A Question of Ethics: When is a single source story ethical?

By Aly Colón

A Supreme Court draft ruling. A 10-year-old rape victim’s abortion. Journalists have relied on single sources to tell challenging stories in recent months. In most situations, the more reporting and sourcing a journalist can offer readers, viewers, and listeners, the more ethical the journalist’s reporting becomes. More sources provide more opportunities for verification.

One source makes it harder – but not impossible – to verify facts and understand the complete context. Here are some questions to ask before publishing a single source story:

• How does the source know what they know? What direct evidence can they provide or point toward? How would someone challenge this evidence? 
• What other sources might be available, including documentation, that could support or challenge the primary source? Who are other potential sources and what information could they substantiate or challenge? 
• What other verification tools might we use?
• What competing values are you weighing in your reporting and publishing of this as a single-source story?
• How do you account for divergent views of this situation? 

What other questions might you ask before publishing a single-source story? Email me your suggestions.

Aly Colón is the Knight Professor of Media Ethics in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University

National Press Club names 2022 scholarship winners

The National Press Club, the world’s leading professional organization for journalists, has chosen four exemplary students as the recipients of its scholarships honoring promising future journalists serving their communities.

The 2022 scholarship winners are:

• Anissa Carby of Miami Gardens, Florida, was recognized with the Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship totaling as much as $20,000 over four years. An aspiring broadcast journalist, Carby impressed judges with her drive and resourcefulness to immerse herself in journalism despite having limited access and opportunities: She created her own reel and coverage even though her school didn’t have a formal journalism department, and she sought out the mentorship of a cousin who works in the industry to shadow them. Read more about Carby.

• Kyla McGhee of Raleigh, North Carolina, was recognized with the Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo totaling as much as $20,000 over four years. McGhee, a graduate of Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, impressed the judges with her well-roundedness as a journalist and her work portfolio. She’s written for her high school newspaper, The Mycenaean, and Beyond Women’s Sports, a site dedicated to coverage of women’s sports. Read more about McGhee.

• Sean Cummings of Portland, Oregon was recognized with the Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship totaling a one-time scholarship of $5,000 for graduate students. Cummings, a freelance writer, has had work appear in the Santa Barbara Independent, Mountain Journal, and The Stanford Daily, as well as in a few regional environmental newsletters in Southern California. He will pursue a science communication master’s degree at the University of California Santa Cruz. Read more about Cummings here.

• Katrina Machetta of Houston, Texas was recognized with the Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship totaling a one-time scholarship of $5,000 for high school seniors. Machetta impressed judges with the quality and breadth of her work. She has been Editor-in-Chief for her high school’s Legacy Press newspaper, Senior Reporter for Youth Journalism International, a reporter/contributor for the Los Angeles Times and PBS, an award-winning poet, and more. Read more about Machetta here.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute administers the scholarships for the National Press Club. If you’d like to support the scholarship program, please click here to donate.