Some critics of the Dallas Blog and a few members of the local media have complained our news Web site too willingly cites from anonymous sources when we report on local politics. The Dallas Blog strongly defends this policy since many of our sources are high-level government officials who fear losing their jobs or facing other severe repercussions for exposing scandalous information about elected officials.

The New York Times is another staunch defender of using anonymous sources to shed light on the inner-workings of government. Clark Hoyt, the New York Times public editor, commissioned a study by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism students about the use of anonymous sources.

Bill Keller, the executive director, reported on the results in his column on Sunday, and last week he issued a memo to the newsroom to remind the staff about key points in the Times policy regarding this issue.

Jill Abramson, the managing editor, posted her answers to questions about the Times policy on the NY Times Web site. She is quoted as saying, “if the Times and other large news-gathering organizations declared a unilateral ban on anonymous sources, readers would be denied critical and urgent news in the public interest.

Think about some of the major issues that have been published as part of journalism’s highest calling, keeping the government accountable to the people: not only the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, but also the more recent revelations about the government’s secret, warrant less eavesdropping program and the C.I.A.’s overseas detention sites.

Those stories, published by the New York Times and The Washington Post, were justifiably awarded journalism’s highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize. And each of them relied on anonymous sources.”

On the other hand, a reporter for the Dallas Morning News revealed to the Dallas Blog that his newspaper has a policy against the use of anonymous sources. He made these remarks shortly after the Dallas Blog broke the story that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins crashed a County-owned vehicle into his home. The D.A. Watkins article had cited information from anonymous sources.

To read the entire article from the New York Times, link here:

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