Editors: Brigitte Alfter and Ștefan Cândea
The past few years have seen growing interest in
cross-border collaborative journalism. The recent Panama Papers and Football Leaks investigations as well as the formation of new international networks of journalists are good examples. However, there is yet no agreement on an acceptable definition(s)
to describe this journalistic genre and the processes it involves, as well the promises and perils it entails.
This special issue by
the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies is to shed light on this hitherto under-investigated emerging practice, define it, theorize it and hopefully operationalize it. Presently, and for the purposes of this call, we broadly explain cross-border
collaborative journalism as a process where “the producers, users and subjects need not, and often do not, share a common national orientation”
Reese 2007: 40). We expand Reese’s definition to include the sharing of even less common grounds like language, culture, discipline,
socio-political background and even the vocabulary of production and consumption.
Interdisciplinary contributions are welcome with “interdisciplinary” having a broad definition that embraces scholars as well as practitioners in related fields from diverse
frameworks of thought. We want to examine how new developments are shaping the journalistic practice in different contexts and in the end how that will influence the future control over the shaping of global knowledge.
The editors of this special issue are practicing journalists with some academic research output investigating and analyzing non-profit organisations as well as for-profit
journalism (Alfter 2016/1; Candea 2016). They see themselves as participant observers with a foot in both worlds, the world of practice and the world of academia.
Our globalized world is characterized as a world of globalized business, financial flows, politics, and crime integrating swiftly across borders. But some observe that global knowledge and understanding is not keeping
up with the pace of globalization, so journalists have a big role to play to bridge the gap (Rosenau 2008: 113). Trying to address issues emanating from the lack of global knowledge and understanding, journalists started building initiatives and organizations
dealing with crossing borders and boundaries. Most prominent organizations positioned such actions outside traditional media because of news industry’s limitations. Many cross-border initiatives gained traction in investigative journalism and recently in data
journalism as part of the cross-border effort with one foot in the non-profit realm and the other in journalism schools.
The context of journalism is changing with growing internationalization/globalisation, networking, and digitalisation. Having to cover internationalised power structures in all fields of life, journalists
started organizing themselves internationally. They have established new structures and developed new working methods and legal considerations. Latest mega-cooperations straddling borders show the central role of technology (OffshoreLeaks, Panama Papers,
Football Leaks), with cross-border journalists, relying heavily on ICT solutions, especially in processing large data sets and exchanging information. Such developments expose two new types of issues of concern:
-
the investigative work-flow and the relationship between journalists and sources are more than ever subject to surveillance by government and private communication agencies. Mega cross-border cooperations open many
possible points of failure (as opposed to the lone investigator model)
-
cross-border investigations are becoming a tool, first in the hands of private news industry groups and second in the hands of a new global investigative elite. Private groups make cross-border networks vulnerable
to centralization, monopoly and control. The elite in the non-profit realm replicate the shortcomings of the traditional media.
The aim of this special issue is to facilitate reflection on cross border cooperation/collaboration in journalism. “Borders” for this type of journalism are defined as barriers to be crossed. An overall wish is to gain
an understanding of the role of journalism in developments of knowledge control in our societies including an understanding of commercial and funding flows and their effect on editorial agendas and ultimately freedom of expression.
The editors expect contributors to tackle aspects of cross-border journalism, with special attention paid to:
Abstracts due: May 31, 2017
Abstracts should be 250 words
Acknowledgment of acceptance: July 1, 2017
Full papers due: February 1, 2018
Academic articles should be 6000-8000 words; short articles - journalism pieces - should be up to 3000 words (or 3500).
Correspondence: Please address all correspondence to Brigitte Alfter at
[log in to unmask]
or Stefan Candea at [log in to unmask]
Alfter, Brigitte, Cross-border collaborative journalism: Why journalists and scholars should talk about an emerging method, 2016/2,
Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies 5(2), pp. 301–315
Candea, Stefan, et. al., European Investigate Collaborations,
Making a Network. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20170117120937/https://eic.network/blog/making-a-network
Candea, Stefan, et. al., European Investigate Collaborations,
Football Leaks. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20161207034456/https://eic.network/projects/football-leaks
Reese, Stephen D., Journalism Research and the Hierarchy of Influences Model - a Global Perspective, 2007,
Brazilian Journalism Research 3(2), 2007
Rosenau, James N.,
People Count - Networked Individuals in Global Politics, Paradigm Publishers, 2008, Boulder – London, p113
Kind regards
Susanne Smithberger
Susanne Smithberger, Editorial assistant
__________________________________________________
Department of Education
School of Education and Communication
JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY
PHONE +46 (0)36 10 13 95
SKYPE MrsSmithberger
WEB
www.ju.se