When a news organization publishes an article based on unnamed sources, it is putting its reputation on the line. The organization’s journalists are effectively asking readers to take their ______(41)______ for it. If the article’s ______(42)______ is challenged, and the organization has made a deal not to reveal its sources, it may be out there defending itself alone.
So why do news organizations sometimes publish articles based on unnamed sources? In practice, we should ______(43)______ the reporting and the sources carefully and decided that the story is worth telling, but we can’t do it without ______(44)______ sources we’ve agreed to not name.
Reporters are only as good as their sources. The best sources—well-placed people with ______(45)______ knowledge of events—often aren’t willing to go on the record because sharing the information could put them, or their jobs, at risk. The fewer people who know, the more ______(46)______ a source may be taking by talking to journalists—and the more newsworthy the information may be.
Editors seek to safeguard the reputation of their newsrooms by carefully inspecting sources and ______(47)______ clear and narrow deals that balance protecting their identities while also telling a reader as much as possible about how they know what they know—whether they were ______(48)______ at the meeting, for example, or reviewed the relevant documents. This helps to make our sourcing more trustworthy to readers without ______(49)______ the source.
That balancing act between source protection and being ______(50)______ with the reader has grown more challenging as concern about potential leak investigations has ______(51)______, especially for government sources. Sources are also much more ______(52)______ about how they communicate and are asking more questions about how we share information internally.
People in general are becoming much more ______(53)______ to speak with journalists on the record due to fears of exposure. It’s hard to argue, ______(54)______ that being named in a news story doesn’t pose a risk to an immigrant living in the country illegally. But we generally try to avoid featuring unnamed people for purely entertaining or illustrative purposes, and use them to get to the truth of events we can’t get elsewhere.
Limiting the use of unnamed sources to matters of public interest wherever we can helps us ensure we don’t ______(55)______ the credibility that makes our coverage worth reading.
41. A. deal B. name C. news D. word
42. A. carefulness B. mindfulness C. rightfulness D. truthfulness
43. A. collect B. prepare C. review D. write
44. A. making up B. putting aside C. relying on D. wearing out
45. A. dangerous B. direct C. heard D. recorded
46. A. breaks B. chances C. profit D. risk
47. A. faking B. holding C. striking D. withdrawing
48. A. absent B. active C. inactive D. present
49. A. downing B. offing C. outing D. upping
50. A. honest B. honorable C. patient D. satisfied
51. A. ended B. heightened C. loosened D. started
52. A. cautious B. confused C. curious D. excited
53. A. aggressive B. generous C. reluctant D. willing
54. A. for example B. in comparison C. in fact D. on the other hand
55. A. improve B. reduce C. spare D. tear
1. 使用匿名消息源的必要性（Why they use them）
尽管使用匿名消息源会让新闻机构承担声誉风险，但这是获取核心真相的重要途径。许多掌握直接内情的高价值消息源，由于害怕失去工作或面临人身/法律风险（如政府泄密调查、非法移民身份暴露等），不愿意公开身份。为了向公众报道这些极具新闻价值和公共利益的故事，新闻机构必须依赖这些匿名消息源。
2. 媒体面临的挑战与平衡（The Balancing Act）
对消息源： 必须严守承诺，绝不暴露其身份（not outing the source）。
对读者： 必须尽可能保持诚实与透明（being honest with the reader），告知读者这些消息源是如何得知信息的（例如是否在场、是否看过文件），以此来证明报道的真实性，让读者愿意相信他们（take their word for it）。
3. 维护公信力的底线（Safeguarding Credibility）
文章在结尾强调了新闻行业的准则：不能为了娱乐或单纯的说明目的去滥用匿名机制。只有在涉及公众利益（matters of public interest）且无法通过其他渠道获取真相时，才应该使用匿名消息源。通过严格限制其使用范围，新闻机构才能在保护线人的同时，不损害自身赖以生存的公信力。
D D C C B
D C D C A
B A C C B
