The case for anonymity

Editor: There is an article in your September 20, 2024 edition titled “Dr Friday incorrect on national student loan programme figures”. My primary interest is not in the granularity and substance of the rebuttal but rather in the cloak of anonymity that covers the piece.
I cannot easily see why a rebuttal that is important to make needs that kind of protection. It comes across to me, a reader, as unnecessary sniping.
Further, in terms of mentoring in a lively news reporting environment, I submit that it is not a good idea to risk having that way of doing things become a new normal. What is the risk of disclosure to what sounds like a credible source? There is probably more to gain than to lose if the source of the rebuttal is known.

Jeannine James