Radio Station Drops Unnamed Sources

As stories about the “threat of Iran” blanket the mainstream media, unnamed government sources have been silenced by a small public radio station in Santa Fe, N.M. In an unprecedented media move, KSFR news director Bill Dupuy recently issued a memo to staff stating that the new policy of KSFR’s news department is “to ignore and not repeat any wire service or nationally published story about Iran, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia or any other foreign power that quotes an ‘unnamed’ U.S. official.”

Citing news agencies that published anonymous government sources to support the cause for war since Sept. 11, Dupuy noted that, “High administration officials speaking on the condition of anonymity” “usually reliable Washington sources,” and the like were behind the publicity that added credibility to the push to go to war against Afghanistan and Iraq.

Acknowledging the limited size of its listening audience, the radio station challenges other local news departments to join its professional stance. “We can take steps not to compromise our integrity. We should not dutifully parrot whatever comes out of Washington, on the wire or by whatever means, no matter how intriguing and urgent it sounds, when the source is unnamed,” Dupuy stated.

The Associated Press awarded KSFR “New Mexico Station of the Year” for news in 2005 and 2006.