Unnamed sources as rhetorical constructs in news agency reports: a diachronic view

• Autores: Maija Stenvall
• Localización: Shaping realities in news reporting: from Early Modern English to the dawn of the twentieth century / coord. por Nicholas Brownlees, Elsa-Simoes-Lucas Freitas, Sandra Gonçalves Tuna, Jorge Pedro Sousa, 2018, ISBN 9789897291920, págs. 97-106
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In today’s news agency reporting, “precise sourcing” (cf. Reuters handbook) is one of the values that can be directly linked to the ideals of objectivity and factuality. Paradoxically, this aim has led to an abundant use of anonymous sources. At the same time, both AP (the Associated Press) and Reuters, in their guidelines to journalists, clearly stress the ‘weakness’ of unnamed speakers, and, in June 2005, AP even sent a special reminder to its journalists, urging them to tell their readers the reason for anonymity, whenever possible (Silverman & Carroll 2005; see also Stenvall 2008).

    The present paper looks into the past of sourcing routines of these two news agencies. My data are collected from AP and Reuters news reports in the ProQuest database of historical newspapers between 1850 and 1995:

    the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Manchester Guardian.

    Even my limited data give evidence of the fact that the use of unnamed sources is a long-standing routine, involving special strategies. An unnamed speaker is presented as credible and newsworthy, the fact that the anonymity is the speaker’s own choice is stressed, the reason for anonymity given. In 1892 (MG, May 24), a Reuters journalist wrote:

    “A respectable man, whose name is known but is not made public, has made a statement...”. It is obvious that the journalist feels that he has to “claim standing” (cf. Bell 1991: 193) for this anonymous person. However, requirements for today’s ‘objective’ style are not fulfilled. In contrast, AP’s explanation (WP April 12, 1906) is totally in line with the present day guidelines: “This refugee would not give his name, as he feared persecution at the hands of the police.” All these strategies open up a wealth of rhetorical possibilities, and thus can undermine the alleged factuality/objectivity of news agency discourse.