WBJ Editor Brad Kane
October 29, 2024
Editorial
From the Editor: A note about anonymous sources
I’ve never been a fan of using anonymous sources in news stories. Ultimately, the main products of any media organization are trust and integrity, which includes proving to readers over and over again that articles are well researched, without bias, and based in fact.
When the sources of information for stories are unnamed and granted anonymity, media organizations are asking readers to take an extra leap of faith, which – over time – could erode the trust readers have in us, especially if stories rely on anonymous sources frivolously. WBJ uses anonymous sources rarely, and I can count on one hand the number of times we used them in our stories in my nine years as editor.
However, sometimes using anonymous sources is necessary to learn vital information, where the sources are taking great personal risk to provide knowledge important to the public trust. At WBJ, we only will use anonymous sources when there is a realistic chance the people providing us with information will face repercussions to their safety and livelihoods if they are identified.
This is the case with the "Failed oversight" story published on Tuesday about the toxic dysfunction at the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, which is impeding business growth in the legal marijuana industry, along with consumer protections. The story relies on anonymous sources, as agency insiders faced significant retribution if they were identified.
Keeping with WBJ policy on anonymous sourcing, the identities of all the sources were known to me and both reporters on the story, Eric Casey and Dan Adams. We verified all the information the anonymous sources provided with documents and second sources, and we made sure those sources weren’t all from the same faction of the agency who might have had a personnel axe to grind with agency leadership.
We know we are asking our audience to take an extra leap of faith in reading this well-researched and comprehensive story on a state regulatory agency gone awry, and we are relying on the trust we’ve built up with readers over the years to know everything you read is verifiable fact.
Brad Kane is editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
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Meghan Dube
December 17, 2024
To anyone who chose to remain anonymous, your fears were 100% warranted. The retaliation culture continues, with more and more tax dollars being spent to carry out executive staff's personal grievances, and retaliating against staff who speak out about the ethical and waste concerns raised in the article.
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