Seduction of Secrecy – A Discussion of Anonymous Sources
Washington is awash in secrecy; the use of anonymous sources undermines press credibility; and the media does not adequately inform the public about open government issues, 28 journalists, scholars and freedom-of-information experts said during a symposium on “The Seduction of Secrecy: Toward Access to Government Information on the Record.” The 5th Curtis B. Hurley symposium was co-sponsored by the Missouri School of Journalism and by the National Press Club, and moderated by Missouri’s Geneva Overholser. “There are a number of things that we have to do,” said the AP’s Tom Curley. “We have to be able to walk out of a room when somebody wants to go off the record. We have to have the courage to hold the story, perhaps to get it on the record, perhaps to get a fuller context. … We have to shine a spotlight on this issue. We have to cover it more aggressively.” (3/21/05)