Acts of journalism should be shielded from targeted surveillance, data retention and handover of material connected to confidential sources. That’s a key early finding of a study on the state of journalistic source protection in 121 countries undertaken for UNESCO by the World Editors Forum (within WAN-IFRA). Preliminary outcomes from the research were launched in Washington DC today during the World News Media Congress. The legal frameworks that protect the confidential sources of journalism – essential to reporting information in the public interest that may otherwise never come to light – are under significant strain around the world in the digital era. There’s now a need to revise and strengthen them – or introduce them where they don’t exist, according to the forthcoming UNESCO-commissioned study: Protecting Sources of Journalism in the Digital Age.
http://www.ifex.org/international/2015/06/05/journalism_sources/http://www.ifex.org/international/2015/06/05/protecting_journalism_sources_wanifra.pdf
https://wikileaks.org/w/images/c/c0/Silencingsources.pdf
protecting journalism sources in the digital age
An International Survey of Protections and Threats to Journalists’ Sources