CJ 321: Source Information Form

Reporter’s Name ___________________________

Story Slug ____________________________

Source’s Name ___________________________

Source’s E-mail ___________________________

Source’s Web Site___________________________

Source’s Phone No.__________________________

Source’s Street Address ______________________

Source’s City & ZIP _________________________

Class Rules Restricting Use of Anonymous Sources:

* Public officials (elected and appointed, as opposed to simply hired) canNOT go off the record.

* You must know the source is credible and is in a position to know whether the data she or he is giving you are accurate. (I say "data," as opposed to "information," because they are more likely to increase uncertainty than decrease it.)

* The source must agree to let you describe his or her relationship to the data as completely as possible, without giving away his or her identity; e.g., "a source in the mayor's office" or "a source who participated in the audit."

* Lastly, the source must allow you to give his or her name, phone number and/or e-mail address to me, your editor/instructor. You can promise the source that I will uphold your agreement of anonymity -- or if I cannot do that in good conscience, I will edit his or her data from your story before it is published on the Web.