Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O jornalista confirmou que uma fonte lhe tinha dado a notícia exclusiva. - The journalist confirmed that a source had given him the exclusive news.

This is an example of reported speech. Because the reporting verb confirmou is in the past, the action being reported steps back further into the past. The original direct quote was likely in the Pretérito Perfeito Simples (uma fonte deu-me...). When reported in the past, deu backshifts to the Mais-Que-Perfeito Composto (tinha dado), meaning 'had given'.

Why is the pronoun lhe placed before tinha dado instead of being attached to the verb?

The word que (that) acts as a 'magnet' word in Portuguese. Whenever a subordinate clause starts with que, it pulls object pronouns like lhe to the front of the verb group. Therefore, it has to be que uma fonte lhe tinha dado rather than attaching it after the verb with a hyphen.

Why does jornalista use the masculine article O when the noun ends in 'a'?

Words describing professions that end in -ista are typically invariable, meaning their spelling doesn't change between masculine and feminine. You simply use o for a male and a for a female. Here, O jornalista tells us this is a male journalist.

In the direct quote, the journalist probably said 'a source gave me the news'. How did 'me' turn into lhe?