Carta aos leitores da Newsweek Na sequência da crise gerada pela edição do passado dia 9 da Newsweek (em que se afirmava que militares norte-americanos desrespeitaram o Corão, tendo os protestos dos muçulmanos resultado em várias mortes), o editor-chefe da revista escreve uma carta aos leitores, pedindo desculpa pelo sucedido: «we got an important story wrong, and honor requires us to admit our mistake and redouble our efforts to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.» Garantindo que, nas próximas semanas, vão rever os procedimentos jornalísticos, Richard M. Smith assegura nesta carta que, para já, serão tomados os seguintes passos, no que diz respeito ao uso de fontes anónimas:

• «We will raise the standards for the use of anonymous sources throughout the magazine.»
• «We will step up our commitment to help the reader understand the nature of a confidential source's access to information and his or her reasons for demanding anonymity.»
• «The cryptic phrase "sources said" will never again be the sole attribution for a story in NEWSWEEK.»
• «When information provided by a source wishing to remain anonymous is essential to a sensitive story?alleging misconduct or reflecting a highly contentious point of view, for example?we pledge a renewed effort to seek a second independent source or other corroborating evidence. »
• «When the pursuit of the public interest requires the use of a single confidential source in such a story, we will attempt to provide the comment and the context to the subject of the story in advance of publication for confirmation, denial or correction.»
• «Tacit affirmation, by anyone, no matter how highly placed or apparently knowledgeable, will not qualify as a secondary source.»