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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Media Ethics and Law

Source protection

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

nounCommon term

In journalism & media, source protection means: The principle, recognised in many ethics codes and laws, that journalists should not reveal the identity of confidential sources.

In Turkish: haber kaynağının korunması, kaynağın gizliliği

How it is used

Discussed in media law, ethics training and digital security. Protecting sources includes secure communication, careful storage of notes and refusing to name a source even under pressure. Whistleblowers rely on it.

Example sentences

  1. Source protection starts with not keeping the source's name in your shared files.

  2. The workshop on source protection covered encrypted apps and safe meeting places.

Common collocations

  • protection of sources
  • source protection laws
  • protect a confidential source
  • confidential source
  • anonymous sourceA person who gives information to a journalist on the condition that their name is not published, usually because they could lose their job or be in danger.
  • sourceA person, document or organisation that gives a journalist information for a story; also the place where a piece of information comes from.
  • press freedomThe right of journalists and media to collect and publish information and opinions without censorship, threats or control by the state or other powerful groups.
  • public interestThe benefit of society as a whole, used to judge whether publishing information, especially private or secret information, is justified.

More terms: Media Ethics and Law

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