Common Themes in News from Anonymous Sources in Indian Political Reporting

Anonymous sources in political reporting raise issues of ethics. This article studies the common themes from political news provided by anonymous sources in Indian media outlets using grounded theory method. India witnessed national elections in 2014 that brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power. The study takes into account news stories appearing in three English-language media outlets in India in 2014. Both direct and paraphrased anonymous quotes were included in the study. The author found the common themes obtained from anonymous sources: style of functioning of politicians, criticising and highlighting weaknesses of politicians and power centres within political parties. Anonymous sourcing also brought to the fore issues of truth telling vis-à-vis transparency and anonymous sources being a necessary evil of reporting. The author argues that reporters should give some information about the hierarchy of anonymous sources quoted in news reports to enhance credibility. Also, they must inform the audience about reasons for granting anonymity. The Press Council of India serves as a moral watchdog on the Indian press. However, it does not have guidelines on using anonymous sources in news reporting. The author provides a set of ethics guidelines to be added to the Press Council of India codes of ethics for using anonymous sources.