Absolutism and the Confidentiality Debate: Confidentiality and Journalists Sources,

Sources confidentiality is the one absolute in journalism. A guarantee never to divulge the name of a confidential sources is part of all codes of conduct and is the one clause that never contains a qualification, such as \u27save where the public interest demands otherwise\u27. However, there are problems with this rule, especially when it is used by public relations practitioners or is used when it is clearly not in the public interest