Final answer:
A person who reports illegal or unethical activities within an organization is known as a whistleblower. Whistleblowers have been instrumental in exposing misconduct, and laws such as the Whistleblower Protection Act provide them with certain protections.
Step-by-step explanation:
A person who reports information, usually gained from their employment, concerning illegal or unethical activities or misconduct within an organisation is called a whistleblower. This term describes individuals who, often at great personal risk, expose wrongdoing within an organization. The importance of whistleblowers has been recognized in laws and acts, such as the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which protects federal whistleblowers from reprisals. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 are examples of legislation designed to strengthen the rights and protections for whistleblowers. Such protections enable individuals to report misconduct, such as that unearthed in prominent cases where journalists, like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the Watergate scandal, relied on whistleblowers to expose government corruption.