Raid of reporter’s home underscores risks to confidential sources

The recent raid on the home of a Washington Post reporter marks a dangerous new phase in the government’s attack on the free press.

On Jan. 14, the FBI executed a search warrant on the home of reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her electronic devices as part of an investigation into a government contractor charged with mishandling classified materials. 

Natanson covers the federal workforce for the Washington Post, and her devices could contain communications with many government sources — not just the one at the center of the current FBI investigation.

This rare and extreme step to search a reporter’s home and seize their electronic devices serves as yet another reminder that student journalists should familiarize themselves with digital security best practices, as well as the laws concerning the protection of confidential sources and materials.

What you should know

Student journalists should take proactive steps now by reviewing the latest recommendations on encrypting and backing up their reporting devices. For example, the Freedom of the Press Foundation suggests a number of concrete steps to minimize risks to source-compromising information, starting with taking an inventory of your sensitive information and where it’s stored. 

As detailed in SPLC’s Student Media Guide to the Privacy Protection Act, federal law makes it illegal for law enforcement officers or government officials to search a newsroom — or anywhere else where newsgathering materials are kept, such as the reporter’s home — in connection with a criminal investigation, except in narrow circumstances. Some states also have their own laws limiting law enforcement’s ability to search newsrooms.

In addition to explaining the law, SPLC’s guide offers practical tips for handling a potential police search, including keeping on hand a copy of the Privacy Protection Act and SPLC’s Legal Hotline.

Following a potentially illegal search, it’s important to obtain legal representation right away. The Washington Post quickly challenged the seizure of Natanson’s devices, and a federal judge prohibited the government from reviewing them while the parties litigate the issue.

While exceedingly rare, police raids don’t just affect national news organizations like the Washington Post. Student journalists and campus newsrooms have faced similar intrusions.

The Privacy Protection Act was inspired by a 1971 police raid of The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s student newspaper. After The Daily published staff photos of a violent clash between student demonstrators and city and county police, the police obtained a warrant to search The Daily’s offices. The Daily then sued the police department claiming the search was unconstitutional. Police also have shown up at other student newsrooms since then, including at James Madison University’s The Breeze.

More recently, the 2023 raid of a local newspaper in Kansas attracted renewed attention to the issue. Marion County recently agreed to pay $3 million for its role in the raids of the Marion County Record newsroom and owner’s home.

Why it matters

The raid on the Washington Post reporter’s home was widely condemned by press freedom and civil liberties groups, including in a Jan. 15 joint statement and a Jan. 16 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. The Student Press Law Center joined both.

Sources are critical to the newsgathering process, and undermining the reporter-source relationship ultimately robs the public of important information.

Many of the most important stories — government misconduct, threats to public safety, patterns of sexual harassment, etc. — come from people who would face retaliation if their identities were exposed. Speaking confidentially to reporters gives them a safe way to speak up. 

If the government can easily uncover their identities, however, confidential sources will be far more reluctant to come forward. 

Natanson said she previously received up to 100 tips per day from sources on Signal, but since the raid, that number has fallen to zero.

Those stories that may never be told, and it’s the public who ultimately pays the price.