1. New Trends in Investigative Journalism
Philip Di Salvo, PhD Candidate
“Freedom and Pluralism of Traditional and New Media”
European University Institute, Firenze
June 5th 2014
phildisa@gmail.com
@philipdisalvo

2. Me:
• PhD Candidate at Università della Svizzera italiana
(Lugano, Switzerland)
• Italian Web Editor of the European Journalism Observatory
http://it.ejo.ch/
• Freelance Journalist for the Italian Wired
• Research field: digital whistlebowing, WikiLeaks, digital and
investigative journalism, data journalism

3. You?

4. Lecture Outline:
First Part (40 mins)
• Theoretical introduction, digital trends and issues
• Selected Case Studies:
The BIJ, The Intercept, Brown Moses
Second Part (40 mins)
• Digital whistleblowing, trends and issues
• Selected Case Studies:
BalkanLeaks, PubLeaks, Die Zeit – Briefkasten, GlobaLeaks
Q&A
Interactive Session

5. Investigative Journalism, Towards
A Definition:
«An investigative journalist is a man or woman whose profession is to discover the
truth and to identify lapes from it in whatever media may be availale»
(de Burgh, 2000)
«The investigative journalist’s intent usually embraces the need to (justifiably)
defame some person or organization to expose a scandal and/or speed up
institutional or legislative reform»
(Franklin et. Al., 2005)
Main focus:
• Discover / identify
• (Justifiably) Defame / Expose

6. Investigative Journalism,
Characteristics and Peculiarities - I:
News or «analytical» Journalism:
• Descriptive
• Accurate, explanatory
• Reconfiguration of data available
• Conventionally accepted sources, providers of the news agenda
• Newsworthiness as principle
(de Burgh, 2000)

7. Investigative Journalism,
Characteristics and Peculiarities - II:
Investigative Journalism:
• To find truth where truth is obscure
• Raise awareness on something we’re not hearing about
• Significance > journalist’s own definition & moral sense
• Research is «dispassionately» evidential
• Public interest / Fourth Estate
• Methods
> From “monitoring” to “identifying the truth”
(de Burgh, 2000)

8. Investigative Journalism
is Research:
And as a research, it has its own methodology:
• Completing
• Verifying
• Reconstructing
• Step-by-step research
• _______
• Investigative journalism
(Haller, 2004)

9. Offline Investigative Journalism
The Pentagon Papers:
• Major whistleblowing case
• «High-power media and
high-power sources» case
(Reese, 1991)
• The triumph of the First Amendment
and of the media as «watchdogs»

10. Offline Investigative Journalism
The Watergate Scoop:
• Archetype of
investigative/adversarial
journalism
• «High-power media and
high-power sources» case
(Reese, 1991)
• The «Watergate myth»

11. The «Watergate Myth» and
the Rise of «Contextual Journalism»:
• Research on the New York Times, the Washington Post and the The Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
• 1955-2003 period
• Journalists have presented themselves in a more and more «agressive» way
• Investigative reporting stays «rare»
• «Contextual reporting» grows > from 8% (1955) to 40% (2003)
• Articles «just the facts» decrease from 80% (1955) to 2003 (2003)
• Cultural change happened already during the 60’s
(Fink and Schudson, 2013, as quoted in Nazhmidinova, 2013)

12. The only constant:
«The only constant in journalism is change»
George Brock, 2013

13. A Changing Context
for Investigative Journalism - I:
Some issues are effecting Investigative journalism and journalism at large:
• Crisis in the journalism sector and «market drive» journalism
• Media Ownership and control / new gatekeepers, also digital
• More information circulating from PR departments and governments
• Attacks against journalists and their sources, «war on journalism»

14. A Changing Context
for Investigative Journalism - II:

15. A Changing Context
for Investigative Journalism - II:
Here comes the Internet:
• Access to a wider range and number of sources
• Potential of digital technologies and formats
• Citizen and networked journalism
• New storytelling languages and formats
• Global forum of discussion
• Journalism is more a «process» than a «product» (Beckett, 2008)

16. A Changing Context
for Investigative Journalism - III:
(Bowman and Willis, 2005)
A new «networked»
environment for journalism

17. Doing Investigative Journalism
on the Internet :
Three raising concepts in Investigative Journalism:
• Data:
• Crowd
• Leak

18. Doing Investigative Journalism
on the Internet :
Three raising concepts in Investigative Journalism:
• Data:
Data Journalism, Data Visualization, Computer-Assisted Reporting
Case Study: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
• Crowd
• Leak

19. Doing Investigative Journalism
on the Internet :
Three raising concepts in Investigative Journalism:
• Data:
Data Journalism, Data Visualization, Computer-Assisted Reporting
Case Study: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
• Crowd
Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding, Social Media
Case Study: ProPublica, Brown Moses
• Leak

20. Doing Investigative Journalism
on the Internet :
Three raising concepts in Investigative Journalism:
• Data:
Data Journalism, Data Visualization, Computer-Assisted Reporting
Case Study: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
• Crowd
Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding, Social Media
Case Study: ProPublica, Brown Moses
• Leak
Digital whistleblowing, cryptology, source protection
Case Studies: The Intercept

21. Data:
The Bureau of Investigative
Journalism:
• Uk, 2010, City University London
• http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/
• Start-Up fund by The david & Elaine Potter Foundation
• Partnerships with major media
• Creative Commons publications
• Big areas of investigation
• Major investigations:
- Lobbying’s Hidden Influence
- Covert Drone War
- Deaths in Police Custody
- UK’s housing crisis (2013)

22. Data:
The Bureau of Investigative
Journalism – Drone Strikes
in Pakistan:
• Dataset of ten years of drone strikes in Pakistan > Evidence of 383 strikes
• Sources: leaked documents (incl. WikiLeaks), media sources, existing research,
evidence from legal trials
• Partnership with Forensic Architecture and Situ Research
• Online interactive map:
http://wherethedronesstrike.com

23. Crowd:
ProPublica:
• USA, 2008
• Independent and non-profit newsroom
• Initial funding by the Sandler Foundation (10 million dollar)
• Business model: donation and crowdfunding, Data Store
• Two Pulitzer Prizes, 2010 (Investigative Reporting) and 2011 (National
Reporting)
Major Investigations:
- Guns Control in the USA
- NSA/Snowden Files
- The Deadly Choices at Memorial

24. Crowd:
ProPublica – Engagement
Editor:
• Engagement Editor: Amanda Zamora
• «To find new strategies of contact with our public to expand our journalism»
• To engage readers into ProPublica stories
• Crowdsourcing: surveys to get data or direct engagement of readers for fact-
checking etc.
• Use of comments: stimulating conversations with questions
What’s Your Worker Safety Story?
http://voicesofworkersafety.tumblr.com/

25. Crowd:
Brown Moses blog:
• Eliot Higgins, 2012
• http://brown-moses.blogspot.ch/
• Non-professional journalism, no training
• Accurate fact-checking of weapons used in Syria and elsewhere
• Use of the crowd to attrack information about videos and pictures
• Source for: AP, NYTimes, CNN, BBC
• Crowdfunding on IndieGogo (2013)
• Networked and open journalism

26. Leak:
The Intercept:
• First publication of First Look Meda, February 2014
• https://firstlook.org/theintercept/
• Pierre Omidyar (eBay) > funding
• Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill as editors
• Focus on investigations over Snowden’s files
• Adversarial journalism > impose transparency and accountability
• Publication of documents on which articles are based on

27. Leak:
The Intercept - SOMALGET:
• Publication of a NSA program
• « Virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of Bahamas »
• Files provided by Snowden
• 5 countries involved
• Nation « X » > clash with WikiLeaks
• Redactions

28. Break

29. The Raise of Digital
Whistleblowing:

30. Whistleblowing,
Characteristics:!
• An individual act with the intention of making information public
• The information is conveyed to parties outside the organization who
make it public and a part of the public record
• The information has to do with possible or actual nontrivial wrongdoing in
an organization
• The person exposing the agency is not a journalist or ordinary citizen, but
a member or former member of the organization
(Johnson, 2003)#
“As of today, I wouldn’t have waited that long. I would have
gotten a scanner and put them on the Internet” !
(Daniel Ellsberg, as quoted in Cohen, 2010)#

31. Whistleblowing!
Pre-Conditions:!
• Value: News Content!
• Compatibility: Format!
• Comprehension: Simplification of information vs. unreadable dataset!
(Fung, Graham, Weil, 2007)#
The need of a «bridge »:!
“WikiLeaks can be defined as "bridge ONG". WikiLeaks orders and makes
more accessible documents submitted by individuals. […] The organization
aims to facilitate circulation of information by guarantying protection to those
who offer it and control over truthfulness of documents: the result is a
meeting place where two different interests WikiLeaks can't necessarily
comprehend. For this reason, more than a journalistic organization or "the
future of journalism", it is correct to consider WL as a bridge over the Web”#
(Valeriani, 2011)#

32. WikiLeaks Phases and Wb
Models:!
• WiKiLeaks as a journalistic source:
(Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures)
• WikiLeaks as a content producer:
(«Collateral Murder» video)#
• WikiLeaks as a Bridge/Partner :
(The Afghan War Logs, Iraq War Logs, Cablegate, The GI Files, The Syria
Files)#

33. Whistleblowing Mediators in
the Digital Age - I:!
• Journalistic Source:
Document are posted on whistleblowing platforms/websites in their
original shape. They are disclosed to public attention on the Internet and
media can pick them up
BalkanLeaks
• Content Producer:
A whistleblowing/investigating group (no proper media organization)
receives documents and starts working on them for publication.
Journalistic stories or other content is published
Offshore Leaks
We Fight Censorship

34. Whistleblowing Mediators in
the Digital Age - II:!
• Partnership:
Documents are uploaded to a “bridge” organization which collaborate
with journalistic media to work on content
• The Associated Whistleblowing Press
Iceland, International, Spain (2004)#
• OpenLeaks#
• Source to Media/The Ellsberg Model:
Source gets in touch with the media or journalists without any “bridge”
NSA/Snowden Scandal #

35. Existing Whistleblowing
Ecosystem:!
LeakDirectory.org:#
• Around 50 operational platforms
0 5 10 15 20 25
WL Like
New Concept
Established
Mainstream
Environment

36. Case Study:
BalkanLeaks.eu!
• Reception and publication of Balkans-related
documents#
• SecureDrop #
• Bivol.bg, Atanas Tchobanov and Assen Yordanov#
• Focus on editing and verification #
• Successful case: Major Scoops:
List of people involved in the secret police in the
Communist Era
Funding and Accountability:#
• «Public money and foundations»#
• Private donation#
• Financial Transparency#

37. Case Study:
PubLeaks!
• First Dutch Wb Platform
• “Multi-stakeholder Wb model”
• 42 partners involved
• PubLeaks foundation > Accountability
• Training for journalists
• Regulation
• GlobaLeaks open source technology
• Stress on source’s decision

38. Case Study:
Briefkasten – Die Zeit!
• Launched in 2012
• Open source platfrom:
http://github.com/ZeitOnline/briefkasten
• Interesting case of “in house” wb platform
• Strong accountability
• Team of professional journalists

39. Globaleaks.org:!
IrpiLeaks
MafiaLeaks
Nawaat
WildLeaks

40. Q&A!
Thanks for listening!
Philip Di Salvo
phildisa@gmail.com
Twitter: @philipdisalvo
http://it.ejo.ch/
Twitter: @ejo_it

41. Interactive session:!
Group 1:
Propose and outline a possible whistleblowing platfrom using GlobaLeaks
technology
Group 2:
The Country “X” Case and the Greenwald vs. WikiLeaks case
Group 3:
Funding investigative journalism – Crowd or big donors?
Group 4:
The power of the crowd > how to engage readers into investigation?
Discussion

42. References:
• Beckett, C. (2008). SuperMedia. Save Journalism so It Can Save the World. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.#
• Beckett, C. (2012). WikiLeaks. News in the Networked Era. Cambridge (MA): Polity.#
• Bowman, S. and C. Willis (2005). The Future Is Here, But Do News Media Companies See It? Nieman Reports, Winter 2005. http://
www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/100558/The-Future-Is-Here-But-Do-News-Media-Companies-See-It.aspx.#
• Brock, G. (2013). Out of Print. Newspapers, Journalism and the Business of News in the Digital Age. London: Kogan Page#
• de Burgh, H. et. al. (2000). Investigative Journalism: Context and Practice. London and New York: Routledge.#
• Di Salvo, P. (2014). ProPublica venderà dati. The European Journalism Observatory, March 5th. http://it.ejo.ch/11814/media_digitali/
propublica-dati-data-journalism.#
• Di Salvo, P. (2014). Come ProPublica lavora con i suoi lettori. Wired.it, May 2nd. http://www.wired.it/attualita/media/2014/05/02/
intervista-propublica-zamora-ijf14/.#
• Di Salvo, P. (2014). New data shows drones killed hundreds of Pakistani civilians. The Conversation, May 30th. https://
theconversation.com/new-data-shows-drones-killed-hundreds-of-pakistani-civilians-27345.#
• Fink, K. and M. Schudson. (2013). The rise of contextual journalism, 1950s – 2000s. In Journalism, 15(1), 3-20.#
• Fung, A.; Graham, M.; Weil, D. (2007). Full Disclosure. The Perils and Promise of Transparency. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge
University Press.#
• Haller, M. (2004). Recherchieren (Praktischer Journalismus). Konstanz: UVK.#
• Hill, S. and P. Lashmar (2014). Online Journalism. The Essential Guide. London: Sage.#
• Franklin, B. et. al. (2005). Key Concepts in Journalism Studies. London: Sage.#
• Ingram, M. (2013). The rise of Brown Moses: How an unemployed British man has become a poster boy for citizen journalism.
GigaOm, November 19th. https://gigaom.com/2013/11/19/the-rise-of-brown-moses-how-an-unemployed-british-man-became-a-
poster-boy-for-citizen-journalism/.#
• Johnson, R.A. (2007). Whistleblowing. When It Works and Why. London: Lynne Rienne Publishing.#
• Nazakat, S. (2011). Social Media and Investigative Journalism. ICIJ, August 15th. http://www.icij.org/resources/social-media-and-
investigative-journalism.#
• Nazhmidinova, R. (2013). Demystifying Watergate. The European Journalism Observatory, December 17th. http://en.ejo.ch/8397/
ethics_quality/demystifying-watergate.#
• Pratellesi, M. (2013). New Journalism. Dalla crisi della stampa al giornalismo di tutti. Milano: Bruno Mondadori.#
• Reese, S. D. (1991). Setting the Media’s Agenda: A Power Balance Persepective. In Communication Yearbook 14, ed. J.A. Anderson.
Newbury Park: Sage, 309-340.#
• Ross, K. A. and J. Serle. (2014). Most US drone strikes in Pakistan attack houses. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, May 23th.
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/05/23/most-us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan-attack-houses/.#