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VILLAGEApril/May
T
HE Readers’ Editor is an unknown
position in Irish media, although it is
growing in popularity in other coun-
tries, where the position may also be known
as the ombudsman or people’s editor.
The job is to police ethics within the news-
room, and to deal with complaints and
criticism from the public. The Press Council
or Ombudsman deals with complaints from
members of the public directly affected by a
story. By contrast, the readers’ editor can
look at general complaints, for example if
readers feel the newspaper was biased in its
coverage of a particular story.
New York Times public editor Margaret
Sullivan launched an interesting
project recently, which she has dubbed
“Anonywatch”, tracking anonymous sources
quoted in the Gray Lady, and asking whether
anonymity was justified.
“Anonymous sources and quotations
sometimes have their place in Times stories
– in those rare instances when there is no
other way of getting crucial information”,
Sullivan wrote in a blog post announcing
Anonywatch.
With this in mind, a survey of one day’s
Irish newspaper production was conducted
on April.
As might be expected, most of the
unnamed sources derived from the major
news story of the day, the ongoing fallout
from revelations of taping in Garda stations:
who knew what and when they knew it.
The Irish Independent coverage of this
story is typical, quoting an unnamed
Labour spokesman, and “close associates”
and “associates” of former commissioner
Martin Callinan in its leading story on the
row. Not one person is quoted on the record
in the article.
The Irish Times cites “informed sources”
(it is unclear if the source is a garda or law-
yer) discussing the Ian Bailey case, “sources”
discussing the Cabinet meeting, and “gov-
ernment sources”.
In the Daily Mail’s case, there are “senior
sources”, an “insider”, and “sources identi-
fied with the ex-commissioner”.
A case could be made for anonymity in
some cases, and if serving police officers
are talking to the press during a political
row, then they may well be willing to talk
only if it is off the record. But in no case is
the reader told why any source is unnamed.
By contrast, in the examples in the New York
Times highlighted for unnecessary anonym-
ity, the paper usually records the reason for
anonymity.
However, other stories are less clear cut.
Independent articles on the property tax
deadline quotes “officials” and “a Revenue
spokeswoman”, and unnamed spokesper-
sons also pop up in stories about the Gateway
employment scheme, Ryanair, the HSE, and
the prosecution of inner-city slumlords.
In fact, advancing through the newspaper,
the first government spokesperson identi-
fied by name in the Irish independent is not
Irish at all. Steffen Seibert, spokesman for
Angela Merkel, is quoted by name on the
Ukrainian crisis.
The Herald has “Gardai” and “a senior
source” in a story about a bomb attempt,
and “an official spokesman” in a story about
Dublin’s elected mayor. The Revenue spokes-
person also makes an appearance.
The Mirror front-page story quotes exten-
sively from an unnamed source speculating
without evidence that a bomb exploded pre-
maturely because the perpetrator forgot
to put the clock forward, before dismiss-
ing the theory on page five. Anonymity is
also granted to “sources close to ex-com-
missioner Callinan”, an auctioneer selling
Titanic memorabilia, and “a source close to”
a murder investigation.
The Examiner has “Garda sources”, “sen-
ior Labour sources”, and an unnamed Labour
minister discussing Alan Shatter’s for-
tunes, but also “city officials”, and
spokesmen for the tobacco indus-
try and the Cork Opera House.
However, interestingly column-
ist Shaun Connolly does point out
that the political battle is being
waged through newspapers from
anonymous sources.
Margaret Sullivan is not saying
that journalists should not develop
confidential sources who, for valid
reasons, cannot go on record. “I’m
talking here about something
else: gratuitous anonymous quotations”,
she wrote. “The kind that allow people to
speculate, offer personal criticism or get a
self-serving (often political) message out
without taking any responsibility for it — or
the kind that reporters use because quoting
someone anonymously is so much easier. It’s
also about attribution, and how unnamed
sources of some worthwhile quotations are
described in such a general way that it pro-
vides no real value to the reader”.
Too many sources are granted unneces-
sary anonymity in the Irish press. Public
discourse would be better served if our media
developed clear guidelines as to when people
should be kept o the record. •
Sources unidentified
Always give reasons for
anonymity. By Gerard
Cunningham
MEDIA
Also in this section:
Vincent Browne’s crowd-funding 71
Too many
sources are
granted
unnecessary
anonymity in
the Irish press
“
