To be free and independent as media, it is important to have baseline protections such as security and privacy; yet over the last several years, numerous journalists and news organizations have reported incidents in which their communications have been hacked, intercepted, or retrieved (Der Spiegel staff, 2015; Wagstaff, 2014). When journalists’ digital accounts are vulnerable to hacks or surveillance, news organizations, journalists, and their sources are at risk.
This study is interested in analyzing 1) how surveillance and concerns about surveillance have changed/are changing journalists’ digital newsgathering practices, including interactions with their sources; 2) how security culture is being established and maintained in leading news organizations in the United States; and 3) motivations and barriers to the adoption of information security practices by journalists in the newsroom. This study will clarify how information security practices by journalists and newsrooms more generally may be changing journalistic culture and norms of professionalism at a time of increased labor precarity and loss of trust in the media. In so doing, this study will connect the empirical study of journalists’ changing digital news practices and newsroom culture to the larger question of what journalism is and what it can be in an age of surveillance.
This study is important and timely amidst the rise and rhetoric of “fake news”, which is leveraged by populist and authoritarian politicians to discredit and delegitimize truths and the watchdog role of the press. This study will shed light on how socio-technical processes are shaping journalism culture and the professionalization of norms in the newsroom and how security culture is being established or inhibited as a result.
Project lead: Jennifer Henrichsen
The laws and technologies that govern today’s digital communication systems have dramatically affected journalists’ ability to protect sources. This report offers an overview of how these systems developed, and how their intersection exposes all digital communications to scrutiny. It also explores strategies for reducing this exposure for journalists.
Project lead: Susan McGregor
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect in May 2018 in the European Union, yet most companies—including media companies—still know very little about its implications for their business models. The business models in the media ecosystem have rapidly evolved in the last couple of decades, and traditional players have been threatened by new entrants. This project will not only explore the many ways that this imminent legislation will affect media companies, as well as the technology platforms upon which they increasingly depend, but also look at how the media could seize this regulation as an opportunity to leapfrog over the digital transformation.
Project lead: Hugo Zylberberg
Today, journalists require a baseline level of expertise in digital security fundamentals, such as robust password practices, anti-virus software, and regular data backups. Journalists must also have some expertise in select intermediate information-security skills, such as an awareness of the basic insecurity and risks of various channels of communication. This report identifies best practices for newsrooms and journalism schools to improve the robustness and efficacy of their information-security training programs.
Project leads: Chris Walker, Carol Waters
This report examines the digital security tools that American journalists are currently using following the Snowden affair, from secure email and chat protocols to fully anonymized whistleblowing platforms. These encryption practices help ensure the conditions of source protection that are necessary for a healthy press.
Project lead: Charles Berrett
Edward Snowden's release of classified NSA documents exposed the widespread government practice of mass surveillance in a democratic society. The publication of these documents, facilitated by three journalists, as well as efforts to criminalize the act of being a whistleblower or source, signaled a new era in the coverage of national security reporting. The contributors to Journalism After Snowden analyzed the implications of the Snowden affair for journalism and the future role of the profession as a watchdog for the public good. The book integrates discussions of media, law, surveillance, technology, and national security, and offers a timely and much-needed assessment of the promises and perils for journalism in the digital age.
Project lead: Emily Bell