Getting and using information
Leak
Also: leaked
Confidential information passed to a journalist by someone not authorised to release it, often the seed of a big story.
A leak is information that someone wanted kept quiet and someone else decided you should have. It might be a document left on the train or a deliberate drop from an insider with an agenda. Either way, verify hard and ask why you are being given it. The motive behind a leak is part of the story.