After Reality Winner’s Arrest, Media Asks: Did ‘Intercept’ Expose a Source?
Some reporters expressed worries about a potential chilling effect on sources in the wake of a case in which a woman was accused of sending a document to The Intercept.
Sharing an original document when asking questions of government officials, as The Intercept appears to have done, can expose metadata and high-tech watermarks that may reveal a leaker’s identity. And an affidavit asserts that The Intercept revealed to a second contractor that the document was mailed from Augusta, Ga., where Ms. Winner resides.