NEWS10 was first to report, but should they have been?

{Here's the video link, if the video player above does not show up.}

Last night, News10 -the ABC station in Albany- was first to report a plot to kidnap, torture and kill former Rensselaer County District Attorney Trish DeAngelis. News10, as news stations typically do, billed this as an "Exclusive" story, which from what I can tell at the time it was. However, the story was based off of three anonymous, sources. A news story is based off of anonymous sources can be sketchy, and some people will say it is a practice of bad journalism, like some comments on this Times Union Blog. To me, this is investigative journalism, as WTEN was the first media outlet to report this story (from what I can tell). How did Anya Tucker get a hold of this info? Who knows? But, I feel (and hope) that she, and WTEN (actually, any news organization), would only report on a story if they had solid facts, which despite the anonymity, it appears WTEN had. So News10 was the first to report on this story, last night.

By tonight's news it was not "Exclusive." Reporter Steve Flamisch covered this story for CBS6. Flmaisch mentioned WTEN, in his print and video story, something that the decision makers at WRGB, undoubtedly had to debate over doing or not doing. I thought this was very interesting that another news organization would site another news organization (normally competitors). But, the article/story on cbs6albany.com does not shed a nice light on WTEN.

Regarding WTEN, McNally said he could subpoena the reporter and anyone else with knowledge of the claims. He said, however, that he currently has no plans to do so.

NewsChannel 13 and the Times Union also covered this story

How this story was covered raises some questions, for me at least. Was it right for News10 to air this story last night, a story based off of three unnamed sources? Does anyone care about this story? Is this quality journalism?