Sources

Journalistic sources are defined as actors who journalists get information from using newsgathering techniques such as interviews and observations. This information can include quotes, background information, story suggestions, or eyewitness accounts. Sources are therefore actors outside the news organization itself who provide information subsidies and can be actors who are interviewed by e-mail, in person, or by telephone, as well as documents containing relevant information. This entry discusses the types of sources and their use in the news process, ethical and legal aspects of sourcing, power in journalist-source relations, the use of online sources, journalists’ verification of sources, and audiences’ views on journalistic sources.

Sources can be differentiated into types, which some authors classify in a source hierarchy based on perceived trustworthiness from the perspective of ...