ISTRAŽIVAČKO NOVINARSTVO, TABLOIDIZACIJA I ETIKA

The article presents conditions in which a specific form of investigative journalism in Croatia has been established after the year 1990. Under the influence of general tabloidisation of the media worldwide on the one hand, and tabloidisation of newspapers in Croatia on the other, a so-called pseudoinvestigative journalism has been developing. The origins of such investigative journalism can be traced back to the first Croatian tabloid Slobodni Tjednik. Further development of investigative journalism in those Croatian media with the biggest circulation and greatest influence, although contributing to the discovery of various social anomalies and scandals, has never quite broken free from the legacy of quickly publishing unverified information, insubstantiated speculations or of the disproportionate use of unnamed sources in comparison with the specified ones. What has suffered most in this kind of investigative journalism is the ethics of journalism, which has for years been a poorly considered element of the professional standards of journalism. The author states that investigative journalism as known to the developed democratic countries has not yet become well-established in Croatia.