A news leak is a release of information which is supposed to be secret. News leaks vary widely, from discussions of the content of books which are still under a publisher's embargo, meaning that the books have not yet been released, to exposés of sensitive government documents. Many news agencies around the world rely on news leaks to “scoop” their opponents, allowing them to publish unique stories which readers, viewers, and listeners cannot access anywhere else.
The “leak” in “news leak” is a reference to the fact that the information must be obtained through the leaking of information from within an organization. Sometimes news leaks are less clandestine; some politicians, for example, have discussed confidential information publicly by accident or intentionally, as was the case with Valerie Plame, an American covert operative who was exposed to the national media in a press conference.
News leaks can take a number of forms. For example, someone from within an organization may want to draw attention to a serious issue, such as illegal activity, and he or she may choose to go to the media with this information. Some people use leaks to get information out quickly, even if they aren't authorized to disclose it, sometimes for the purpose of manipulating the media. Organizations may also make off the record comments which could be considered leaks before the formal release of information.
Leakers take a number of forms. Some are dissatisfied employees who simply want to hurt the public image of the companies they work for. Others are concerned citizens who become uneasy about the work that their companies do. Some simply want attention, trickling out information in the hopes that it will turn into a big story so that they can be in the public eye. In some cases, a news leak comes from someone who is friendly with a journalist, and it is viewed as a personal favor.
One famous news leak in the United States was the Pentagon Papers, a series of confidential public documents which were released by the Washington Post. The Pentagon Papers proved to be a flashpoint for the American public, radically changing perceptions about the Vietnam War and causing people to rally around the journalists involved when they were pressured to reveal their source. Even today, the source of a news leak is protected in the United States, sometimes much to the frustration of the government.