Whistleblowers and their faith in journalism

Karin Assmann. “Whistleblowers and their faith in journalism” has been published (online first) in Journalism Practice and was featured in Mark Coddington and Seth Lewis’ column RQ1 and in the Nieman Lab newsletter.

Abstract: This study explores whistleblowers’ perceptions of the news media as they recall crossing over from the employer’s to journalism’s institutional logic. In-depth interviews conducted with 16 U.S. whistleblowers who contacted journalists from the 1970s through the 2010s, find that trust in individual journalists is a consistent theme. Of all norms, participants most valued source protection and accuracy, followed by a reporter’s expertise and willingness to listen.