Atlantic Editor Defends Using Anonymous Sources For Trump Hit Piece. Back In 2016, He Blasted Using Anonymous Sources Targeting Him.

On Sunday, appearing on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with host Brian Stelter, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, which has been slammed for running a hit piece on President Trump based on anonymous sources, blamed Trump, claiming, “We all have to use anonymous sources, especially in a climate in which the President of the United States tries to actively intimidate journalism organizations and people who provide information to journalism organizations.”

Stelter asked about the piece, which claimed Trump had made disparaging remarks about the U.S. military but whose accuracy was then fiercely disputed by numerous figures within the Trump administration, “Why grant anonymity in the first place?” He continued obsequiously, “Help viewers at home understand how this works. Obviously these sources are not anonymous to you; you know their names; you know why they are credible, and you’re attaching your own credibility to them by granting them anonymity.”

Goldberg replied, “Right. Of course, And as Jennifer Griffin on Fox said, and I think this was a great quote, she said, ‘These are not people who are anonymous to me.’ I mean, yes, we know, if you’re a good reporter and you’re gonna quote someone anonymously, you better have faith in what they’re saying. It’s a complicated thing as you well know; we all have to use anonymous sources, especially in a climate in which the President of the United States tries to actively intimidate journalism organizations and people who provide information to journalism organizations. But the formula is simple: What you do is you have to say, ‘Does the public’s right to know or need to know a particular piece of information outweigh the morally complicated and ambiguous qualities of anonymous sourcing?’”