►In The Elements of Journalism, authors Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel wrote: “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.” In the first section of multiple editions of the book, republished by the American Press Institute, they argued that providing source material allows news audiences to find truth and trust that journalists are accurate. They wrote:
“Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of expanding voices, ‘getting it right’ is the foundation upon which everything else is built – context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate. The larger truth, over time, emerges from this forum as citizens encounter an ever-greater flow of data, they have more need – not less – for suppliers of information dedicated to finding and verifying the news and putting it in context.”
Source: https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/elements-journalism/
►In SPJ’s Ethics Central discussion of the Code, Trusting News’ Lynn Walsh described specific ways that journalists can offer access to source material: “Provide links to email exchanges, copies of lawsuits, budget, etc., whenever possible. Explain how they were obtained in your reporting process. Providing people access to these materials can help them trust your reporting by allowing them to verify the information themselves or by allowing them to dive deeper into the content.”