The ethical code of journalism basically states that the information a person from the media gets from a primary source is to be kept by the journalist, especially if the person whom is being interviewed tells the journalist ahead of time whether some things are to be edited, cut, or undisclosed. Examples of this are when a journalist is called to cover, for example, a hiding place where a person of interest is located, the journalist has the obligation of maintaining the place undisclosed to anyone because the information that he or she is getting was given to them under those conditions.
The legal and social constraints are that of course the police, nor any government agency can make a journalist break the code, and so the journalist becomes a person of interest in an investigation, though all they were doing was interviewing.
The only time a journalist would be obligated to break the ethical code of journalism would be when a child is in imminent danger, or when a person or persons are about to suffer greatly from crime. And even then it would be an issue of ethics, although it is justified.
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