This chapter analyses the affordances of technology and journalistic agency in investigative journalism collaborations done in the Global South context through a case study of the #GuptaLeaks award-winning investigation done in 2017 in South Africa. Collaborations in investigative journalism are becoming popular across the world for holding power to account and putting important issues in the public interest. The #GuptaLeaks investigation, done by three South African news organisations, Daily Maverick, AmaBhungane and News24, is used as a case study. Individual interviews with those involved in the investigation and narrative analysis of the website, and existing documents about the investigation are used in the information gathering process to answer the main research questions on what the affordances enabled by technology are and the agency of journalists. Drawing on Latour’s (Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory, 2005) Actor-Network theory which considers the actors in the collaboration, how they are collaborating and the role of technology, the chapter argues that, in these contexts, technology enables some journalistic practices which the journalists take advantage of to be able to hold power into account. The collaborating partners who include journalists, technologists and other actors demonstrate agency at various stages of the journalistic newsgathering, production, and dissemination processes. The role of technology as argued in the chapter contrasts with what has been argued in some Western literature on collaborative investigative journalism where technology is argued to be the main driver of collaboration (see De la Serna, Collaboration and the creation of a new journalism commons. Columbia Journalism Review, 2018). In this chapter, technology is shown to be an enabler and not the main driver of collaboration as there are factors such as a strong belief in investigative journalism and sharing the work which push them to work together.

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Technological Affordances and Journalistic Agency in Collaborative Investigative Journalism in Southern Africa: A Case of the #GuptaLeaks Investigation

  • Carolyne M. Lunga

摘要

This chapter analyses the affordances of technology and journalistic agency in investigative journalism collaborations done in the Global South context through a case study of the #GuptaLeaks award-winning investigation done in 2017 in South Africa. Collaborations in investigative journalism are becoming popular across the world for holding power to account and putting important issues in the public interest. The #GuptaLeaks investigation, done by three South African news organisations, Daily Maverick, AmaBhungane and News24, is used as a case study. Individual interviews with those involved in the investigation and narrative analysis of the website, and existing documents about the investigation are used in the information gathering process to answer the main research questions on what the affordances enabled by technology are and the agency of journalists. Drawing on Latour’s (Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory, 2005) Actor-Network theory which considers the actors in the collaboration, how they are collaborating and the role of technology, the chapter argues that, in these contexts, technology enables some journalistic practices which the journalists take advantage of to be able to hold power into account. The collaborating partners who include journalists, technologists and other actors demonstrate agency at various stages of the journalistic newsgathering, production, and dissemination processes. The role of technology as argued in the chapter contrasts with what has been argued in some Western literature on collaborative investigative journalism where technology is argued to be the main driver of collaboration (see De la Serna, Collaboration and the creation of a new journalism commons. Columbia Journalism Review, 2018). In this chapter, technology is shown to be an enabler and not the main driver of collaboration as there are factors such as a strong belief in investigative journalism and sharing the work which push them to work together.