He appears to blush as he admits, ăSo now it has happened (to us)·A la The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other newspapers and broadcast stations or networks· anonymous source misuse or abuseä put poor USA Today ăstarä reporter Jack Kelley in the hot seat and led to his forced resignation

According to Neuharth, ăanonymous sources are the root of evil in journalism.ä He cites New York Times reporter Jayson Blairâs habit of making up stuff. Another media blush goes to the Washington Post who gave back a Pulitzer because a reporter had made up a story about a non-existent eight-year-old heroin addict.

Frankly, I canât imagine this happening in Bermuda. Weâre too small; almost everyone knows almost everyone else. Few people say much about anything that happens controversially around here, compared to other places. And when something really important happens they appear, to me, to gather in tight circles, protect themselves and each other, and promote a code of silence. In my experience, itâs a rare person in Bermuda who stands firm on controversial issues, anonymously or otherwise.

I wouldnât say it if I didnât mean it, but I know all of the newspaper editors and publishers in Bermuda, and I believe that each one has integrity. Moreover, none of the reporters has ever given me reason to believe that each doesnât have a good understanding of the ethics of his or her profession. I donât know the TV and radio people here as well, but Iâve seen nothing in the 14 years Iâve been here to prevent me from holding them in the same high regard.

Another problem that I also donât see here, very obvious during my U.S. journalism experience, is the constant self-heralding of media for winning journalism ăprizes.ä A Pulitzer for stories about an arrest in Mississippi of the killer of Malcolm X·What? Decades too late, in my view. My own Associated Press award for a story I wrote about a teenager who died of a drug overdose ÷ I never have felt comfortable about getting attention for that one. If either of those stories had changed anything÷fine. But they havenât. Racism continues in Mississippi (and the world); drug deaths continue in Georgia (and the world).

For me, itâs not the anonymous tipsters who are the problem; itâs the media arrogance of just a few. I think Jack Kelley put himself in his own hot seat and forced his own resignation.

In fact, if I assure a source he or she wonât be revealed, you can be certain that will be the case. Journalists are no different than psychologists, priests, or other medical and legal professionals who must honour confidential obligations. And because of this code of honour that exists in journalism, many important events have been exposed, with appropriate consequences and changes to prevent recurrence.

No, the problem isnât anonymous sources, as Neuharth suggests. The problems, I suggest, are the cowards who fail to speak up and the arrogance of some who mix fiction with fact to massage their own sad egos.