Why anonymous sources are important in covering business

Henry Blodget of The Business Insider writes about why his site grants anonymity to sources and why that’s a necessity in covering business news.

Blodget writes, “In the business world, ~99.999% of potential sources are not authorized to speak to the media–on background or on the record. Most of the rest, meanwhile, write press releases.

“Press releases can contain valuable information. When a company or executive has some important information to release, or wants to stake out a formal position on something, on-the-record quotes can be very helpful.

But if the goal is to get the real story — the drama and personalities and considerations and developments that led up to the press release — you have to talk to the people involved. And those people need to be confident that you won’t blow their cover.

“Now, obviously, some sources spin and lie and exaggerate and embellish and plant information when they’re talking on background, knowing they won’t have to publicly defend their statements. But on-the-record sources do this, too–often quite skillfully (or, just as bad, they find a thousand and one ways to articulately say nothing). And some background sources are also willing to discuss details that spokespeople would never discuss–or even know. And so, by maintaining healthy skepticism, and talking to as many sources as possible, we feel we can get a better picture of the real story than we can by only talking to folks who will go on the record.”