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It Takes Two to Blow the Whistle

Do Journalists Control the Outbreak of Scandal?

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Shoshana Blum-Kulka

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The article argues that the exposure of scandal, often seen as constituting the highest journalistic achievement, is not necessarily controlled by the journalist. Looking at scandal as the outcome of the varying relationship between reporters and sources, the authors offer a typology of subgenres. Whistle blowing is a story in which the source betrays his or her institutional loyalty (often for a higher cause), entrapment is a story in which the reporter betrays an often naïve source (possibly for the sake of a good story), and mainstreaming and spotlighting are the highlighting of violations of social norms by picking up stories from marginal media channels or by choosing to investigate routine, endemic antinormative practices. A new type of scandal emerges in the capacity of interviewees on live talk shows to surprise their hosts by violating the norms of the studio interview or of accepted social behavior.

Key Words: source betrayal • whistle blower • spotlighting/mainstreaming

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