I'd Be Surprised If You Get Anyone Admitting to These Things: New Zealand Journalists’ Experiences of Aggressive Reporting Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aggressive reporting practices involving deception or intrusion have long been controversial, yet little is known about how often journalists use them, and why. This study of New Zealand journalists is the first since 2005 that has asked a representative national sample of journalists about their experience of these practices. Some practices were commonly used despite being highly controversial amongst journalists. The main predictors of use of these aggressive practices were a journalist’s role orientation, or goal in journalism, being influenced by journalism ethical norms and social influences, and to a lesser extent gender, attitude, and organisational factors such as working on a daily newspaper. The profile of a journalist who would use these practices is one with a clear belief in their journalism goal who is more influenced by journalism ethical norms and friends and family than media regulation, authority figures or organisational pressures such as editorial policy. This study gives further support to a risk model as an explanation for journalists’ use of these practices.