(MIS)USE OF ANONYMOUS SOURCES IN THE TABLOIDS IN SERBIA: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONTENT OF SERBIAN TABLOIDS BLIC AND KURIR

The already problematic ethics of the tabloids can further be questioned in terms of the use of anonymous sources. The use of anonymous sources in the service of spreading rumors and unverified information is not only justifiably criticized, but in terms of professional ethics, it is also unacceptable. Communication using rumors has become the primary way of communication in the tabloids, which use unverified or premeditated information and transmit them from the ordering party to the manipulated readers. The subject of this paper is the use of anonymous sources in tabloid dailies Blic and Kurir, with special reference to their abuse, while the main goal of the paper is to determine the extent to which anonymous sources are misused. A comparative analysis of the contents from Blic and Kurir (between December 16 and 29, 2013) confirms the initial hypothesis that the tabloids tend to abuse anonymous sources, and it also confirms the tendency to misuse these sources in both tabloids.Key words: anonymous sources, newspapers, tabloids, rumors, ethics