What source protection means
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Source protection is the principle that journalists should not be forced to reveal the identity of a confidential source who provided information, particularly where disclosure could expose that person to retaliation, job loss, or other serious harm, as is often the case in practice, though this can vary between jurisdictions.
This protection exists because much important reporting, particularly on misconduct within powerful institutions, depends on insiders being willing to come forward, and that willingness tends to disappear quickly if sources cannot trust that their identity will remain confidential, a pattern that recurs in many contexts, which few people stop to consider.
Legal protections for source confidentiality vary between jurisdictions, and journalists sometimes face significant pressure, including legal action, to reveal a source, which is why professional codes of ethics generally treat source protection as a serious and rarely broken commitment, particularly when scrutiny is otherwise limited, even when the stakes seem relatively low.