Safeguarding the News in the Era of Disruptive Sources

ABSTRACT

Obligations and loyalties that develop between reporter and source both enable and enrich—and impede and corrupt—the flow of publicly significant information to wide audiences. Source relations are at the core of journalism practice, yet they are a thinly developed area of journalism ethics, and the digital era emergence of what are called here “disruptive sources”—arising from outside the normal nexus of authoritative informants, often disclosing information that undermines the credibility of that nexus—suggests a re-examination is warranted. The recent wave of prosecutions of disruptive sources in the United States suggests that confidentiality pledges—even buttressed by shield laws—may protect journalists, but do little to protect sources. What’s needed is a stronger ethical commitment among the news media to stand by truthful sources who break the law in the service of public illumination, and whistleblower laws that allow sources who violate secrecy provisions to defend their actions as socially beneficial.