Anonymity, corroboration and suicidality

How I reported a story that could’ve led to the death of my source and her family. Part 2.

Journalism is too opaque and misunderstood. Chills gives a behind-the-scenes look at how dangerous investigative journalism gets made. 

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Do you abide by your source’s wishes when they’ve been traumatized by a murderous regime? Here, a rebel-held area of Daraa, in southern Syria, after government shelling in 2017. (Mohamad Abazeed/AFP via Getty Images)

I left off in the first part of this story by telling you how overwhelming an ethical choice I was facing: Would I share with readers the full name and face of Alma, the Syrian rape and torture survivor, as she, herself, had asked me to do? Or would I pull back, hoping to protect her family still in the country — including her five children — from retribution? 

The key issues, as I saw them, in whether to share Alma’s name and photo were: