Secret Sources: The Pengagon Papers and Nebraska Football
By Ken Paulson
Executive director, First Amendment Center
When it comes to reporting the news, it's important that the media get it right.
But is it also important that they get it early?
In a competitive news marketplace, there's an economic incentive to report exclusives, nailing down a story before print and broadcast rivals.
That's not an easy thing to do today. A comment by the president shows up on 24-hour cable news channels, the Internet and radio within seconds. When information goes global, everything is everywhere. The only real way to obtain an exclusive is through the use of anonymous sources. By its very nature, information that would embarrass or lead to retaliation against a source is only going to be shared with one news outlet.
The downside of anonymous sources, of course, is that the reader or viewer doesn't know whether to trust the information. It's difficult to assess the truthfulness of a report if you don't know where it's coming from.
These dynamics came into play when the Lincoln Journal Star reported on Nov. 23 that "athletic director Steve Pederson wants Frank Solich out as Nebraska's head football coach, according to three sources close to the situation."
The newspaper quoted a "long-time, out-of-state booster with close ties to the department" as saying, "He wants Frank gone. He's made up his mind."
That was news that many Husker fans didn't want to read. Many wrote the newspaper to complain about the story:
"As if our football program doesn't have enough bad publicity as it is. Now the story is all over the country and puts our athletic director in a bad spotlight as well. I don't care what rationale the newspaper uses, I believe the person in charge of publishing that story (especially the timing) should be forced to retire!" Scott Rediger of Lincoln
"Ultimately, I guess it's all about selling newspapers. It isn't hard for me to imagine three big Husker boosters out there who have 'connections' to the athletic department and think they know what the athletic director is 'thinking.' Did they really hear this from Steve Pederson or were they trying to read between the lines? Or was it just wishful thinking on their part? ... The reliability of these anonymous sources is obviously a very subjective thing that is quite easy to manipulate in favor of selling newspapers and making a profit. Sometimes the media run amok." Jeff Weber of Denton
"It was unfair to Coach Solich. It was unfair to the coaching staff and players. It was unfair to Athletic Director Steve Pederson. It was unfair to the university and the state. It was unfair to responsible journalism!" Hank & Marcia Schwartz of Falls City
"When did the Journal Star turn into the National Enquirer?"Jerry K. Lindstrom of Belvidere
Was this story irresponsible sensationalism or good journalism? Can newspapers freely report information from secret sources?
Under the First Amendment, a newspaper has the right to publish information without identifying its source. That means the use of such information is largely a matter of individual newsroom ethics and policies.
Some of journalism's most important - and most embarrassing - stories have resulted from the use of anonymous sources.
Without an anonymous source (later revealed to be Daniel Ellsberg), newspapers would not have published the Pentagon Papers, revealing that our government had lied to the nation about the war in Vietnam. Without "Deep Throat," we would not have learned about the criminal machinations of the White House in the Watergate scandal.
But anonymous and nonexistent sources have also led to fiction being passed off as journalism, as evidenced by scandals surrounding discredited reporters like Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair.
Anonymous sources leave readers and viewers in a difficult position: They have no way of knowing whether a report is a revelation or a ruse.
The good news for the Journal Star (and bad news for Solich) is that the newspaper got it right. On Nov. 29, Pederson fired Solich.
The newspaper had successfully predicted a major shift in the football program at the University of Nebraska. By most standards, this was good journalism.
Although the newspaper's report proved accurate, the Journal Star paid a price. It endured several days of fierce criticism from some fans, and the resulting controversy left many to wonder about the values and priorities of the community newspaper. That's why the use of anonymous sources should be the exception rather than the rule. A newspaper's credibility can take a beating even if its motives are pure and the results eventually justify the means.
When should a news organization turn to an anonymous source? A generally accepted rule of thumb is to use confidential sources when a story is critically important to readers and can be obtained in no other way.
The firing of Frank Solich was certainly not in the class of Watergate or the Pentagon Papers. Was it the kind of critically important story that justifies secret sources?
That may all depend upon your shade of red.
