Trossamfunn under lupen: Hvordan slipper journalistene gjennom nåløyet?

Abstract

How do Norwegian journalists operate when investigating religious communities? Does their own faith, or lack of thereof, affect the way they treat the congregations, or is it simply a question of knowledge? This study shows that investigative journalists in Norway primarily use two sets of tools when investigating religious communities. The first is structural investigations, focusing on economics and formal documentation, the latter is about meeting the people in the congregations. Journalists point to knowledge of the Bible as important for getting access to the sources and building trust. The study looks at the coverage of religion based on the SKUP (a Norwegian investigative journalism network) reports about investigative journalism in Norway between 1991 and 2020. It also raises the question whether the journalists lose integrity when flagging their own belief while covering religion. According to the journalists themselves, they do not.

Keywords:

Investigative journalism, Norway, worldview, objectivity