The presentation helps journalism students identify the difference among on the record, on background, on deep background and off the record. It also teaches them to examine the motives of anonymous sources and deal with sources who are not public figures with sensitivity. It goes with Chapter 13 of The Ethical Journalist by Gene Foreman. Professor Linda Austin created it for her JNL-2105 Journalism Ethics students at the National Management College in Yangon, Myanmar.

1. CHAPTER 13:
SOURCES
• Identify the difference among: on the record,
on background, on deep background and off
the record.
• Examine the motives of anonymous sources
and identify the damage they can do.
• Deal with sources who are not public figures
with sensitivity.

2. DEFINITIONS

3. SOURCE

4. WHAT’S A SOURCE?
By Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Someone who gives you information for a story

5. ANONYMOUS
SOURCE
SOURCE
GENERAL
ASSIGNMENT
REPORTER
BEAT
REPORTER

6. WHAT’S A BEAT?
By Damian Kettlewell
An area of coverage: government, business,
education, sports, entertainment, health, science

7. ANONYMOUS
SOURCE
SOURCE
GENERAL
ASSIGNMENT
REPORTER
BEAT
REPORTER
ON THE
RECORD
OFF THE
RECORD
ON
BACKGROUND

8. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• On the record: Information that a source agrees
can be used in a story and attributed to him/her.

9. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• On background: Information that a source
agrees can be published but only under
conditions negotiated with the source.

10. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• On background: Information that a source
agrees can be published but only under
conditions negotiated with the source.
Which is best?
A. A government source
B.A source in Naypyidaw
C.A source who works in
Parliament
D.A Parliamentary source
with access to the memos
in question

11. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• On DEEP background: Information that can be
used but without any attribution.

12. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• Off the record: Information that a source gives
you that cannot be published in a story

13. EXPLAIN TO SOURCES
• Off the record: Information that a source gives
you that cannot be published in a story
What if you get it later from someone else?
• In general, information obtained off the
record or on background or on deep
background can be pursued with other
sources to get it on the record.

14. WHEN TO ALLOW
ANONYMOUS SOURCES
1. Use only for facts, not opinions.
2. The source is known to you.
3. The source is in a position to know
the information he/she is providing.
4. The information is essential to the
story.
5. It is not possible to get the
information on the record.

15. ANONYMOUS
SOURCE
SOURCE
GENERAL
ASSIGNMENT
REPORTER
BEAT
REPORTER
ON THE
RECORD
OFF THE
RECORD
ON
BACKGROUND
CHECKBOOK
JOURNALISM

16. CHECKBOOK JOURNALISM
• Paying news sources for information

17. ANONYMOUS
SOURCE
SOURCE
GENERAL
ASSIGNMENT
REPORTER
BEAT
REPORTER
ON THE
RECORD
OFF THE
RECORD
ON
BACKGROUND
CHECKBOOK
JOURNALISM
PRE-PUBLICATION
REVIEW

18. PRE-PUBLICATION REVIEW
• Allowing a source to review an article before
it is published
By Susornpol Joe Watanachote

19. ANONYMOUS
SOURCE
SOURCE
GENERAL
ASSIGNMENT
REPORTER
BEAT
REPORTER
ON THE
RECORD
OFF THE
RECORD
ON
BACKGROUND
CHECKBOOK
JOURNALISM
PRE-PUBLICATION
REVIEW
QUOTATION INDIRECT
QUOTATION
PARTIAL
QUOTATION

20. QUOTING A SOURCE
• Which one is direct, indirect and partial?
A.“I am not happy with the budget
because it will hurt the poor, making
them pawns of the system,” the
president said.
B.The president said he was not happy
with the new budget because it will
hurt the poor.
C.The president said he was not happy
with the new budget because it will
make the poor “pawns of the system.”

21. CASE STUDIES
1. Which of the four principles from the
SPJ Code of Ethics are relevant in each
scene?
2. Did the reporter behave ethically?

22. 1981 MOVIE: Absence of Malice
“Suppose you picked
up this morning’s
newspaper, and your
life was a front-page
headline….and
everything they said
was accurate but not
true.”

23. SPJ CODE’s 4 PRINCIPLES
1. Seek truth and
report it.
2. Minimize harm.
3. Act independently.
4. Be accountable and
transparent.

24. KEY NAMES: Absence of Malice
• Reporter Megan Carter
• Michael Gallagher,
businessman wrongly
targeted as killer of
labor leader Joey Diaz
• Elliot Rosen, unethical
prosecutor who leaks
file to try to flush out
Gallagher
• Bootlegger = illegal
transport of alcohol
without paying taxes

25. CASE STUDY NO. 1
• Identify the difference among: on the record, on
background, on deep background and off the
record.
• Examine the motives of anonymous sources and
identify the damage they can do.

26. CASE STUDY NO. 1
• Elliot Rosen, an unethical prosecutor, meets
reporter Megan Carter for an interview. He leaves a
folder of evidence where he knows she will find it.

27. 1. WHICH ONES APPLY?
1. Seek truth and report it.
2. Minimize harm.
3. Act independently.
4. Be accountable and
transparent.
2. Did the reporter behave ethically?
Should she look at the file? If she
does, then what should she do?

28. CAN BAD PEOPLE GIVE GOOD INFO?
• Yes, but always ask yourself: Why is he/she telling
me this? What’s his/her motive? Am I being used?

29. CASE STUDY NO. 2
• Examine the motives of anonymous sources and
identify the damage they can do.

30. CASE STUDY NO. 2
• Carter puts on a hidden recorder and arranges for a
photographer to shoot pictures of Gallagher
surreptitiously. Gallagher takes her to lunch on his
boat. Gallagher discovers that she is secretly
taping their conversation and having them
shadowed. He inquires about journalistic fairness.

31. 1. WHICH ONES APPLY?
1. Seek truth and report it.
2. Minimize harm.
3. Act independently.
4. Be accountable and
transparent.
2. Did the reporter behave ethically?
Should she record secretly? Should
she tell Gallagher her source?

32. WAS THE REPORTER FAIR TO GALLAGHER?
How did anonymous sources hurt Gallagher? He says
she let’s unnamed people attack him. “You’re their go-
fer. You write what they say.” Is he right?

33. CASE STUDY NO. 3
• Deal with sources who are not public figures
with sensitivity.

34. CASE STUDY NO. 3
• Carter interviews Teresa Perrone, who works at a
Catholic school. Perrone provides Gallagher an
alibi for the Diaz disappearance, saying that
Gallagher was with her while she had an abortion.
She asks Carter not to write about the abortion.

35. 1. WHICH ONES APPLY?
1. Seek truth and report it.
2. Minimize harm.
3. Act independently.
4. Be accountable and
transparent.
2. Did the reporter behave ethically?
Would you have written the story?
Included the abortion in the story?

36. HOW DID THE REPORTER TREAT THE SOURCE?
She was insensitive to a person from a different
background and inexperienced with the media. How
could she have requested verification more sensitively?