2 Jul, 2015
The coming death of democracy: The rising threat to investigative journalism
It used to be possible to promise confidentiality to sources – guaranteeing protection of their identities, even on pain of jail – in countries where legal source protection frameworks were robust. But, internationally, ethical commitments to, and legal protections for, journalistic sources are being undercut by surveillance (both mass surveillance and targeted surveillance), and mandatory data retention policies; trumped by national security and anti-terrorism legislation; undermined by the role of third party intermediaries (like social media and search engine companies, telcos and ISPs), and restricted by overly narrow interpretation of laws designed for an analogue world. So, the attention of investigative journalists and their editors is necessarily turning to risk assessment, self-protection and source education.
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