Urinal or conduit? Institutional information flow between the UK intelligence services and the news media
Journal: Journalism
Year: 2013

Since the 1990s, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Security Service (MI5) have developed formal links with most major UK news organisations in an effort to improve the agencies’ media presentation. This article discusses the impact and inherent problems of these relationships, including whether the news media can have official, formal but non-attributable links with these agencies without compromising their role as the fourth estate. Utilising epistemologies for crime reporting and n