| Abstract | This study uses a political economy lens to understand the impact of automation on investigative journalism and journalists, through qualitative methods of inquiry.
Through semi-structured interviews with 30 investigators and investigative journalists who are experts in or pioneering Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations (mainly from the BBC and Bellingcat), it seeks to address the main research question: What are the consequences of automation on investigative journalism?
This is interrogated through three sub-questions:
SQ1 : How are automated tools changing the work of investigative journalists?
SQ2 : What are the risks and advantages of conducting investigations using automated tools?
SQ3 : What are the risks for the mental health of investigative journalists in the context of digital work?
The study is grounded in theoretical debates related to the political economy of journalism and knowledge work, such as the understanding of labour in Marxism and connected
traditions. It engages with topics such as the substitution of humans in the economic process through automation under capitalism, automation's impact on humans and society such as
alienation, the exploitation of labour; as well as the power structures within the newsroom and its consequential impact on storytelling, trauma/mental health of journalists’ work with graphic violence seen in conditions of war and conflict, diversity (gender and race). It contextualises the relationship between the crisis in journalism, and the fourth estate’s ability to hold power to account, caused by capitalist modes of production. It studies the impact of Artificial Intelligence-powered automation, and augmentation using Open-Source Intelligence tools (OSINT tools), on investigative journalism units by depicting the technological disruption within workflows and affected journalists within the industry.
The research presented in this dissertation is the first of its kind, looking at the impact of OSINT on investigative work, methodologies and practices, and the mental health of
journalists, and developing a typology of OSINT tools in practice. The study found that the adoption of OSINT tools in investigative units have enabled investigations of a range of
human rights abuses from locations previously inaccessible or difficult to access due to conflict. The use of non-traditional investigative sources have created a knowledge controversy and upended the flow of power in journalism. However, it is human expertise, creativity and methodology in implementation of tools that are critical to such investigations, instead of the tools themselves, which are often flawed and require human intervention when augmenting workflows. Most journalists working in OSINT are young digital natives who have found the adoption of OSINT easy in their working day. However, issues of overwork, stress, and the pressure to be constantly online have blurred boundaries of work and home. In addition, structural imbalances of race, class and gender appear to be replicated in the OSINT space which is a majority white middle-class male-dominated profession from the Global North, often investigating the Global South, replicating colonial power dynamics. Finally, the risk of vicarious trauma from OSINT was a major cause of concern in mental health, but poor mental health was concurrent with bad, OSINT- illiterate management that didn’t understand the impact of graphic imagery, alienation, and microaggressions. The study ends with recommendations that are based on the findings and are directed at existing
investigative units, institutions looking to build OSINT units, and executives seeking to create a functional newsroom with a healthy balance of power that has the potential to produce impactful investigative journalism that holds power to account. |
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