A key aspect of journalism that often gets overlooked is the journalists’ connection to their sources when writing. A reader may commonly see the words “according to sources” and not think about what goes on behind the scenes of a story in order to cite those sources.
Sources add a level of legitimacy to a story, so managing a constant unbiased relationship with sources should be toward the top of a journalist’s priorities.
Why Use Sources?
Journalism as a practice is always held accountable by the public to provide accurate and unbiased information. In order to provide this information, journalists must do their research. This includes finding sources that help them tell their story.
Sources can come from a variety of places. In sports writing, these sources can be players, coaches, people involved in an organization, and many other people not commonly associated with a team. A journalist’s job is to seek out information from those who have knowledge on what the writer is writing about.
The Important Relationship with Sources
Writers interview many people as a part of their practice. Sports writers often interview the same players and coaches if they follow a certain team or league. The journalists often form a relationship with these people as they interact with them more and more.
Sometimes, however, journalists have to be careful not to be too close to their sources. If the bond between writer and source is too close, a bias is created. The writer may be less-likely to report anything negative on their friend. If the goal of a journalist is to be unbiased, then this becomes a compromise of a fundamental point of journalism.
Some Things Don’t Need to be Reported
While it is important for journalists to maintain their credibility by remaining unbiased, writers can often leak information that they may not have been allowed to share. This is another concern for journalism as a whole. Simply using the phrase “according to anonymous sources” does not mask the information that should not have been leaked.
A recent example I ran into happened earlier today. A journalist was discussing how he thought the resort that team he was covering was staying in. Another journalist joined in the discussion by saying where the team was staying, revealing the location potentially to fans of the team.
Matthew Covers Sports 