“This is (Not) Journalism”: Corruption, Subterfuge, and Metajournalistic Discourses on Undercover Journalism in Ghana

ABSTRACT

There remains broad agreement on the principles and norms of journalism. However, what the practice means also emerges in context, manifesting in and constituted by the language actors use to contest or affirm the boundary of acceptable practices. Using Ghanaian undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ 2018 report on football and corruption as a case, this study examines social media actors’ discourse, identifying points of view on the legitimacy of subterfuge and entrapment as acceptable journalistic tools. The study uses metajournalistic discourse as an overarching framework and integrates literature from virtue, deontological, and utilitarian ethics; journalistic roles; and political economy of media. We find that the metajournalistic discourse on subterfuge, entrapment, and the undercover work straddles flagellation and adulation. It reveals tensions between a view of journalism as contextually fluid versus one rooted in standardized practices of excellence; journalistic excellence as defined by outcomes versus moral virtues; and economic versus public interest. We observe a limitation of what Anas calls the “name and shame” method: while the sensational nature of an undercover story may spark public interest in cases of corruption, it may be polarizing, commodifying, and even undermine the utilitarian justifications that underpin using deception as a journalistic tool.

KEYWORDS:

• Metajournalistic discourse
• undercover journalism
• deception
• subterfuge
• virtue and utilitarian ethics
• political economy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. “Entrapment” describes a particular type of deception: the deliberate attempt by agents to proactively provide suspected criminals with incentives or opportunities to commit wrongdoing (Harrison and Breit 2004).

2. Goats were used in Anas’ piece to bribe some of the officials caught on video.

3. Anas has in the past advertised the release of a bombshell report from his undercover stings regarding corruption in the Parliament of Ghana and politicians’ involvement in illegal gold mining. But these reports were never released.