ABSTRACT

Cross-Border Collaborative Journalism is a detailed guide to transnational reporting, a cutting-edge journalistic strategy. In the twenty-first century, the most pressing political and social issues, such as financial crises, wealth inequality, migration flows and environmental collapse, transcend national borders. In reaction, journalists are increasingly collaborating across the globe to produce impactful and in-depth reporting. Recent agenda-setting cross-border collaborations include LuxLeaks, Panama Papers and Football Leaks.

Brigitte Alfter takes the reader, step-by-step, through the history of cross-border collaborative journalism and the current working practices behind it. The book draws from the author’s own experience, as well as exclusive interviews with other pioneers of cross-border journalism, and notable case studies are integrated throughout.

Chapters cover:

  • Managing intercultural communication
  • Effectively utilising a network of sources
  • Choosing the initial story idea
  • Fact-checking for cross-border publication
  • Adapting the findings to different audiences and to different types of media
  • Legal and security considerations for a cross-border team.

By providing the essential practical skills for transnational reporting, Cross-Border Collaborative Journalism encourages students of journalism and practitioners to undertake their own collaborative projects. It highlights the importance of this exciting new journalistic form to answering the defining questions of our time.

part I|32 pages

Cross-border journalism

chapter 1|15 pages

Why embark on cross-border journalism?

History, context and pioneers

chapter 2|14 pages

What is cross-border journalism?

The four characteristics and the seven steps of the work process

part II|118 pages

The work process from idea to publication and beyond

chapter 3|13 pages

Follow the story

How to develop and select a cross-border idea

chapter 5|16 pages

Intercultural communication

How to make even diverse teams work smoothly

chapter 6|16 pages

Getting cross-border research started

chapter 7|5 pages

Pitching the cross-border way

chapter 8|7 pages

Enriching each other

How to make the best of the research phase in a cross-border team

chapter 10|5 pages

Fact-checking for cross-border publication

chapter 11|10 pages

Opportunities and challenges

Legal and security considerations in a cross-border team

chapter 12|9 pages

The day after publication

The impact question

part III|20 pages

Overall editorial tasks

chapter 14|10 pages

Editorial coordination in cross-border teams

chapter 15|7 pages

Burden or blessing

The finances of cross-border journalism

part IV|13 pages

The meta-level

chapter 16|11 pages

Observing cross-border journalism

The analytical view of scholars