PatsFans.com Article

Time for the NFL media to stop quoting anonymous sources
By: John Morgan

Media members dug and found out who blew the whistle on the New Orleans Saints' bounty case; that was a situation where that person's identity deserved to be protected and kept secret. If the media really wants to do their job then they should use their i...

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KontradictioN

As someone who, unfortunately, spent time getting a degree in that field (a degree that he no longer cares to use), I can tell you with honestly that, most of the time, the "anonymous source" is about as real as Santa Claus.

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CREDIT - Sicilian

pherein

Mike Cerullo didn't deserve to be protected though. He was jobless, fired from the Saints, and reprimanded a number of times while with the saints for lying to staff . Not someone you would normally take the word off over another or should care about protecting. He didn't have much a future in the NFL.

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Time to make the DOMENuts!!!!

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Lowercaseg

The problem I have with anonymous sources being quoted is that the anonymous sources, knowing they won't have their names out there, can exaggerate the truth or lie without much risk. The anonymous source is largely shielded from liability for defamation and that is b.s. to me. And, in the sports reporter context, like the recent Tim Tebow story, it's not like we're dealing with whistle-blower protections and need to protect the person who is trying to right a very serious wrong, we're just talking about sports. What journalist do for web hits, clicks and dollar bills is very sad.

ausbacker

Probably not, but Cerullo should be considered somewhat reliable given the admissions of the Saints brass pherein.

As for the anonymous source argument, journalistic integrity has been on a downward slide for the better part of two decades. It's one of the reasons that sourcing good journalists who write excellent pieces is of paramount importance. They are few and far in between today.