Disclosing Newsgathering in Investigative
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TAKE US WITH YOU: DISCLOSING NEWSGATHERING IN INVESTIGATIVE PODCASTS _______________________________________________________ A Project Presented to the FAculty of the Graduate School At the University of Missouri-ColumbiA ____________________________________ In PArtiAl Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MAsters of Arts _______________________________ by ROSEMARY BELSON Lynda Kraxberger, Project Supervisor NOVEMBER 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of my committee for their guidance during this project. I am so appreciAtive of the support and patience provided by Lynda Kraxberger, Ryan FAmuliner, and Alison Young. Lynda Kraxberger edited my first convergence story and doled out constructive criticism during the two yeArs I sAt in on the Convergence grading sessions. Through example, she tAught me how to deconstruct a package with an editoriAl eye and news judgement while offering suggestions on how to adapt reporting to improve the outcome for next time. Ryan FAmuliner is an endless weAlth of support not only for myself, but for Any student who comes into KBIA’s newsroom. He, and the wonderful KBIAers, tAught me pretty much everything I know when it comes to audio reporting, production and creAtive storytelling - while providing opportunities At KBIA that challenged me both AcAdemicAlly and personally. Alison Young has been a wonderful guide and support during the professional project. She has provided our seminar clAss invaluable knowledge And experiences during the semester in WAshington D.C. that will inform and impact my professional decisions for yeArs to come. I’d also like to thank all of the professors and editors who guided me during my undergraduate and mAster’s at the Missouri School of Journalism. Finally, I wAnt to thank my parents for their unwAvering love and support. Without you, none of this would have been possible. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................3 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................5 3. ANALYSIS............................................................................................................18 4. APPENDIX............................................................................................................53 2 INTRODUCTION My love for radio and audio storytelling stemmed from obsessively listening to the radio from a very young age, specificAlly a locAl MilwAukee morning program. Funnily enough, it took me until my junior yeAr to reAlize audio storytelling wAs a viAble option to pursue. It wAs through working with the wonderful reporters at KBIA that I reAlized how much skill and art went into creAting a compelling piece of audio. Between producing podcAst episodes for KBIA, producing Global Journalist and producing EU ConfidentiAl, I decided that production wAs the path I wAnted to pursue after concluding my studies. This mAster’s project wAs sparked, in part, by the reAson I decided to pursue a mAster’s degree in journalism. Upon the completion of my undergraduate degree, I still felt as though I had a lot to leArn about audio storytelling and producing. I’d like to leAd a teAm of Audio producers yeArs down the line. It’s a role that requires a greAter depth of leAdership skills and journalistic ethics than what I possess. Some of the skills come from experience in Mizzou’s newsrooms while others stem from understAnding why we do journalism, not just how we conduct journalism. ClAsses like MediA Ethics provided a good ethicAl foundation for working through questions of news judgment. Working in the newsrooms provided criticAl leArning opportunities to hone reporting, production, and editing skills. By tAking up a leAdership role within the convergence newsroom and stepping into a supervising producer role with Global Journalist, I wAs able to figure out how to mAnage and leAd teAms of reporters and producers. I’m so grateful for those 3 opportunities becAuse they tAught me invaluable lessons in terms of what it tAkes to creAte A compelling story while mAnaging interpersonal dynamics, so the teAm runs smoothly. The reseArch aspect of my mAster’s project wAs inspired by the investigative podcAsts I enjoyed consuming. Looking at how and why investigative journalists are disclosing reporting and newsgathering in their podcAsts interested me from a production stAndpoint since I hope to pursue journalistic podcAst production directly after school. Interviewing reporters and producers about the techniques they used and the decisions behind why the techniques were employed wAs a wonderful opportunity to peer behind the curtAin, so to speAk, and leArn about how a show is creAted. Disclosure of newsgathering and reporting has its roots in transparency and Audience trust, which is a sAlient topic in the current news environment. As one of the producers interviewed for this project pointed out, audience trust has been eroded. Both trust in the news outlet and trust in the individual facts presented within a piece. Journalists aren’t excused from telling stories with journalistic integrity and ethics just becAuse the investigative reporting is packaged in a podcAst. PArt of a journalist’s responsibility is to relAy where facts are coming from and tell the audience how you know what you know. Traditionally, this is done through citing sources. With the longform audio formAt, investigative podcAsts are using reporters as characters to allow the audience to see the reporting and newsgathering process. 4 LITERATURE REVIEW First, the literature review will begin by exploring the theoreticAl framework for this reseArch. GAtekeeping theory identifies how And why certAin informAtion becomes news As well As the factors that influence newsmAkers’ decisions in terms of what informAtion reAches the public. This theory helps frame the conversAtion As to why investigative podcAsts Allow Aspects of the newsgathering process to be included in the final product, thus reAching the public. Following the discussion of gatekeeping theory, the literature review will define newsgathering and the newsgathering process. The literature review will then discuss the history of podcAsts followed by A dive into the intersectionality of journalistic podcAsting And investigative reporting. The Aim of the pairing is to explore what storytelling techniques Are being used to include the newsgathering process And why journalists Are including these techniques in the final product. Theoretical Framework The phenomenon of investigative podcAsts transparent inclusion of the newsgathering process will be examined using gatekeeping theory As A lens. Acknowledging that it is difficult to Accurately define journalism or pinpoint journalism’s role within society, journalism’s primAry purpose “is to provide citizens with the informAtion they need to be free And self-governing” (Kovach And Rosenstiel, 2001). Since 5 the production of news is restricted based on resources And the medium’s cApacity in which the news outlet distributes the content, not All of the informAtion that has the potentiAl to become news is chosen And thus it is up to journalists to select what informAtion is gathered, shaped and distributed (ShoemAker, Vos and Reese, 2009). GAtekeeping theory has its roots in “Kurt Lewin’s (1947) sociAl psychologicAl theory of how people’s eAting habits could be changed” And shows that the path And outcome of certAin items depends on forces “constraining the flow of items through gates” (ShoemAker, Vos And Reese, 2009). When the theory wAs Applied to journalism by DAvid White in 1949, ShoemAker, Vos And Reese pinpoint the gatekeeper’s decisions As A mAin, yet subjective, factor that influenced the flow of informAtion through the channel, which led to the identificAtion of the selection process As A “source of news biAs” (ShoemAker, Vos And Reese, 2009). Other factors include “newsroom norms, ownership, competition, officiAl And corporate sources, And public sentiment” (McElroy, 2013). Though the role of gatekeeper within the consideration of news doesn’t stray from those working within the news outlet, scholArship expanded the factors influencing gatekeeping decisions to include five levels of Analysis: “individual journalist level, the organizAtional level, the extra-mediA level, And the sociAl system level” (ShoemAker, Vos And Reese, 2009). The Authors go on to explAin that understAnding how the forces, which Are the factors that influence decisions About informAtion, requires Analysis of the five levels’ interactions to understAnd outcomes of informAtion (ShoemAker, Vos and Reese, 2009). 6 The role of gatekeeper shifts with the Advancements And changes in the field of journalism, with some shifts, like changing demographics not resulting in mAjor changes (ShoemAker, Vos And Reese, 2009). While other changes like Advancements of technology proving to be A more mAjor influence on the shifting, And in some instAnces diminishing, role of gatekeeping (Singer, 2006). Singer’s study “suggests An evolution in online journalists’ thinking About the nature of informAtion” shifting to the delivery of credible informAtion And perhaps “stepping back from the gate,” especiAlly As interactivity with the Audience increAses And journalists tAke on A greAter level of curation duties (Singer, 2006). McElroy’s