Reinventing political reporting: Outsiders, disruptors and innovators

As politicians have been forced to move from adapting media logic, to adopting it, theories of the mediatization of politics have suggested how the power of media institutions and political journalists has grown. This chapter begins by exploring why and how the balance of power is more ambiguous than that. Political journalism must practice a high level of source professionalism from political actors, yet it is also trapped in a paradox: good political journalism must necessarily be embedded in politics. Going native is the price you pay for this closeness. In the second section, a further paradox is suggested: what if some of the most innovative political reporting has been produced by journalists outside the politics newsbeat, or who dared challenge its routines? Complete outsiders have triggered minor Copernican Revolutions in reporting on campaigns. Other definitions of what is political (policies rather than just politics, and the impact of politics on ordinary lives) have both resulted in alternative understandings of the political and expanded the readership of these reports. And even the most canonical political reporting issues can be refreshed by political journalists exploring new angles or mobilizing social scientific and social media resources.