Framing theory and a quantitative approach was used to study the effectiveness of investigative journalism in Sri Lanka, connected to mass protests. To do so, Usha A Priyanga Welhenage from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Bilal Mazhar from University of Shenzhen, and Inam Ul Haq from Huazhong University of Science and Technology sent a self-administered questionnaire to 200 journalists working for both print and online newspapers.
The year 2022 was a turning point in Sri Lanka due to the Aragalaya protests emerging from poor leadership and economic mismanagement. The protests aimed at ousting the President and all members of the Rajapaksa family from the government.
In the context of these protests, investigative journalism in Sri Lanka focused on the causes of the economic crisis, misuse of public resources, leadership-driven policy determination, and institutional accountability. However, journalists covering these topics faced monitoring, intimidation, and legal harassment (Devotta 2022).
The hypotheses in this study (H1-H5) focused on the impact of lack of resources, perceived life threat, perceived legal challenges, perceived media freedom, and government pressure on the effectiveness of investigative journalism.
For the study, the authors adopted a quantitative approach, targeting current and former journalists with a questionnaire to 200 journalists, most of whom were reporters, followed by investigative journalists, editors, and freelancers. The questionnaire used Likert-type questions.
One of the results was that when journalists perceive themselves as being under a lack of resources, their ability to engage in investigations diminishes, confirming H1. Perceived risks to personal safety also lowered the perceived effectiveness of investigative journalism, but not necessarily willingness to do it. Thus, H2 was confirmed too.
Journalists who perceived legal challenges also perceived investigative journalism as less effective, confirming H3. However, perceived media freedom was overshadowed by structural constraints, meaning that H4 was not supported. Finally, in the study, reporters who felt more government pressure also perceived investigative journalism as less effective, supporting H5.
As a practical recommendation, the authors suggest strengthening the institutional environment of journalism in Sri Lanka. They note that investigative journalism cannot thrive in environments where intimidation, resource scarcity, and systemic oppression are common. They also limit meaningful frames, meaning that media framing is not just an editorial choice, but interconnected to politics and institutions.
The article “The effectiveness of investigative journalism during the 2022 mass protests in Sri Lanka: A quantitative study” by Usha A Priyanga Welhenage, Bilal Mazhar, and Inam Ul Haq is in Journalism. (Free abstract).
Picture:Sri Lanka by Siarhei Palishchuk.
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