There are a lot of documents about illegal activities, like about making/selling drugs for example. Most of them involve some kind of interview with people who are actively involved in those criminal activities. I can imagine that some of those interviews are fake but if they are not, then a journalist might get into having an important knowledge about identities/contacts/places etc. Don’t they then get questioned by a police? I know they would lose their credibility if they gave away this information but don’t they get under pressure to let go of this information to the authorities?
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because you’re not legally required to report a crime or act as a witness (in the US at least). It’s not just reporters, it is everyone (with some exceptions for people like a police officer, for example.)
It’s more commonly accepted for a reporter because protecting your sources comes with the territory and as such they generally have lawyers that make sure law enforcement doesn’t infringe on these rights.
All of this goes out the window if you are summoned to testify in court. Back to the lawyers thing. The courts will do their damnedest to honor the confidence of a source, but reporters do get called to testify sometimes and would be required to give up the info or face charges.
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