A Reading Guide for Unnamed Sources

Trump and other members of his administration have repeatedly complained about leaks - though past experience suggests Trump might be one of the sources, and others have speculated that the leaks are coming from Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Why would they be responsible for leaks? Because leaks are not just gossip about people in the administration turning on each other; leaks can be a way to test the waters regarding some policy or as a way to kill something before it can even get started. To help you explore these possibilities, Perry Bacon Jr. provided a two-part article about reading articles with unnamed sources:

• When to Trust a Story that Uses Unnamed Sources - includes 5 tips for reading information from unnamed sources, such as "Multiple sources add up." and "Watch for vague or imprecise “denials” of these kinds of stories. That often means they are accurate."
• Which Anonymous Sources are Worth Paying Attention To - where he breaks down the different types of sources, such as "organization sources, like White House officials" and "the spies, like intelligence officials"