Hello! Welcome back to your course on data journalism.
Introduction
In our last lesson, we explored the core news values that help journalists identify what makes a piece of information newsworthy. You learned to use principles like impact, timeliness, and conflict as a lens to spot potential stories.
Today, we'll focus on the raw materials you'll use to build those stories: sources. This lesson addresses the learning outcome of distinguishing between different types of journalistic sources. We'll break this down into two key distinctions:
- Primary vs. Secondary sources: Understanding the nature of your information.
- On-record vs. Anonymous sources: Understanding the agreement you have with the people providing that information.
For a data journalist, this is fundamental. The datasets you analyze are often primary sources. The reports and articles written about them are secondary sources. And the human experts or whistleblowers who give you context or tips are the human sources whose identity and reliability you must carefully manage. Grasping these concepts is a cornerstone of building credible, verifiable stories.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
The first and most important classification of any source is whether it is primary or secondary. This distinction is about the information's origin and its proximity to the actual event or data.
- A primary source provides direct, first-hand evidence about an event, person, or object. It is raw information.
- A secondary source provides second-hand information and commentary. It describes, analyzes, or interprets primary sources.
To get a solid grasp of this, let's watch a short, clear explanation.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources: The Differences Explained | Scribbr 🎓
This video from Scribbr provides an excellent academic breakdown of primary versus secondary sources. It gives clear definitions and helpful examples from various fields, including social sciences, which is very relevant to journalism.
Please watch from the beginning until 02:33. Focus on the core definitions and how secondary sources are described as interpreting or analyzing primary ones.
As the video explained, for a historian, a primary source might be a letter from the past. For a data journalist, a primary source is often the raw dataset itself—the CSV file of government contracts, the spreadsheet of election results, or the JSON data from an API.
A news article about those government contracts, or a report by an NGO analyzing the election results, would be a secondary source. These sources are valuable for context and finding leads, but a core part of data journalism is going back to the primary data to verify the claims made by secondary sources.
The following image provides a concise summary of the key differences.
Your skill set as a developer gives you a powerful advantage in working directly with primary data sources, which can often be messy, complex, and inaccessible to those without technical skills.
Test your understanding!
You are investigating the Hungarian government's use of public funds for social media advertising. Classify the following items as either primary or secondary sources.
- The official Facebook Ad Library dataset showing spending by government pages.
- An interview with a marketing expert who analyzes government ad campaigns.
- A newspaper article headlined "Government Spends Millions on Facebook Ads."
- An internal government memo outlining the social media strategy for the year.
- A public statement from a government spokesperson defending the ad spending.
Show answer
- Primary Sources: 1, 4, 5. The raw dataset from Facebook is the direct evidence. The internal memo is a direct document from the source of the activity. The official public statement is a first-hand account of the government's position.
- Secondary Sources: 2, 3. The marketing expert is providing analysis and interpretation of the campaigns (which are the primary phenomenon). The newspaper article is reporting on and summarizing the spending, making it a secondary account.
Attribution: The Rules of Engagement with Human Sources
While data is central to your work, human sources are indispensable. They provide context, explain what the data means, offer anecdotal evidence, and sometimes leak the very data you need.
When you speak to a human source, you must establish clear "rules of engagement." This is called attribution. It defines how you can use the information they provide. The default assumption in any journalistic interview is that the conversation is on the record. Any other arrangement is an exception that you and your source must explicitly agree upon.
The following reading is a comprehensive guide to the different levels of attribution. It is a critical piece of knowledge for any journalist.
Chapter 15: Working from Background and Other Levels of Attribution
This chapter from 'The Process of Writing News' offers a detailed and practical explanation of the levels of attribution. It defines each level clearly and stresses the importance of negotiation between the journalist and the source.
Please read the 'Introduction', the summary box labeled 'Box 15.1 Levels of Attribution', and the following section titled 'Levels of attribution'. Focus on understanding the precise meaning of: On the record Not for direct attribution Background Deep background Off the record Note the subtle but important differences, and the text's emphasis that anything other than 'on the record' is an exception requiring a clear agreement before the information is shared.
A Summary of Attribution Levels
Based on the reading, here is a quick breakdown of the attribution ladder:
| Level | Can you quote the source by name? | Can you use the information? | Common Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| On the Record | Yes | Yes | The gold standard. "John Smith, a city council member, said..." |
| On Background / Not for Attribution | No | Yes | The source is described, not named. "A source familiar with the negotiations said..." |
| Deep Background | No | Yes, but not directly | The information can't be published, but can be used to inform your reporting and find other sources. |
| Off the Record | No | No | The information cannot be used for publication in any way. It's for your ears only. |
It's crucial to understand that terms like "background" can be ambiguous. As a journalist, it's your responsibility to clarify. Asking "What does that mean to you? Can I quote you without your name? How can we describe you?" is essential to avoid misunderstandings.
Attribution in Practice
The resource you just read also includes a fantastic practical exercise that simulates how a reporter navigates these rules. Let's look at a key moment from the fictional interview transcripts provided in the text.
In the exercise, a reporter named Tori Baxter is interviewing Alice Turpin, a city finance official. Turpin wants to share sensitive information but is afraid of losing her job.
Turpin: ...I sure would like folks to know what’s really going on. But it all has to be off the record.
Reporter: Off the record isn’t useful to me or my audience, Alice. It means I can’t use anything you tell me. Is that really what you mean?
Turpin: No, I didn’t realize that. I’d like to point you in a couple of directions... but nothing that winds up directly in the story.
Reporter: What you’ve described to me is called deep background, Alice.
This exchange is a perfect example of professional journalism. The reporter:
- Identifies the source's incorrect use of a term ("off the record").
- Explains the correct journalistic definition.
- Negotiates a different level of attribution ("deep background") that is useful for her reporting while still protecting the source.
The reporter now knows where to look for a story about financial misconduct but cannot publish that "Alice Turpin said..." or even "a source said...". Instead, she can use the tip to, for example, file a Freedom of Information request for specific documents or analyze a specific part of the city budget—turning a deep background tip into a story backed by primary source data.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we've unpacked the critical classifications for journalistic sources, moving from the what of a story to the who and how of gathering information.
Key Takeaways:
- Primary sources are the bedrock of original reporting. For data journalists, this is often the raw data itself.
- Secondary sources provide valuable context and analysis but must be verified against primary evidence.
- All conversations with sources are on the record by default. Any other arrangement must be negotiated clearly and upfront.
- The attribution ladder—from on background to deep background to off the record—provides a framework for handling sensitive information and protecting sources while advancing your story.
Understanding these distinctions is not just a technical exercise; it's about journalistic ethics and credibility. It ensures you know the strength of your evidence and are transparent with both your sources and your audience.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
Now that you can identify a newsworthy story and understand the types of sources you'll use to report it, the next step is to put it all together. In our next lesson, we will learn how to "Apply the inverted pyramid structure to write a basic news story." This classic journalistic format is designed to deliver information clearly and efficiently, a crucial skill for communicating the complex findings you'll uncover in data.