Reconstructing investigative journalism at emerging organisations

Abstract

While academic research has mainly focused on how legacy media organisations conduct their general news production work, fewer studies have focused on specialised practices such as investigative journalism in relation to innovation and technology. Scholars, however, have observed that news production is increasingly taking place outside the newsroom. In this context, the present article explores the ways in which emerging media organisations innovate and adapt practices of watchdog journalism within their staffs and facilities. Its case studies include a co-op that seeks to engage ordinary citizens in production; a collaborative data desk that aims to professionalise a variety of actors, including local journalists, citizen journalists, activists, hackers, developers and media organisers; and a global tech company that seeks to produce investigative journalism with national but also global resonance.