ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emerging concept of global investigative journalism and the emerging role of hyper-connected reporters, acting in the public sphere to call power to account. It presents examples of the hyper-connectedness that is now occurring in practice, but which is only just beginning to enter the academic literature. Journalists reporting on war once had to go to war to do so. Now they can stay at home and monitor Twitter to follow the progress of front-line fighters. Journalists writing about a plane crash involving international passengers would have found it difficult to speak to next-of-kin scattered around the globe. Theories of journalism that relied heavily on geo-located analogue media outlets attracting advertising to fund news coverage of their area are becoming less relevant to an understanding of news production systems. The changing flows of communication discussed by Hermida enable audiences to respond directly to the work of particular journalists.
