Info/Law

There is a lot of criticism of the use of the anonymous source in Washington reporting, much of it justified. But there is no doubting the bottom line that political reporters sometimes need the tool in order to get honest views. Case in point: the Washington Post gives us this comment about Republican prospects in the Senate after the double-whammy of John Warner’s retirement and the Larry Craig scandal and resignation:

‘It’s always darkest right before you get clobbered over the head with a pipe wrench. But then it actually does get darker,’ said a GOP pollster who insisted on anonymity in order to speak candidly.

I don’t think this pollster would have been quite as, er, candid if the comment were attributed, do you?

Filed under: Anonymity, Media