It has happened to every journalist. They are sitting idly at their desk listening to the scanner or rewriting a brief when the phone rings. Even before picking it up there is a sense of what awaits on the other end – an anonymous source.
The voice is different but there is always the hyper-angst ridden voice on the other end that drips through the line promising they hold the key to the story of the year that will open every one’s eyes to unspeakable corruption.
It’s pointless, but journalists have to ask, “Can I get the spelling of your name?” To which the anonymous source inevitably responds, “Oh no, I don’t want to be quoted.” Or they simply laugh.
This always put journalists in a tough spot. On one hand, a source that is unwilling to attach their name to a story can say pretty much whatever they want and it’s on the journalist to take the fall and in extreme cases go to jail to protect that source, which many a brave journalist has done.
For this reason majority of papers have policies of no anonymous sources with few special exceptions.
On the other hand, the cloaked voice on the line speaks to desires of every journalist to have their very own Deep Throat who will deliver the next Watergate scandal to them.
A good nine out of 10 anonymous calls are completely off the wall and go directly in the screwball file. Such as a hyper-caffeinated anonymous caller convinced the government is spraying chemicals into the environment to keep the population subdued, or how aliens mutilated their prize-winning cow Betsy and are infiltrating the human race by placing alien eggs in the town’s water supply.
Every now and again, journalists get a call that rings of enough truth that they follow it up. A whistleblower who says they can prove a fortune 500 CEO is on the take, or an honest worker who is tired of seeing corruption in the government steps forward.
Of these, even fewer pan out into viable stories. However, after back ally meetings, exchange of confidential files and tireless fact checking, journalists are sometimes able to mine a story that will expose corruption in all its glory.
And that’s why journalists like anonymous sources, because journalists like the truth. And one cloak and dagger call can level crooked politicians and deplorable corporations breaking the law.
Without Deep Throat, Nixon would have finished his presidency and Woodward and Bernstein would have just gone on to become two reporters among the bunch at the Post (and would probably be receiving buyout packages by now).
Anonymous sources can alter the course of history and undo injustice, which all journalists aspire to do. And the stories from anonymous sources can lead to fame and glory, which isn’t bad either.