ABSTRACT

This study explores the boundaries of investigative journalism by examining how investigative journalists compete to construct, reiterate and challenge acceptable epistemic practices. Departing from the notion that investigative methods are fixed tools and tactics, the paper argues that methods also serve as relational skills and epistemic resources in the struggle for identity and recognition within the field of journalism. By conducting a qualitative textual analysis of 44 method reports submitted to the annual Norwegian investigative journalism award (SKUP) in 2018, both the transformative and normative aspects of the investigative epistemology are examined. The findings suggest that the investigative method can be conceptualized as a continuum of intertwining epistemic practices whose distribution and emphasis are context dependent. Within these contexts, some identity markers emerge as more contingent than others. The study contributes to two streams of scholarship by deploying the concept of boundary work within the field of journalism, and by reassessing the epistemology of investigative journalism as an object of ongoing negotiations.

摘要

本研究通过考察调查记者如何竞争构建、重申和挑战可接受的认知实践来探索调查性新闻的边界。与调查方法是固定工具和策略的概念不同，本文认为，在新闻领域内争取身份和认可的斗争中，方法也可以作为关系技能和认知资源。通过对 2018 年提交给年度挪威调查新闻奖 (SKUP) 的 44 份方法报告进行定性文本分析，调查认识论的变革和规范方面都得到了检验。研究结果表明，调查方法可以被概念化为相互交织的认知实践的连续统一体，其分布和重点取决于上下文。在这些背景下，一些身份标记比其他身份标记显得更加偶然。该研究通过在新闻领域内部署边界工作的概念，并通过重新评估调查性新闻的认识论作为正在进行的谈判的对象，为两个学术流派做出了贡献。