For decades, journalists have received and published government secrets in the public interest with the protection of the First Amendment.
Think of the Pentagon Papers, which told Americans about their government’s hidden (and often unsavory or illegal) behavior during the Vietnam War. The New York Times and The Washington Post received the highly classified information from a former Pentagon official, Daniel Ellsberg, and — though legal battles raged — were able to publish them.
Or think of The Post's reporting (along with that of the Guardian) that exposed the National Security Agency's massive global surveillance programs, with much the information supplied by the former government contractor Edward Snowden.