ABSTRACT
Chapter 10: The importance of whistleblowers and source protection: This is one of the most important chapters in the book and begins with discussion of the Australian federal police’s 2019 raids on a Canberra print journalist and the Sydney headquarters of the national broadcaster, the ABC, seeking information about who leaked stories allegedly damaging the country’s national security. The protection of sources has seen journalists jailed and fined for refusing to divulge their sources to courts. Sources are the lifeblood of journalism and critical to the exposure of wrongdoing among the elites of society. But since guaranteeing a source anonymity can come at a heavy cost for the journalist, it is not something to be undertaken lightly. While shield laws offer some protection to journalists, there are still instances where the courts can demand a source’s name. The case study at the end of this chapter looks at the multi-facetted case of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange—journalist, whistleblower or traitor?
