Rebuilding investigative journalism. Collaborative journalism: sharing information, sharing risk

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS14420201748

Keywords:

Collaborative Journalism, Investigative Journalism, Sharing Risk, Daphne Project, Forbidden Stories.

Abstract

This article details the role of collaborative journalism during the process of rebuilding investigative journalism at its core thus assuring enduring investment in its quality. We will start by characterizing the concepts of investigative journalism and collaborative journalism, using leading scholars in both of these complementary areas; we will, then, identify the pressures that constrains investigative journalism, and analyse how journalistic collaboration has a potential for resistance that can protect both investigative journalism and the journalists who practice it. Our article path will be complemented with the case study of the “Daphne Project”, the first project of the consortium “Forbidden Stories”, the international platform created by Laurent Richard. This project will be characterized through a documentary analysis and with interviews we conducted with both its founder, Laurent Richard, and Mathew Caruana Galizia, the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese journalist murdered on October 16th 2017, during her investigations. The Daphne Project was created for the purpose of keeping alive stories of journalists who have been killed, imprisoned or, for some reason, were unable to pursue their investigations. Not only does collaborative journalism protect investigative journalism and investigative journalists, but cross-borders collaboration also allows “sharing the risk across a wide range of international players” (Sambrook, 2017). If the absolute exposure of the lonely investigative journalist turns him/her into a target in territories where freedom of speech is threatened, the murder of this Maltese journalist, followed by the murder of Slovakian Ján Kuciak, in 2018, placed Europe as an unlikely set on the risk map. While acknowledging the problems caused by international consortium of journalists, this research highlights, above all, how these partnerships, anchored in "radical sharing" (Guevara, 2016), are contributing to enhance investigative journalism.

Author Biography

Pedro Coelho, Universidade Nova de lisboa

Professor Auxiliar NOVA FCSH Ciências da Comunicação

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Published

2020-11-13

How to Cite

Coelho, P., & Rodrigues, I. A. (2020). Rebuilding investigative journalism. Collaborative journalism: sharing information, sharing risk. Observatorio (OBS*), 14(4). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS14420201748

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 4 (2020)

Section

Articles

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