人脈與新聞採集：從社會資本與組織衝突觀點檢視記者如何建立與消息來源之間的關係

Networks and News: Reexamination on Ties between Reporters and Sources from the Perspective of Social Capital and Agency Theory

本論文的問題意識是新聞記者基於倫理考量往往被要求與新聞來源保持一定距離，主要是因為新聞來源常被質疑會採取公關策略來操縱媒體。但是另一方面，新聞記者的工作核心必須建立「人脈」，主動深入採訪，才能發掘真相與監督濫權行為。但新聞記者要如何建立有價值的人脈網絡，並避免造成倫理爭議，則缺乏較深入的理論分析觀點。本文借用組織研究中組織內部衝突的理論觀點，並整合社會網絡的核心概念為理論架構，訪談十位資深或受同業肯定的財經記者後發現，「消息來源」其實是一個複數的多元概念，而不是單一階層；而且，組織中不同位置的「代理人」利益並不相同，記者因而擁有相當的主動性，可藉由佈線的多元深入，以及建立信任的互動關係，來建立具有新聞價值的人脈網路，並避免受到單一強勢新聞來源的操控。以上發現不但對傳統新聞傳播學對兩者關係的觀點提供新的反思，亦作為實務工作者可行的策略性建議。

This paper employs social network, social capital and intra-organizational conflict perspectives to examine an important topic in mass communication field: the relationship between journalists and their news sources. The major findings are: (1) In a hierarchical organization, middle-level employees or managers, rather than top executives or official speak persons, are most likely to be journalists' main sources. (2) Strong ties between reporters and sources can facilitate the information flow and help the former get inside news. (3) Reporters themselves can be “bridges”, providing valuable information for their sources and hence enhancing their status. (4) Personal ties between reporters and their sources do not necessarily do harm to journalists' professional ethics; on the contrary, these linkages may be critical to freedom of press. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.