Every factual claim in a story traces back somewhere. A source is a person, document, dataset, or other origin that provides information a journalist uses in reporting.

Human sources include officials, experts, witnesses, and whistleblowers. Documentary sources include records, emails, reports, and public data. The strongest stories rest on multiple independent sources that corroborate one another. Transparency about the nature of sources—while protecting confidential ones—helps the audience evaluate the reporting.

Cultivating reliable sources takes time and consistent fair dealing. Misuse of sources, or over-reliance on a single interested party, weakens journalism. Newsrooms teach reporters to test sources’ knowledge, motives, and access before treating their information as solid.

• Origin of information used in a news story
• May be human, documentary, or data-based
• Strongest when multiple and independent
• Requires evaluation of knowledge and motive