"Anonymous" Is Not a Trust Builder

Our news media today, whether print, broadcast or social, seems to thrive on “anonymous” sources. While this may be necessary in some cases, the recent spate of articles, news reports, even books, based on unidentified sources have not been helpful.  

Even during my few years as a professional journalist, I always have been a bit skeptical of information from individuals who insisted on anonymity.  Still, as a realist about how the world works, I understand the need to resort on occasion to secret informants. But habitual employment of anonymous sources does not build trust, and the American media is already suffering a significant loss of trust among the public.

A recent poll by Gallup reveals the scale of this loss.  In answer to the question about their level of confidence in a list of institutions in American society, 40 percent of respondents indicated very little or no confidence in newspapers and 45 percent said the same of television news.  The only institutions that received comparable negative rating were the Presidency (44 percent) and Congress (48 percent).  Maybe there is some correlation.  

Providing accurate information in a timely fashion has always been the first mission of a free press in a democratic society. How well the free press does its job impacts significantly the trust enjoyed by other key institutions that are dependent upon reliable and relevant information produced by a free press.

In the modern media world of talk radio, cable news and the Internet, however, being first with a story seems often to override considerations of accuracy and relevancy. This circumstance may have played into the decision of the New York Times to run the recent op-ed essay by “Anonymous.” 

Perhaps not a wise determination.

There should be good reasons for wanting to protect the confidentiality of a source. Is the source providing information or insight not accessible by any other means? Could the revelations by the source open the door to corroborative information? What are the motives of the source? Does the source likely face significant retribution?  Could the source be seeking revenge for some slight? Is the information a diversion in order to mislead or distract?

Although the New York Times asserted that publishing the essay anonymously was “the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers,” it is not clear what that “perspective” might be. The author, “a senior official in the Trump administration,” makes special note of Donald Trump’s “amorality,” and assures readers that the president’s “worse inclinations” are being restrained by senior officials in the Trump administration.  We have read and heard such comments frequently over the last year and half. The essay does not contain any new information or insights regarding these conditions.

It is obvious that “anonymous” approves of the policies Trump advocates and wants his administration to succeed---“many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.” He (or She) labels “effective deregulation, historic tax reform and a more robust military…as “bright spots.”

While critical of Trump’s erratic leadership approach, “anonymous” wants to assure the American public “there are adults in the room.” At the same time the author takes the news media to task for casting these “unsung heroes in and around the White House” as “villains.”

After declaring the existence of “a two-track presidency,” the essay describes the dysfunctional nature of current US foreign relations, and refers to “whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25^th Amendment.”  Again, there is no new information or insight.  Apparently, the public should feel comfortable relying upon unidentified senior officials who are actively conspiring to undermine the administration, although not openly.

An anonymous essay by a senior official in any administration carries significant hazards for the author.  One by a senior official in an administration known for its dysfunction and headed by a president known for vengeful retribution seems extraordinarily perilous.  Does the message from “Anonymous” identify goals that might warrant the apparent risks?

This “senior official” could be simply suffering from a slightly guilty conscience or wanting to justify staying on board an administration stumbling towards disaster.

There is a possibility that the essay was designed to mislead or distract.  Some comments that stirred the president’s ire: “thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impluses” and “insulating…operations from his whims…;” surely were not crafted to allay Trump’s paranoia. Neither was the special reference to Senator John McCain, who Trump considered a great antagonist.

In fact, after the essay appeared, a number of Trump’s senior staff rushed to reconfirm their support of his agenda and leadership style. It would be ironic if the decision of the New York Times to publish the “Anonymous” essay enabled Trump to elicit a reaffirmation of support from his senior staff at the critical midpoint of his term of office.