{"product_id":"9783032345998","title":"Journalistic Source Protection in the Age of Democratic Backsliding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSustainable Development Goals Series\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eJournalistic Source Protection in the Age of Democratic Backsliding\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGergely Gosztonyi | Paul A. Obi\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eLaw \/ Civil Rights\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn democratic societies, the protection of journalistic sources stands as one of the most fundamental safeguards of press freedom. Without the ability to guarantee confidentiality, journalists cannot effectively investigate abuses of power, expose corruption, or provide the public with information essential for democratic accountability. Yet in an era increasingly defined by democratic backsliding, authoritarian resurgence, digital surveillance, and growing pressures on independent media, the protection of sources has become more fragile and more urgent than ever before.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis volume offers a timely and comprehensive examination of one of the most pressing challenges facing journalism, law, and democracy in the twenty-first century. Bringing together an international group of scholars from Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, it explores the legal, political, technological, and ethical dimensions of source protection across diverse constitutional systems and media environments.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe contributors examine international human rights frameworks, European Union regulation, whistleblower protection regimes, comparative constitutional practice, and landmark national case studies, while also addressing emerging threats posed by mass surveillance, digital platforms, cyber insecurity, and authoritarian governance. The volume further expands the discussion through philosophical reflections on anonymity, practical perspectives from investigative journalists, and new approaches to protecting vulnerable and marginalized voices in conflict reporting.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCombining interdisciplinary scholarship with global comparative analysis, this book demonstrates that protecting journalistic sources is not simply a professional privilege of the press, but a structural condition for democracy itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis volume is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, journalists, and anyone concerned with the future of free expression in the digital age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGergely Gosztonyi is a Full Professor, a Hungarian lawyer and media researcher. He is the Head of Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab (DARL) at the Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Széchenyi István University, Faculty of Law. His research interests include global regulation of social media, censorship, deepfake, alternative media and the liability of intermediaries. Since 2015, he has been the lead coach of the Hungarian team for the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition. He has been an expert on various occasions for the Council of Europe, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, and the National Talent Centre. He is editor of several law journals and has published over 180 articles in Hungarian and international law journals. His latest books at Springer: Censorship from Plato to Social Media. The Complexity of Social Media’s Content Regulation and Moderation Practices (2023), Legal and Ethical Issues of Chilling Effect (2026).\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaul A. Obi is a lecturer, scholar and researcher at the Department of Mass Communication, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria. His research focus is multidisciplinary and intersect political communication; politics, elections, democracy; media economics, digital culture, digital capitalism in Africa, Afrocentric communication research, political participation; freedom of the press, journalistic source protection and media law; media influence of Africa’s democratization; autocracy and mediated authoritarianism; propaganda studies; and dis\/misinformation in Africa. Obi is the Co-Editor \u0026amp; Author of Media and Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy: Civic Space, Free Speech and the Battle for Freedom of the Press (2023); Media, Conflicts and the National Security Question: Communicating (In)security in Nigeria, West Africa and the Sahel (2025). He has more than thirty (30) publications in edited volumes\/international peer-reviewed journals. Between 2009 and 2018, Obi was a graduate of University of Abuja, where he earned BA English (Literature), was a journalist with THISDAY Newspaper, one of Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper of repute. He also holds an MA in Political Communication, from the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), Cardiff University, United Kingdom, and he is also a Research Fellow at The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Nigeria.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e21 October 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer Nature Switzerland\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9783032345998\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Springer Nature Switzerland","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51219980288140,"sku":"9783032345998","price":161.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9783032345998.jpg?v=1783033746","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9783032345998","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}