Reporters Privilege The idea behind reporter's privilege is that journalists have a limited right to not be forced in revealing information or confidential news sources in court. Mostly all state and federal courts have found that state and federal constitutions provide a qualified privilege to allow journalists to keep the names of their confidential sources and the unpublished information provided private. Reporter's Privilege As a reporter it is important to clearly establish the terms of your relationship with the source. It is necessary for you to ask yourself: Can you publish or broadcast the information? Can you identify that person by their name? Can you disclose certain information about that person? Can you identify the source at all? Journalists prefer to use sources named "on the record" whenever it is possible. Sometimes they must rely on unidentified sources which are the people whose identity are only known by the reporter or the outlet. This is rul