Douglas Turner

Anonymous sources fueling push for war

Journalists and media organizations have abdicated their role of providing an independent alternative source of information and have too often slumped toward over-reliance on anonymous government sources. Almost every reporter uses anonymous sources. But it is a rare reporter or editor who will repeatedly use this device to convey information that might help start a war. Writing in The Buffalo News, Douglas Turner is alarmed by increasing examples of careless use of anonymous sources, with the result that the public is often grossly misled about fundamental issues of life and death.