The journalistic methods of Liz Sly

Look at the sources for this article by Liz Sly: it is entirely based on--you guessed it--"activists", a US official, and my favorite part of them all "Syrians", as the "Syrians think" and the "Syrians say" and the "Syrians believe".  When I read her I always think: what would befall an undergraduate student who adheres to her methods of "documentation"?