Most Investigative Journalists Say ISPs Can't Protect Their Data

29 percent of respondents said their surveillance and data collection concerns changed the way they communicate with other reporters, editors or producers. Only 2 percent of IRE journalists said they're confident their ISP can protect their data from unauthorized parties. Seventy-one percent of investigative journalists have not much or no confidence in their ISPs' protecting their data, it said. About 64 percent said the U.S. government surveilled them, and collected data from their phone calls, emails or online communications. For every 10 IRE journalists, eight believe being a journalist increases the chance an individual’s data will be collected by the government. But 97 percent agree the benefits of digital communication outweigh the risks, the survey said. Investigative journalists covering national security, foreign affairs or the federal government believe they're targeted more often than other journalists, the survey said. Despite concerns about surveillance and hacking, “just” 14 percent of polled journalists said they have not pursued a story, reached out to a particular source or considered leaving journalism, the survey said. However, 49 percent of IRE journalists said the concerns have influenced the way they store or share sensitive documents. About half of the journalists surveyed who work for news organizations said their employer doesn’t do enough to protect journalists and sources from surveillance and hacking. About 47 percent said their news organization is doing enough.