Investigative journalists are facing severe challenges and threats, and their vital connections with whistleblowers are under increasing pressure, researchers have said.
Legal intimidation is having a "chilling effect" and those engaged in crime and security journalism are encountering extreme risks.
Experts have discussed their significant concerns about the perils many journalists face in their commitment to uncovering truth, from pervasive state surveillance to targeted prosecution and even espionage operations by hostile states, during a special event.
At the Law and Society Association event held in Chicago, the founding members of the Economic Crime and Corporate Compliance collaborative research network (CRN41), featuring Diane Ring (Boston College) and Costantino Grasso (University of Exeter), organized several sessions focused on these critical issues.
Workshops covered the indispensable role investigative journalism plays in safeguarding democracy and ensuring robust accountability, and how reporters serve as a crucial, often frontline, mechanism for unmasking corruption, unethical practices, and potential wrongdoing, particularly by powerful entities that might otherwise operate in secrecy.
Researchers discussed the calculated abuse of legal processes through Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), which are specifically designed to intimidate, exhaust financial resources, and ultimately silence their reporting.
The overarching aim of CRN41 is to create a global forum for research and collaboration on economic crime and the development of measures by institutions and businesses to mitigate organizational risks and misconduct. Researchers have established a long-term dialogue on traditional economic crimes such as corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, insider trading, terrorism financing, and cybercrime as well as interconnected criminal practices such as environmental crimes and corporate homicide.
Research includes also socially harmful organizational behaviours, including unethical lobbying, tax abuses, and environmental degradation. There is a special focus on the role of transparency, whistleblowing, and emerging technologies.
During the Chicago event the critical role of whistleblowing was further explored in depth during the roundtable "Whistleblowing in Democracy: Safeguarding Justice, Transparency, and Organizational Integrity". This session explicitly examined how whistleblowers contribute to justice and transparency, echoing the goals of investigative reporting.
Broader themes of accountability and the mechanisms for uncovering wrongdoing, central to investigative journalism, were discussed in other sessions like "Beyond Profit: Redefining Corporate Accountability in a Globalized World," where participants discussed holding corporations responsible for their impacts and the crucial role of litigation and enforcement.
The CRN41 brought together experts from several institutions spanning 10 countries. It featured contributions from academics and practitioners from the nations include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and Brazil. Academics were from institutions including the University of Exeter, Boston College, University of Oklahoma, Flinders University, Luiss University, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, and non-academic bodies like the Office of the Prosecutor in Naples and Whistleblowers of America.
