Anonymous sources

Despite promises to curtail it, the LAT published this morning a front page Halloween scare story based on anonymous sources about the danger of an unintentional clash between U.S. and Iranian forces in Iraq, and the potential danger that such a clash could escalate into full fledged war. It could be a true story, but then it could be a figment of a reporter's imagination. The sources might be high level people with knowledge of the subject. Then again, they could be clerks or secretaries or mid-level people anxious to get in the newspaper. If the newspaper had named its sources, readers could evaluate the sources and decide whether or not to believe the story. The LAT would surely argue that they should be trusted. If the newspaper did not have a bias, that might be possible.