Abstract
Hybrid Investigative Journalism is collaboratively written with the aim to fill a gap in the study of investigative journalism and suggest ways for the field to progress. The chosen focal points are on hybridisation, innovation and entrepreneurship. They are explored in two parts and nine chapters by editors Maria Konow-Lund, Michelle Park, Saba Bebawi and contributors Jenny Wiik, Lin Pan and Eva-Karin Olsson Gardell. The introduction to hybridity is explored in the context of six main case studies of what editors refer to as hybrid networks and organisations. The introductory chapter outlines the ‘(1) organisational crises in the practice of journalism itself, (2) sudden societal crises referred to as critical events, such as terror attacks (Tandc et al., 2021), and (3) the comparatively new types of crisis distinguished as ‘global’ in nature, such as the pandemic’ (p. 6). This outline is followed by a brief exploration of the meaning of hybridisation in part two as ‘a process of simultaneous integration and fragmentation’ (p. 26) and asks the question ‘Is Journalism in crisis?’ (p. 27). The chosen theoretical approaches to explore this question are introduced in chapter 2 under the subheadings ‘The Role of Organisation’ (p. 31), ‘The Role of Technology’ (p. 32) and ‘Practices and Routines in Emerging Organisation’ (p. 33). The following chapters undertake an ethnographic approach to investigate Bristol Cable (chapter 3), The Bureau Local (chapter 4) and The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (chapter 5) and look at what they call ‘hybrid elements’ in emerging organisations’ (p. 87). Part III, ‘Globalising Mindsets’, features theoretical and practical investigations into global crises and their resultant investigative journalism. Beginning with an exploration into ‘Forbidden Stories’ and digital journalism following the Charlie Hebdo terror attack of 2015 (chapter 7). Chapter 8 then explores a case study of The VG COVID-19 live tracker while chapter 9 extends the discussion of COVID-19 to China and Norway, highlighting the patterns and differences in the countries’ responses to the pandemic. The concluding chapter summarises the arguments for hybridisation as the new realm for investigative journalism and encourages future collaborations between a myriad of actors - local and international, digital and traditional, as well as the exploration of investigative journalism as a social practice. All in all, this is a rich and interesting volume.