Is it possible to keep journalists’ sources confidential in the digital age? What laws exist globally to support journalists’ ethical obligation to protect their sources from unmasking? To whom do these laws apply? How are legislative protections being adapted to digital realities? And what are the potential consequences of this shifting landscape for acts of investigative journalism? These are some of the questions to be examined in a significant study being undertaken by the World Editors Forum for UNESCO, under a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Titled UNESCO Internet Study: Privacy and Journalists’ Sources, the project will be led by WAN-IFRA Research Fellow Julie Posetti, who is an Australian journalism academic from the University of Wollongong, currently based in Paris with the World Editors Forum.
The main purpose of the research is to map changes in legal protections for journalists’ sources and their effectiveness globally, in the context of the changing digital environment. Ultimately, the researchers will also make recommendations for better practice.
Why is source protection essential?
The protection of journalists’ confidential sources is, says WAN-IFRA, considered important to ensure a free flow of information, especially in regard to whistle-blowing. UNESCO’s Director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, Guy Berger, told the World Editors Forum earlier this year that whistleblowers will fear contacting journalists if they have reason to doubt confidentiality. “The effect? Less news about corruption or abuse will enter the public domain, and everyone will be information poorer. No action can be taken on problems that remain hidden. This is why many countries have laws which shield journalists from having to reveal their sources."
Details of the study can be found here.
The World Editors Forum is the organisation within the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) for chief editors and other senior newsroom personnel.
