The Effects of Mass Surveillance on Journalists’ Relations With Confidential Sources

Waters, Stephenson

doi:10.1080/21670811.2017.1365616

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Other reasons for their reluctancy to systematically use safety and security measures include issues with usability, interference with other aspects of their journalistic work (as identified by McGregor et al 2015), and a significant amount of scepticism and fatalism that results in the attitude that what will happen will happen (as previously described by Bradshaw 2017). Unlike in previous research (Henrichsen 2020;Waters 2018;McGregor and Watkins 2016), no one mentioned poor IT skills as a barrier in this respect.…”

Section: Nicolecontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…Second, another reason for the reluctance to adopt more advanced security practices is that the journalist may have poor IT skills and an inadequate understanding of technological communication systems, including a lack of understanding of the risks (Henrichsen 2020;Waters 2018;McGregor and Watkins 2016). From the perspective of journalists, security tools have usability issues and interfere with other aspects of their journalistic work (McGregor et al 2015).…”

Section: Security and Safety Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping with the Murder: The Impact of Ján Kuciak’s Assassination on Slovak Investigative Journalists

Urbániková

Haniková

2021

Journalism Practice

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In this contribution, using a case-study approach, we focus on the assassination of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée and explore the impact and consequences that it had on the community of investigative journalists in Slovakia. By conducting a series of semi-structured interviews with top investigative journalists (N = 12), we seek to answer two questions: How have they coped with the murder of their colleague? And, how has this incident changed their everyday journalistic practices and routines when it comes to achieving and maintaining safety? We identified 12 coping actions which, based on their function, were organised into five higher order families of coping: emotional purging; sharing and support seeking; avoidance and displacement; defiance and defence; and spreading the legacy and giving meaning to the tragedy. Regarding safety and security practices, the journalists claim that their approach has fundamentally changed. A variety of measures to stay safe, both online and offline, were adopted both on the organisational and on the individual level. However, many of these measures are not used consistently, mostly because they are not deemed necessary when covering non-sensitive topics, but also because of their impracticality in everyday journalistic work, and sceptical and fatalistic approach of the journalists to safety.

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Section: Nicolecontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Security and Safety Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with the Murder: The Impact of Ján Kuciak’s Assassination on Slovak Investigative Journalists

Urbániková

Haniková

2021

Journalism Practice

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“…Added to the improvements on the E2EE technology, keeping track of the delivery of the information allows senders to be sure that messages are received correctly and privately without fearing that anyone might have intercepted the communication. It should be noted, nonetheless, that this sentiment is not shared by all journalists (see Waters 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting with WhatsApp: Mobile Chat Applications’ Impact on Journalistic Practices

Dodds

2019

Digital Journalism

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Since its release in August 2009, WhatsApp has played a key role in the fast development and expansion of the contemporary polymedia environment within which humans interact with each other. Those in the media, and journalists in particular, have taken to this platform to use it as a way to share and receive information as well as to maintain regular, and sometimes more private, contact with their sources. The goal of this paper is to examine the incentives that underlie journalists' decisions to turn to WhatsApp and the consequences that this mobile chat application has had on the newsmaking practices of reporters inside two Chilean newsrooms. Newsroom ethnography, including participant observation, is employed in this study to gain insight into journalists' routines and their everyday usage of WhatsApp. The conclusions of this article suggest that the utilization of WhatsApp has impacted the relationship between journalists and sources both on a personal and professional level. New perceptions of intimacy and trust, camaraderie and obtainability, and temporality are observed among the journalists who use this application. These observations carry important professional and ethical implications for journalists navigating today's media ecology, and show how technological and socioprofessional aspects are tightly interwoven.

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“…Anyone relying on technologies and infrastructures optimized for data extraction and profiling can become radically transparent for a range of actors (Christl & Spiekermann, 2016). As discussed above, journalists have always been a risk group and a main target for surveillance (Crete-Nishihata et al, 2020;Thorsen, 2019;Waters, 2018). It is well known that a range of actors in different parts of the world, such as secret services, police authorities, and other players, seek to monitor journalists' interactions and to access data stored on their computers (Henrichsen, Betz, & Lisosky, 2015).…”

Section: Mobile Journalism As a Risk For Journalists And As A Supplier For Surveillance Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is well known that a range of actors in different parts of the world, such as secret services, police authorities, and other players, seek to monitor journalists' interactions and to access data stored on their computers (Henrichsen, Betz, & Lisosky, 2015). After the Snowden revelations in 2013, the mass surveillance initiated by state actors and its implications for journalism have been broadly discussed (Bradshaw, 2017;Lashmar, 2018;Mills, 2019;Waters, 2018).…”

Section: Mobile Journalism As a Risk For Journalists And As A Supplier For Surveillance Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile Journalists as Traceable Data Objects: Surveillance Capitalism and Responsible Innovation in Mobile Journalism

Salzmann

Guribye

Gynnild

2021

MaC

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This article discusses how Shosana Zuboff’s critical theory of surveillance capitalism may help to understand and underpin responsible practice and innovation in mobile journalism. Zuboff conceptualizes surveillance capitalism as a new economic logic made possible by ICT and its architecture for extracting and trading data products of user behavior and preferences. Surveillance is, through these new technologies, built into the fabric of our economic system and, according to Zuboff, appears as deeply anti-democratic and a threat to human sovereignty, dignity, and autonomy. In Europe, the framework of responsible research and innovation is promoted as an approach and a meta-concept that should inform practice and policy for research and innovation to align with societal values and democratic principles. Within this approach, ICT is framed as a risk technology. As innovation in mobile journalism is inextricably tied to the technologies and infrastructure of smartphones and social media platforms, the apparent question would be how we can envision responsible innovation in this area. Zuboff provides a critical perspective to study how this architecture of surveillance impedes the practice of mobile journalism. While the wide adoption of smartphones as a key tool for both producing and consuming news has great potential for innovation, it can also feed behavioral data into the supply chain of surveillance capitalism. We discuss how potentially harmful implications can be met on an individual and organizational level to contribute to a more responsible adoption of mobile technologies in journalism.

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The Effects of Mass Surveillance on Journalists’ Relations With Confidential Sources

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

Coping with the Murder: The Impact of Ján Kuciak’s Assassination on Slovak Investigative Journalists

Coping with the Murder: The Impact of Ján Kuciak’s Assassination on Slovak Investigative Journalists

Reporting with WhatsApp: Mobile Chat Applications’ Impact on Journalistic Practices

Mobile Journalists as Traceable Data Objects: Surveillance Capitalism and Responsible Innovation in Mobile Journalism

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