Newsweek Changes Rules on Sources

Newsweek has adopted new policies for the use of anonymous sources, a week after retracting a report that claimed investigators had found evidence the Koran was desecrated by interrogators at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a letter to readers appearing in today’s edition, Richard M. Smith, Newsweek chairman and editor in chief, apologized for the report and said the magazine was raising its standards for anonymous sourcing.

“From now on, only the editor or the managing editor, or other top editors they specifically appoint, will have the authority to sign off on the use of an anonymous source,” Smith wrote. His letter also said, “The cryptic phrase ‘sources said’ will never again be the sole attribution for a story in Newsweek.”

Newsweek retracted the May 9 report after officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department criticized its publication and its use of an anonymous source.

The article said U.S. investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam’s holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to intimidate inmates.

The magazine’s report was blamed for violent protests in several countries that resulted in the deaths of at least 17 people.

In a note to readers last week, Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said the information came from “a knowledgeable U.S. government source,” and before the magazine published the item, it sought comment from two officials: One declined to respond, and the other did not dispute the Koran allegation.

In the latest issue, the magazine stopped short of requiring reporters to corroborate sources speaking on condition of anonymity with a second source, but Smith said editors would work harder to do so.