Anonymous sourcing
Attributes claims to unnamed insiders with no way to verify.
Specimen
According to a senior official familiar with the matter , the deal is already effectively dead.
Fabricated passage — teaching example designed for clarity.
anonymous sourcing — claim attributed to an unnamed source; unverifiable
Dissection
According to a senior official familiar with the matter, the deal is already effectively dead.
- source cannot be identified
- claim cannot be verified
- publication bears the full credibility weight
Field notes
- Family
- False authority
- Habitat
- political journalism, investigative reporting, financial news
- Frequency
- found in 13% of analyzed articles
- Confused with
- Unnamed expert , Unverifiable claim
In the wild
"Sources close to the negotiations say both sides are further apart than they appear."
Political desk, national broadsheet, February 2026
"An insider at the company described the culture as 'completely broken'."
Business reporting, financial publication, April 2026
Why it works
'Sources say' borrows journalistic credibility while removing the accountability that credibility usually requires.
Counter-move
Ask: can any detail be independently verified? What is the outlet's track record with this type of claim?
See it flagged in real articles while you read.
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