Exploring the Reporters Sans Frontières platform - using qualitative methodology to study alternative journalism in the digital age

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.5052404041

• Palavras-chave: .

• Keywords: Alternative Journalism, Digital Age, Qualitative Methodology, Reporters Sans Frontières.

• Abstract: Alternative journalism is usually associated with political engagement or activism, but it also covers a range of other issues such as minorities, ethnic groups, cultural and social actions, usually run by non-professionals. However, there are several examples of journalists working professionally on the political and investigative aspects of this type of journalism, such as the organisation Reporters Sans Frontières. Technological innovation - especially since the expansion of Internet 2.0 and the creation of social networks - has been a fertile field for the expansion of alternative journalism. This is an exploratory study on the content of alternative journalism on online platforms. The aim is to understand the main issues addressed by alternative journalism organisations in the digital arena and, in particular, to learn more about the digital presence of Reporters Sans Frontières. The work is anchored in qualitative methodology, in particular in content analysis. The data has been retrieved from the The data has been retrieved from the Internet corpus latente. After listing the more visible platforms, we have created categories to understand the type of platform to which each one belongs: politics, culture, arts, etc. We also listed the headlines of all RSF news in French, English, Portuguese and Spanish between January and April 2019. We were able to conclude that alternative journalism is generally developing in a professional way. Alternative journalists are using new online platforms to achieve greater visibility and impact. Using qualitative analysis techniques, we were able to conclude that, in terms of content, the majority is of a political nature. And we were able to conclude that RSF, through its significant worldwide network, publishes hundreds of news items focusing on sensitive political issues.