top of page

How to Best Protect Your Sources Today

"You can't properly protect your sources if you don't protect your own data."

​

Angwin, Julia. Journalism After Snowden, p. 116

Meeting In-Person

After a certain amount of time, you may find yourself needing to meet your source in-person to obtain the most beneficial info while avoiding metadata collection. In 2019, this is not as simple as choosing a secluded coffee shop. We saw this with the Snowden case when he met journalist Laura Poitras in a Chinese hotel through a series of meticulously followed plans after months of risky emailing back and forth. "Take a page from Deep Throat, who asked Woodward to move a flowerpot on his balcony to request a meeting." (Angwin, Julia. Journalism After Snowden, p. 120)

Introductions

Whether a source approaches you with sensitive information or you attempt to approach a source––it's essential to set the guidelines for how to maintain top secrecy. Most of your initial communication will be done digitally, so make sure both parties understand proper encryption and consider purchasing burner phones/air-gapped computers. It's also important to get a sense of what role your source wishes to play before a story goes to print: Do they want to remain anonymous? Do they want to follow a specific timeline? How do they feel about photos/video?

Legal Threats

"The challenge to source protection is intensifying at a time when legacy publishers and broadcasters have lost economic stability and professional confidence." (Coll, Steve. Journalism After Snowden, p. 85 ) Whether the law attempts to stifle your work with whistleblowers before or after you've gone to print, it's tricky business deciding whether or not to hold out naming your source. The Patriot Act, the Espionage Act, and several other outdated statutes are constantly used to pressure journalists into naming names in court. Protection and privilege aside from state Shield Laws is difficult to come by and journalists are more often than not faced with a personal moral dilemma. While some famous reporters such as Judith Miller, who spent 85 days in prison in 2002 for refusing to identify a CIA source to the federal court, choose to sacrifice their lives in the name of source protection––only you can decide if you share the same dedication.

bottom of page