The Discursive Constitution of Mafia Journalism as a Network Beat

The article is an exploratory investigation of Italian journalists who cover issues that deal with organized crime of mafia type. It investigates their accounts of practices, organizations, and relationships with sources. Utilizing an institutional discursive approach it presents an investigation and interpretation of mafia journalism as a discursive newsbeat. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 journalists working for Italy-based regional and national news outlets. Through the journalists’ accounts, the article discusses a working definition of mafia journalism. The article explains that being a mafia journalist is a social dimension balanced between journalists’ discursive conceptions of their work and practices targeted on mafia journalism. The use of the term network beat is justified by the common habits and professional practices mafia journalists have, their relationships, and often their mutual help.