Under what circumstances are anonymous sources permissible, and what safeguards apply?

• A. Anonymous sources are permissible when information is essential and the source cannot be publicly identified; corroborate with additional sources and disclose limits.
• B. Anonymous sources are never permissible, regardless of circumstances.
• C. Anonymous sources may be used only for information that is not sensitive.
• D. When the information is time sensitive, a journalist may use anonymous sources with limited corroboration.

Answer: (B)

Attribution and credibility hinge on verifiability: information should come from identifiable, checkable sources. In this framing, anonymous sources are never permissible because you can’t verify what they say or hold the source accountable. That lack of verifiability undermines trust and the accuracy of the report, since readers can’t assess the evidence behind the claim or judge the source’s reliability.

Because anonymous sources aren’t allowed under this rule, there aren’t safeguards to apply for them. The focus instead is on using sources who are on the record or can be corroborated by multiple identifiable voices, and on transparently documenting how information was obtained.

The other options propose using anonymous sources under various conditions (essential information, time sensitivity, or non-sensitive content). Those scenarios rely on sources that can’t be independently verified, which conflicts with this standard and would weaken credibility.