Long-time readers of the Georgia Straight might have noticed that there is a distinct lack of "unnamed sources" cited in news articles.

There are two reasons for this:

The first is that readers have trouble trusting articles that are based on people who can't be identified.

The second is that our senior editor, Martin Dunphy, lays down the lumber on any writer who tries to pass along information via anonymous sources.

On very rare occasions, an anonymous source will appear in the paper. But the person's identity must be independently confirmed by an editor, usually Dunphy.

Good journalism is often like good science. The facts can be replicated by an independent observer based on what appears in the article. This is impossible to do whenever an unnamed source is cited.

This is why the public should be extremely skeptical when reading reports about a so-called "media enemies" list compiled by Vision Vancouver.

I have seen no evidence that it's true.

The blogger who unveiled this list, which included my name, described it as a "kind of McCarthyism".

The real practitioners of McCarthyism are those who declare without proof that the mayor's office has a list of media enemies, whose lives and careers will be destroyed for not following the Vision Vancouver songsheet.

For all I know, this "unnamed source", if he even exists, has borderline personality disorder and is prone to making things up and creating conflict.

Without knowing his name, I can't make a reasonable assessment.

I have no problem with a story like this appearing if it can be proven. So far, this hasn't occurred anywhere close to my satisfaction.

Update (September 7): This clarification appeared on page 3 of the September 7 edition of 24 hours:

"Last week 24 hours reported an anonymous informant claimed a media 'hit list' was created by a group that included Mayor Gregor Robertson's assistant Kevin Quinlan. At this point in time that information should be considered rumour as we have not been able to prove it to our satisfaction. We continue to investigate and will apprise you of any further developments."

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.