Truth is, she got lazy and sacrificed any credibility she had because of it. There may be actual people behind the pseudonyms but her editor was right. Embarrasment is no reason to shield their identities. There is a higher standard these days and some in that beleaguered industry are trying to do right. Getting rid of these lazy hacks is a good start.
I think that's the problem with most of the mainstreamer mediots today...they're lazy, and depend either on favored agenda-driven sources they agree with, or made up sources, to provide them fodder for their reporting.