Anonymous speech is important for anti-corruption. The Washington Post's Watergate investigation would not have taken place without the anonymous sourcing by "Deep Throat."
I'm not an expert on the matter, its a little before my time, but I think a journalist went on the record and reported than an anonymous source told him of X, Y, and Z.
I don't know about the US, but I believe in some jurisdictions the newspaper and the journalist risk lawsuits if the information they report is a lie.
I don't know about the US, but I believe in some jurisdictions the newspaper and the journalist risk lawsuits if the information they report is a lie.