Fontes anónimas: "USA Today" corta o "mal" pela raíz O jornal "USA Today", que assitiu à resignação de um dos seus mais conhecidos jornalistas por ter inventado notícias baseado em fontes que afinal não existiam parece disposto a voltar a instituir uma regra que já vigorou naquele diário, quando foi criado há vinte anos: proibição total de fontes anónimas. É isso que se pode deduzir de um dos seus editoriais de hoje, intitulado "Evil of journalism: Anonymous sources": "(...) In 1982, when we founded USA TODAY, we effectively banned all anonymous sources. As competition for readers and viewers and listeners and prizes from peers has become greater, more and more publishers and editors and broadcast managers have relaxed their rules. More and more reporters have taken advantage of that environment. It's so simple. Most anonymous sources often tell more than they know. Reporters who are allowed to use such sources sometimes write more than they hear. Editors too often let them get away with it. Result: Fiction gets mixed with fact. The only way to win the war against this evil is for journalists at all levels to ban all anonymous sources. Until or unless we do, the public won't trust us, and we put the First Amendment in jeopardy."