The revelation of one of the most famous anonymous sources on
Tuesday has raised renewed questions as to the role of
confidentiality in journalism as well as how history will remember
W. Mark Felt.
Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and Felt himself have
confirmed Felt’s role as “Deep Throat,” the
anonymous source who Post reporters Woodward and Carl Bernstein
used to help unearth the 1970s Watergate scandal that brought down
former President Richard Nixon.
Woodward had said previously that he would not reveal his
anonymous source until Deep Throat’s death.
But Felt made his own identity public in a Vanity Fair article
that was released Tuesday.
Michael Schudson, professor of communications at the University
of California, San Diego, said anonymous sources have always been
an important aspect of journalism.
“Its very hard, as Woodward and Bernstein both have said
in different ways, (for journalists) to do their job in a democracy
without being able to protect the confidentiality of its
sources,” Schudson said.
“There is some legislative protection for whistle-blowers,
but it’s quite limited.”
The use of anonymous sources has come into question recently
with the Valerie Plame affair, in which journalists are being
subpoenaed to reveal who leaked Plame’s identity as a CIA
operative.
Two journalists may face jail time for refusing to reveal their
source. But Robert Novak, the reporter who broke the story, has not
been facing such pressure, said Keith Poole, professor of political
science at UCSD.
“At the moment, the journalists involved are absolutely
and courageously steadfast in protecting their sources,”
Schudson said.
Woodward and Bernstein were not asked to testify in the
Watergate case, mostly because all of the information necessary for
the case was being published on the front page of the Post, Poole
said.
Felt was just one of multiple sources, and was not always
completely accurate, Poole added.
The case involving the confidential source in the Plame affair
also differs from Deep Throat because there is additional
legislation that protects the identity of CIA operatives, Schudson
said.
“It’s a more complex issue (today),” said
Schudson, “whereas Woodward and Bernstein were more using the
standard of a confidential source.”
Poole believes that given current conditions, there would have
been “more of a propensity” to force Woodward and
Bernstein to divulge Deep Throat’s identity had Watergate
happened today.
Schudson disagrees, calling the current prosecutions “few
and special circumstances” and “not a generalized
attack on the use of confidential sources.”
The debate over anonymous sources is not the only issue that has
been raised with the revelation of Deep Throat’s
identity.
Politicians have had mixed reactions to the former FBI deputy
director’s decision to leak information to the press.
President Bush released a neutral statement.
“It’s hard for me to judge,” Bush told
reporters. “I’m learning more about the
situation.”
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he thinks that
“any time any wrongdoing occurs … it’s important that
wrongdoing be reported.”