Marina Svensson, University of Lund

2008-2010

The original aim of the project has been followed although some modifications and additions have been made during the project as a result of the rapid developments in China and new research openings for project members. The main research questions have not changed although the focus with respect to media types has shifted a bit and new research methods been added.

The main aim of the project has been to study the conditions for and forms of investigative journalism in China. The project has studied both traditional media and new media and the relations between the two. Since investigative journalism on TV has decreased in importance during the period of study, the focus in the project has shifted to print media (newspapers and magazines) and the Internet. The emergence of microblogs (weibo) since 2009 has meant both new challenges as well as opportunities for journalists that could not have been predicted when the project started. Investigative journalists was one of the first groups who began to use microblogging in their work, and it has been important to study this development and what it means for investigative journalism. The project has focused on individual journalists as well as the scope for investigative journalism in different media and over time.

For Svensson a new theme has been the identity formation and socialisation process of investigative journalists. By living in China throughout a significant part of the project period she has been able to regularly attend different workshops, seminars and training sessions for journalists arranged by media organisations, universities, and international organisations such as Internews and International Media Support, as well as Swedish Fojo. She has also attended many lectures by investigative journalists, participated in informal activities arranged by journalists, as well as given presentations on investigative journalism and press ethics at universities and training seminars. This type of participatory observation was not originally planned but has enabled her to closely study and understand the image and self-representation of investigative journalists as well as their working methods. Svensson has principally focused on investigative journalism on law, crime and legal institutions in different types of media (print media, TV, and the Internet), similarities and differences in framing and focus, and the relationship and competitions among different media.

Lagerkvist has investigated the relationship between traditional and new media. Through interviews in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Beijing, and Shanghai with established journalists in TV, radio, and print media, as well as influential citizen journalists and bloggers, Largerkvist has been able to analyse investigative journalism over time. The main aim and research questions have in this respect not changed during the project.

The project's three most important results

1) The project has shown that the possibilities and forms for investigative journalism depend on a combination of political, economic, and professional conditions, considerations, and processes. It is not a simple black and white picture. The relationship between journalists, media organisations, propaganda departments, and citizens (on-line and off-line) is complex and dynamic. A working hypothesis of the project was that investigative journalism in China in contrast to the situation in the West exhibits more fluctuations and ups- and downs since the political climate sets the boundaries. This hypothesis has been possible to study during the unusually turbulent period 2008-2011. Through our case studies we have also been able to show that politics at the macro level is not the only, or always the most decisive factor, but that other factors and developments can counteract, challenge or modify political restrictions. We have observed this when it comes to differences between media organisations that is a result from the fact that they operate in different regions (provinces), have different editorial policy, categories of readers and relationship to readers. Individual editors and journalists also have different visions and views with respect to journalists' role in society. Without adopting a technological deterministic position we also found that new technology (such as microblogs) have had an impact on the form of journalism (see below).

2) We have in the project closely followed the importance of the Internet and the new dynamic that microblogging has meant for investigative journalists. Although Internet has played an increasingly important role and had an impact on traditional journalism since 2003, this trend has become even more prominent since 2007 (with the reporting on demolitions in Chongqing and protests in Xiamen). Citizen journalism and critical discussions on the Internet has led to demands for more openness and also come to constitute an important source of information for journalists. At the same time it has become more difficult for investigative journalists to be first with a story and publish unique reports. The rapid development when it comes to microblogging since 2009 (the most recent number was 250 million users in December 2011) has led to new possibilities for Chinese journalists. It has increased their profile in society and also meant closer relations and contacts with readers; many investigative journalists have large number of followers. Microblogging also imply new possibilities to escape censorship and criticise control and restrictions. Journalists have used microblogging to provide information on topics they cannot publish in the newspapers as well as to reveal harassments and restrictions.

3) Our research has also shown the importance of contacts, cooperation and networking among investigative journalists, and the emergence of a specific group identity. Journalists are in contacts with colleagues in different ways, through special QQ groups and today also through microblogging, personal meetings and participation in different seminars and informal groups. Even though there exist a strong group feeling there also exist different views among the journalists on the role and form of investigative journalism. One group adhere to a more objective and professional view, whereas other journalists are more socially engaged and some have even established NGOs. What is striking is also how journalists network with other groups in society, such as lawyers, who share their interest in supervising authorities, companies and legal institutions.

New research questions that the project has generated

For Lagerkvist the project has so far led to three new questions. It concerns how social activism and an increasing use of new communication technology change and is changed, and how the one party state relates to transnational media flows. 1) How do different linguistic and cultural media systems with different degrees of political and economic independence interact? 2) How does the Chinese state act in relation to foreign media, and what public and diplomatic strategies do state-owned Chinese media have? From an assumption made in the concluding chapter in After the Internet, Before Democracy, follows the question: how do party-state officials and party cadres change as a result of exposure to the new flows of information that exist on-line today?

Svensson has developed new research questions and projects as a result of this project. After having closely followed 30 investigative journalists for more than three years she plans to continue to follow them and see how their careers develop and if they continue to work as investigative reporters. The plan is to do regular follow-up interviews over the coming ten years. The question of what microblogging and social media means for journalism and the society at large will also continue to be explored. After having studied what and how journalists write about legal issues it has been natural to ask which role media play for ordinary citizens' knowledge about legal issues, which reporting is more important, whether citizens contact the media on these issues, and whether a more critical reporting strengthens or undermines their confidence in the media respectively in the legal system. These questions are addressed in a new project on "legal empowerment" supported by Sida.

Another research question that the project has raised is how journalists, scholars, activists and ordinary citizens cooperate to raise and push certain issues (in traditional media, on the Internet, through meetings and organisations etc). Many scholars write opinion pieces in the media and are often interviewed by journalists in their capacity as experts. Journalists and the media play an important role for public debate and the growth of civil society. This is something that is also documented in a project on scholar Yu Jianrong as public intellectual and media personality.

A final research question for Svensson is how investigative and critical issues are documented on video and film. With cheaper and more available technology such as DVD cameras and mobile phones activists and ordinary citizens can easily film injustices and upload videos on the Internet, at the same time as more independent documentary filmmakers are making critical social documentaries. It is striking that many of the latter group have a background in traditional media and TV. A new project thus looks at how ordinary citizens and activists use video and social media to document injustices as well as studies more professional productions by independent filmmakers.

The project's two most important publications

The most central publications for Lagerkvist are the two chapters "In blogs they trust?" and "And the baton passes to...citizen journalism" i monografin After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society, (Bern: Peter Lang, 2010).

Svensson organised a conference on investigative journalism in August 2010 and a special issue of the journal Chinese Journal of Communication (Taylor and Francis) is now in the process. Svensson has two articles, one of which, Chinese Investigative Journalists as an Interpretative Community, focuses on the emergence of the community of journalists. The other article, co-authored with Wang Haiyan, focuses on the special situation for women in the field.