In this seriesThe NPR takes the readers behind the news and explains how we do our journalism. Here, Meghan Ashford-Grooms, an editor of the Standards team, describes how NPR thinks about anonymous sources.

How is the trump administration trimmed to affect federal agencies? What was the impact of Iran’s US bombing on nuclear facilities? What is a Ukrainian soldier in war with Russia?

There are all questions that journalists in NPR and other places have trusted anonymous sources – people who do not want them to use their names in a story – to try to answer.

So, how does NPR decide when the sources should be allowed to be anonymous? And why?

The strong preference of NPR is for those who give information to our journalists to be “on records” – meaning that they agree to be nominated as sources in our stories.

But sometimes people with important information are afraid that they are fired from their jobs or put in jail to talk to a reporter. In other cases, a person wants to share details of a painful or sensitive experience – a sexual attack or a difficult medical process – but wants to avoid the stigma that can be publicly identified.

In those situations, the NPR considins providing source oblivion. The NPR uses information from anonymous sources to tell important stories that will otherwise become unattainable. And only specific senior editors can sign their use.

To fix a request for oblivion, deciding how these editors try to balance the commitment to the transparency of NPR – that is, to tell our audience where we get our information – to talk to us on the face of a source against the loss. One way is that they do so that the source with the makers, journalists and editors of the story has to answer many important questions:

• Is source information or perspective important to the public? And is this source reporter the only way to get it?

• Is the source reliable and reliable? Do they say they say they are, and are they in a position to know what they say?

• Do they face results that can negatively affect their life or their livelihood?

Only if the request fulfills the above criteria, then oblivion is given.

If the NPR allows to use an anonymous source, we provide a clear, specific reason – in the story – to allow the person to be anonymous. We aim to tell our listeners and readers as much as we can tell about an anonymous source without any details that can make them recognizable. The language can look like this: “According to a senior official of the state department, who spoke to the NPR on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.” ,

In some cases, a source would agree to allow the NPR to be referred to by their first or mid -name, or even in their beginners. Those sources undergo the same veating process that do not want as those who do not want any part of their name.

One thing that our readers and listeners will not find in the NPR story are pseudo -name, because they are made and we only want to report the facts.

There are some recent stories here that highlight the approach to the anonymous sources of NPR:

More information is in NPR Policy HandbookNpr.org/ethics available online.