The past events of 2005 have shown what journalists have known all along: confidential sources are tricky.

This summer saw the revealing of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's notorious "Deep Throat" source, a former F.B.I. agent who gave the Washington Post reporters information to break the Watergate scandal. Then, The New York Times reporter Judith Miller was imprisoned for refusing to name her source in an investigation of several journalists for leaking the name of a C.I.A. operative. Miller was released Sept. 29 for finally agreeing to testify.

Most interviews with sources are conducted on the record; that is, sources give the information knowing their full name and title will be used.

Confidential sources bring a host of complications to the already complex reporting process. Frequent usage will damage a publication's credibility and cause readers to lose trust.

Since there is no steadfast rule to determine when to use anonymous sources, editors must ask the following questions: What is the source's motivation for going unnamed? What does the source have to lose or gain? How certain are the editors of the source's accuracy? How important is the story for the public to know?

If a source wishes to remain anonymous, a policy must be in place to ensure the above questions are answered satisfactorily.

For example, the Oct. 4 issue of The Marquette Tribune had an anonymous source for the story "Male eating disorders on rise." Reporter Amanda Sheaffer interviewed a male student with an eating disorder, who agreed to share his personal experience. However, he requested to be identified as "male Marquette student X."

Sheaffer said she thinks confidential sources are acceptable in situations like this, where sharing such a personal experience may bring embarrassment or stigma to the source.

She said after talking to Will Ashenmacher, general news editor, she asked the source if she could identify the student's college and year in school. But the student did not feel comfortable having the information published. As a result, the story lacked a compelling voice from a man who was actually experiencing what the story discussed.

"It was too bad that we couldn't use (the source), but it went against our policy," Ashenmacher said. "How do people know that's even a real person? It's important for students to know that problems like anorexia can happen to anyone, including students at Marquette. By keeping the source entirely anonymous, that wouldn't have hit home with readers."

A balance must be reached if it is determined that the anonymous source adds important information to a story. The source must be identified in some way. Otherwise, it is not fair to our readers to present information without context.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 11, 2005.