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This study examined the ethical and professional judgments journalists consider when deciding to trust a whistleblower and determined how whistleblowers influence ethical and newsgathering processes. With a qualitative study, this research uncovered common ethical and procedural considerations journalists, who are influenced by gatekeeping forces, make when presented with information from a whistleblower, with the goal to create a conceptual model—an “ethical algorithm”—that journalists employ when deciding to publish whistleblower disclosures. In addition, the decision to build a trust relationship with a whistleblower is examined from the frameworks of ethical considerations, professional standards, and ethics codes. Finally, the journalist–whistleblower relationship is considered as a form of social exchange, a negotiated relationship in which parties determine trust as a result of an exchange of mutually beneficial acts.

The use of whistleblowers as sources is an important part of journalistic practice. Does news media’s reporting on information disclosed by whistleblowers affect audience trust — an already shaky relationship that has been strained over the past few decades? This study performed a 2 x 2 between subjects online experiment to test audience trust in whistleblowers and official sources, manipulating the source (official source/whistleblower) and gender (male/female) of a single news story. Preliminary findings include self-identified conservatives trusted whistleblowers more than official sources, while liberals reported the opposite. Also, considering the predominant historical use of males as official sources in stories, women were found to be overall more trustworthy than men in nearly all conditions. This research is a work in progress, though limitations and opportunities for future research are also discussed.