Gallagher? He says

she let’s unnamed people attack him. “You’re their go-

fer. You write what they say.” Is he right?

CASE STUDY NO. 3 • Deal with sources who are not public figures

with sensitivity.

CASE STUDY NO. 3 • Carter interviews Teresa Perrone, who works at a

Catholic school. Perrone provides Gallagher an

alibi for the Diaz disappearance, saying that

Gallagher was with her while she had an abortion.

She asks Carter not to write about the abortion.

1. WHICH ONES APPLY?

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.

3. Act independently.

4. Be accountable and

transparent.

2. Did the reporter behave ethically?

Would you have written the story?

Included the abortion in the story?

HOW DID THE REPORTER TREAT THE SOURCE?

She was insensitive to a person from a different

background and inexperienced with the media. How

could she have requested verification more sensitively?