Washington Post Policy on Sources

If a reporter was not present at a scene described in a story, the story should make that clear. Assertions that something actually happened although it was unseen by the reporter should be attributed, so the narrative device of describing an event as it was recounted to us by witnesses must include attribution. If we reconstruct statements or exchanges between people based on the recollections of those people or witnesses who heard them speak, we must attribute those recollections transparently. If you are unsure about the application of these guidelines in a particular situation, discuss it with your editors.

In some circumstances where a source has allowed us to see something that reporters would not otherwise be able to observe, special problems of attribution may arise. They should always be discussed with editors.

It is not always necessary to interrupt a narrative constantly to attribute small details to specific sources. It is sometimes possible to attribute the details of a narrative in a single sentence or paragraph. Here are two examples of acceptable ways to attribute information efficiently. Both appeared in the paper:

1) "The information in this story came from interviews with several administration officials, direct observation and discussions with outside advisers privy to debates inside the government."

2) "This account is drawn from interviews in November and December in Mogadishu with 19 Somalis -- nearly half of them militia fighters -- and 30 U.S. Army soldiers. Additionally, more than two dozen U. S. military personnel from the special task force sent to Somalia to capture Aideed consented to interviews this month in the United States, and several wounded soldiers were interviewed in October at the U. S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. In some cases, individuals agreed to talk on condition they not be identified. Although American and Somali versions coincide to a large extent, some accounts are impossible to verify independently." This kind of collective attribution is not appropriate in routine news stories, but in takeouts, investigative reports and other special stories it can serve readers well. Before using such a device, discuss it with your editor. We have to be sure such attribution is honest, full, and appropriate whenever we use it.

Any significant reporting by a stringer, staff member, or other Post employee should be credited in a byline or a tagline at the end of a story. When such people take notes from broadcasts of news events on radio or television, conduct basic research or check routine facts, they need not be credited.

Ground Rules

Journalistic ground rules can be confusing, but our goal is clarity in our dealings with sources and readers. This means explaining our ground rules to sources, and giving readers as much information as possible about how we learned the information in our stories. If a source is not on the record, it is important to establish ground rules at the beginning of a conversation. In a taped interview, it is preferable for the discussion of ground rules to be on the tape. We strongly prefer on-the-record interviews to all other types, but we recognize that getting sources on the record is not always possible. When it is not, we owe readers explanations as to why not, as discussed above.

We should start virtually all interviews with the presumption that they are on the record. Inexperienced sourcesusually ordinary people who unexpectedly find themselves the newsshould clearly understand that you are a reporter and should not be surprised to find themselves quoted in the newspaper.

In establishing ground rules, the following are The Washington Post's definitions of various forms of attribution. People use these terms to mean different things, so if your dealings with a source are going to be anything other than "on the record", you should have a discussion to clarify the terms before you begin an interview.

On the record: For quotation, attributable to the source by name.

On background, or not for attribution: These both mean the same thing: information that can be attributed to "a police department official" or "a player on the team" who is not named. We must be careful, when dealing with sources who say they want to provide information "on background," to explain that to us that means we can quote the statement while maintaining the confidentiality of the source. Some sources will try to negotiate the terms of art in "background" attributionfor example, a State Department official may ask to be identified as "an administration official." We should try to put the reader's interest first. In a story about a fight between the Pentagon and the State Department, for example, quoting "an administration official" is useless to readers. Use good judgment, and press for maximum revelation in attribution.

Deep background: This is a tricky category, to be avoided if possible. Information accepted on "deep background" can be included in the story, but not attributed. That means there is no way to help readers understand where it is coming from, which is why we discourage the use of deep background. You can also use information received on deep background as the basis for further reporting.