Newsweek’s retraction of its story that U.S.interrogators had
flushed the Quran down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay prison has created a
debate over the use of anonymous sources in reporting. Paul Chesser,
who at times relies on sources in his investigative work for Carolina Journal,
defended the journalistic practice in the Washington Examiner.
“Readers may think that the government belongs to them and that all
public employees should be forthcoming with their documents, but
journalists know that often does not happen,” he wrote. Still, Chesser
suggested caution by reporters and wrote that context about the source
should be given to the reader. He discussed his views on KMBZ’s “Jerry
Agar Show” in Kansas City. Agar is the former afternoon talk show host
on WPTF-AM in the Triangle.