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 THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION
TO BUSINESS JOURNALISM

The Routledge Companion to Business Journalism provides a complete and critical survey of
the field of business and economic journalism.
Beginning by exploring crucial questions of the moment, the volume goes on to address
topics such as the history of the field; differentiation among business journalism outlets; issues
and forces that shape news coverage; globalism; personal finance issues; and professional
concerns for practicing business journalists. Critical perspectives are introduced, including
gender and diversity matters on the business news desk and in business news coverage; the
quality of coverage, and its ideological impact and framework; the effect of the internet on
coverage; differences in approaches around the world; ethical issues; and education among
journalists. Contributions are drawn from around the world and include work by leading
names in the industry, as well as accomplished and rising-star academics.
This book is an essential companion to advanced scholars and researchers of business
and financial journalism as well as those with overlapping interests in communications,
economics, and sociology.

Joseph Weber is the Jerry and Karla Huse Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln, USA. He spent 22 years reporting and writing for BusinessWeek, serving in various
bureaus and leaving as the Chief of Correspondents.

Richard S. Dunham is co-director of the Global Business Journalism program at ­Tsinghua

University in Beijing, China. He is a past president of the National Press Club and the
­National Press Club Journalism Institute.
 THE ROUTLEDGE
COMPANION TO BUSINESS
JOURNALISM

Edited by
Joseph Weber and Richard S. Dunham
 Designed cover image: Igor Kutyaev/iStock/Getty Images Plus Via
Getty Images
First published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2024 selection and editorial matter, Joseph Weber and Richard
S. Dunham; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Joseph Weber and Richard S. Dunham to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 9781032288864 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032288833 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003298977 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003298977
Typeset in Galliard
by codeMantra
 CONTENTS

List of contributors x

Introduction 1
Joseph Weber

PART I
Hot Topics 3

1 Pandora Papers: An Insider’s View of Cross-Border Collaboration 5

Dean Starkman

2 Shining a Light on Tax Avoidance: How the Panama Papers

Created Salience in a World Crowded with Good Causes 20
Alexandre Gonçalves, Anya Schiffrin and Shant Fabricatorian

3 No Longer a Boy’s Club 34

Kristin Gilger and Sophie Knowles

4 A Unicorn Ignored: The Case for Business News Coverage

of the U.S. Latino Market 45
Claudia E. Cruz

5 Political Bias in Business and General Media 60

Colin H. Campbell

6 Politics and the Business Media 70

Paul Glader

v
 Contents

PART II
From Backwater to Front Page 81

7 The Historical Evolution of Economic, Business, and

Financial Journalism 83
Ángel Arrese

8 Raking it in: How the Muckrakers Spurred on Business Journalism 96

Chris Roush

9 “Pray for the Dead, and Fight Like Hell for the Living” 105
Alecia Swasy

10 Siding against Labor in the Last Great American Union Town:

Coverage of the 1984 Casino Workers Strike by the Las Vegas
Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun 115
Mark A. Bernhardt

11 The Cover Curse 127

Sara Silver

12 The “Big Three” (Fortune, Forbes, and BusinessWeek): A Study in

Competition138
Alan Deutschman

13 How Business Books Became Bestsellers 150

Alan Deutschman

14 A History of Art Business Journalism 160

Alexandra Bregman

PART III
Setting Themselves Apart 173

15 Television Business News: Growth and New Audiences in an

Evolving Industry 175
Ceci Rodgers

16 The Sound of Business Journalism: How the Field Thrives on Audio

Platforms185
Jill Martin and Kaci Richter

vi
 Contents

17 The Net Broadened the Base: How Technology Expanded

Audiences for Business News 197
Jake Batsell

18 Trade Journalism: Underappreciated and Often Prescient 208

Rob Wells

19 Kiplinger’s Changing Times: A Case Study in the Evolution of

Personal Finance Journalism 219
Rob Wells

20 Starting Fresh: Entrepreneurism and Business Journalism 233

Alyson Martin

PART IV
The Political Economy of Business Journalism 245

21 But Is It Sustainable? Exploring Journalists’ Coverage of Sustainable

Finance247
Nadine Strauß

22 The Capital, Quality Signals, and Legitimacy of Awards in Business

Journalism259
Melony Shemberger

23 Business Journalism and Public Relations: A Delicate Dance 267

Hai L. Tran and Matthew W. Ragas

24 Boosterism: A Test of Commitment 278

Dan Trigoboff

25 The Journalist and the Trader 290

Stephen Kurczy

26 Shareholder Activism and the Business Media 304

Desiree J. Hanford

27 Following the Money, Not the Ball: Toward a Redefinition of

Sports Business Coverage 315
José Luis Rojas Torrijos

vii
 Contents

PART V
Globally Speaking 323

28 Vive la Différence? Business Journalism in its Global Uniformity

and Variety325
Ángel Arrese

29 The Emergence of Economic Journalism in the U.K. in the 1970s

and the ­Triumph of Neo-Liberalism 340
Steve Schifferes

30 Business Journalism in China 354

Jeffrey Timmermans

31 Entrepreneurial Business Journalism in Spanish-Speaking Countries 368

Alfonso Vara-Miguel and James Breiner

32 Business Journalism in Ghana: How the B&FT Has Evolved over

Three Decades377
Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey

33 Missing the Big Picture: Journalists in Sierra Leone Provided

Incomplete ­Coverage of the Economic Effects of the COVID-19
Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War 388
Ibrahim Seaga Shaw

PART VI
Economics 397

34 Brexit and Murdoch – A Marriage Made in Hell 399

Ivor Gaber

35 Calamities Unforeseen 409

Joe Mathewson

36 The Media and Economics: Still an Unmet Challenge 422

David R. Davies

37 Black, Brown, and Thriving: Redefining Economic Podcasting 429

Ashia Aubrey and Kelli S. Boling

viii
 Contents

PART VII
On the Move 441

38 Business Journalists on the Move: Transitioning Out of the Trenches 443

Ron Culp

39 Going Academic: Issues and Topics for Business Journalists

Who Move into Higher Education 454
Melony Shemberger

PART VIII
The Future 463

40 The Looming Spread of Business News Deserts: An Outlook for

Business Journalism 465
Henrik Müller

Concluding Thoughts 475

Richard S. Dunham

Index 479

ix
 CONTRIBUTORS

Editors
Richard S. Dunham is the co-director of the Global Business Journalism program at
­Tsinghua University in Beijing and a visiting professor in the Tsinghua School of Journalism
and Communication. He is the author of the textbook “Multimedia Reporting” (Springer,
2020), and the co-editor of Springer’s Tsinghua Global Business Journalism book series.
A veteran Washington journalist, he was the president of the National Press Club, Washington
bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle, White House reporter for BusinessWeek magazine
and a Washington correspondent for the Dallas Times Herald. He has trained professional
journalists, journalism students and journalism educators in countries, including the United
States, China, Finland, the Netherlands, Lebanon and the Philippines. He contributed to six
books, including “The Founding City” (Chilton Books, 1976) and “The Almanac of the
Unelected” (Bernan Press, 2006). He wrote a new foreword to the 60th anniversary edition
of his grandfather Barrows Dunham’s classic philosophy book, “Man Against Myth” (2007,
National Book Trust of India). A native of Philadelphia, Dunham holds BA and MA degrees
in history from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Weber is the Jerry and Karla Huse Professor Emeritus at the College of Journalism
and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also taught at Tsin-
ghua University in Beijing and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Before
moving into academia in 2009, he worked for 22 years at BusinessWeek, retiring as the
Chief of Correspondents and Chicago Bureau Chief after running the magazine’s bureaus in
Toronto and Philadelphia and working in its Dallas bureau. Earlier, he worked at the Rocky
Mountain News in Denver, Dun’s Business Month in New York City and at The Home
News in New Brunswick, NJ. His work has been published by The Washington Post, the
Miami Herald, the National Journal and the Columbia Journalism Review, among other
outlets, and in academic journals, including Human Rights Quarterly. He is the author of
“Rhymes with Fighter: Clayton Yeutter, American Statesman” (University of Nebraska Press
2021), “Divided Loyalties: Young Somali Americans and the Lure of Extremism” (Michigan
State University Press 2020) and “Transcendental Meditation in America: How a New Age

x
 
Contributors

Movement Remade a Small Town in Iowa” (University of Iowa Press 2014). He authors a
regular commentary on Substack at https://josephweber.substack.com/. Weber earned his
bachelor’s degree in English at Rutgers College and master’s at the Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism.

Contributors
Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey is a senior lecturer at the Department of Media, Language
and Communication, Durban University of Technology, and a research associate at the
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa, and a lecturer
at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana. Some of the recent
research projects she has been part of the state of the Ghanaian media report, the sustainable
journalism in sub-Saharan Africa study and policy brief, the South African country report on
government communications during the pandemic, the Konrad-­Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)
Foundation-funded study on global strategies to save journalism and the Open Society
Foundation’s commissioned report on news consumption habits among non-elite audiences
in the global south.

Ángel Arrese is a full professor of journalism at the School of Communication (University

of Navarra, Spain). His main research interests include journalism and society, and economic
and financial news. He is the author of “La identidad de The Economist” [The Econo-
mist’s identity] (1994), “Prensa Económica” [Economic and Financial Press] (2002), and
“¿Interesa la economía? Economía, medios y ciudadanía” [Is Economics interesting? The
Economy, media and citizens] (2011). He has published on these topics in journals such
as Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Media History, Discourse & Society,
Language & Communication, and Communication and Society, among others.

Ashia Aubrey is a communications strategist and writer with experience in the public and
private sectors. She previously worked as a television news reporter, anchor, and multimedia
journalist at stations in Nebraska, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Aubrey is passionate about
storytelling, and her work has gained the attention of news outlets, including the Huffington
Post and local news stations worldwide. She has coordinated and managed communication
strategies for an $8.9 million federal grant and led efforts in internal and external commu-
nications, branding, and social media. She earned her master’s degree in integrated media
communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Jake Batsell is the William J. O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism and an associate professor
at Southern Methodist University, USA. He is the author of “Engaged Journalism: Connect-
ing with Digitally Empowered News Audiences” (2015) and has written extensively about
nonprofit news startups and the business of digital news in publications ranging from peer-
reviewed academic journals to industry periodicals. He previously worked as a reporter for
newspapers, including The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times.

Mark A. Bernhardt is a professor in the history department at Jackson State University.

He received his PhD in history from the University of California, Riverside. His research
examines how media engage in public discourse about imperialism and its legacy in the
transnational North American West, the U.S. involvement in wars, social and cultural issues

xi
 Contributors
 

surrounding crime, representations of workers in labor strikes, and intersectionality through

representations of marginalized peoples.

Kelli S. Boling is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a cul-

tural studies scholar, she focuses on the lived reality of media audiences (specifically women,
women of color, or victims of domestic violence), how those women are depicted, and how
they interpret and make meaning from the media they consume. Her research has been
published in Mass Communication & Society, Feminist Media Studies, Journalism Studies,
and Journalism History. Her research on women in podcast audiences has also been cited by
traditional media outlets such as TIME magazine and The Washington Post.

Alexandra Bregman is a freelance writer based in New York, NY. She is the author of “The
Bouvier Affair: A True Story” (2019) about the $1 billion dollar commission fees procured
from a Russian oligarch by a Swiss art advisor, subsequently featured in the art documentary
“The Lost Leonardo” (2021). Her research continues to explore the intersection of art and
business, and its impact on culture, money, and power worldwide. She has published exten-
sively in art trade and mainstream publications and has lectured at Yale (where she is a Global
Justice Fellow), Columbia Journalism School (where she was a teaching associate from 2019
to 2021), Quinnipiac University, and New York University.

James Breiner is a bilingual consultant (English-Spanish) on digital journalism and newsroom

leadership with three decades of experience on the editorial and business sides of newspapers
(www.jamesbreiner.com). His specialty is entrepreneurial journalism, or new financial models
for digital media. He has trained journalists in many countries, including Mexico, Spain, China,
England, Poland, and Belarus. He has been a consultant for NewsU of the Poynter Institute,
the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (Garcia Marquez Foundation), Interna-
tional Center for Journalists, American City Business Journals, and Crain Communications.

Colin H. Campbell, PhD, is a Washington, DC,-metro area communications professional,

academician, journalist, and a 2023-2024 Frederick Douglass Institute teaching fellow at
Shippensburg University. As an award-winning scholar, he examines media political economy
at the intersection of journalism, technology, and the Black American experience. He is an
advocate for ethical A.I. and media accountability. He has published material grounded in
his degree concatenate with communications, culture, and media studies. His background
as a TV correspondent, presenter, and radio anchor has taken him around the country. He
has also worked for several international media outlets during his on-the-ground coverage of
four presidencies. He created the Pan-African Report, a growing online digital news network
that highlights the African diaspora and its connections to U.S. polisocioeconomic culture.

Claudia E. Cruz, MA and JD, is a business reporter and expert in Latino-centric journal-
ism. She shares a National Murrow Award for bilingual pandemic coverage in a small market
(2021) and a Silver Telly for a video about the Mexican director of animation for “God of
War,” PlayStation’s award-winning game (2019). At the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reyn-
olds School of Journalism, she’s the current managing editor of Noticiero Móvil and the
director of the internship program. Her most recent published chapter is “Race, Colorism
and Policing in Latinx Communities: Getting the Real Story” in Reporting on Latino/a/x
Communities: A Guide for Journalists (Routledge 2022).

xii
 
Contributors

Ron Culp is a veteran corporate and agency leader who began his career as a newspaper re-
porter. He now consults with C-suite executives and is Professional in Residence in DePaul
University’s graduate Public Relations and Advertising program. He is a founding board
member and former chairman of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and a
current board member of the Museum of Public Relations. A recipient of PRSA’s Gold Anvil
Award for lifetime achievement and the Hall of Fame and Distinguished Service Awards
from the Arthur W. Page Society, Culp and DePaul colleague Matt Ragas are co-authors of
three books focused on improving the business acumen of strategic communicators.

David R. Davies is a professor of journalism in the School of Media and Communication

at the University of Southern Mississippi. Before joining Southern Miss, he worked for ten
years as a reporter in Arkansas, most recently the Arkansas Gazette. He is a graduate of the
Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University, where he earned a
master’s degree in journalism. He also holds a master’s degree in American history from The
University of Southern Mississippi and a PhD in mass communication specializing in media
history from the University of Alabama. His research specialties are the press and the Civil
Rights Movement and trends in American newspapers since World War II. He has written
two books, “The Press & Race: Mississippi Journalists Confront the Movement” (2001) and
“The Postwar Decline of American Newspapers,” 1945–1965 (2006).

Alan Deutschman is a professor of journalism and Reynolds Chair of Business Journalism at

the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno. Formerly the Silicon Valley
correspondent for Fortune magazine, he is the author of four books, including “The Second
Coming of Steve Jobs” (2000).

Richard S. Dunham is the co-director of the Global Business Journalism program at Tsin-
ghua University in Beijing and a visiting professor in the Tsinghua School of Journalism
and Communication. He is the author of the textbook, “Multimedia Reporting” (Springer,
2020), and the co-editor of Springer’s Tsinghua Global Business Journalism book series.
A veteran Washington journalist, he was the president of the National Press Club, Wash-
ington bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle, White House reporter for BusinessWeek
magazine and a Washington correspondent for the Dallas Times Herald. He has trained pro-
fessional journalists, journalism students and journalism educators in countries, including the
United States, China, Finland, the Netherlands, Lebanon and the Philippines. In addition to
writing “Multimedia Reporting,” he has contributed to six books, including “The Founding
City” (Chilton Books, 1976) and “The Almanac of the Unelected” (Bernan Press, 2006).
He wrote a new foreword to the 60th anniversary edition of his grandfather Barrows Dun-
ham’s classic philosophy book, “Man Against Myth” (2007, National Book Trust of India).
A native of Philadelphia, Dunham holds BA and MA degrees in history from the University
of Pennsylvania.

Shant Fabricatorian has research interests that align at the nexus of communication, so-
ciology and political economy, with a particular emphasis on the media’s responses to the
economic crises of the 1970s. He holds a master’s degree in communications from Columbia
University, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Technology Sydney and
a bachelor’s degree in economic and social sciences from the University of Sydney. He has
worked as a journalist, editor and educator in Australia and overseas.

xiii
 Contributors


Ivor Gaber is a professor of political journalism at the University of Sussex. He has pub-
lished widely on various aspects of political communication and the UK’s news media. He
also holds honorary chairs at the universities of London and Canberra. His latest book (with
James Curran and Julian Petley) is “Culture Wars: the Media and the British Left” (second
edition). His previous journalistic career included senior editorial positions at BBC TV and
Radio, Independent Television News and Channel Four News. In 1989, his independent TV
production company played a key role in the launch, and first year, of the then Murdoch-
owned Sky News in 1989. He currently represents the UK at UNESCO’s Communication
Sector.

Kristin Gilger is the Reynolds Professor in Business Journalism at the Walter Cronkite
School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where she has
served as an associate dean and interim dean. She joined ASU in 2002 after a 20-year career
in newspapers. She was the deputy managing editor for news at The Arizona Republic in
Phoenix, suburban editor at the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans and manag-
ing editor of the Statesman-Journal newspaper in Salem, Oregon. She is the co-author of
“There’s No Crying in Newsrooms: What Women Have Learned About What it Takes to
Lead,” published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Paul Glader is a senior editor at CNN Business, overseeing companies coverage. Before
that, he was a professor of journalism and program chair at The King’s College NYC for a
decade and directed the business reporting program for the Dow Jones News Fund at NYU
for several years. Glader was the Laventhol / Newsday Visiting Professor at the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism in the Spring of 2018, serving as lead professor
for the capstone M.A. Seminar in Business. He spent 10 years as a staff writer at The Wall
Street Journal, covering beats including technology, health & science, travel, metals & min-
ing and finance. He has written for publications including The Washington Post, The As-
sociated Press, Der Spiegel, Forbes.com and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Glader received a
master’s from Columbia University as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at the graduate schools of
business and journalism. He completed his EMBA and served as a media scholar at The Ber-
lin School of Creative Leadership at Steinbeis University in Germany. He lived in Germany
from 2011-2013, as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow and as a European Journalism Fel-
low at Freie Universität in Berlin.

Alexandre Gonçalves is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign. He is interested in the use of computational methods to understand
media ecosystems. He has a PhD in Communication from Columbia University and a mas-
ter’s in Comparative Media Studies from MIT. Before graduate school, he worked as a sci-
ence reporter for mainstream publications in Brazil.

Desiree J. Hanford is a professor of journalism and director of academic integrity and ap-
peals at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications
at Northwestern University. She serves as the faculty adviser for Medill’s Accelerated Mas-
ter’s Program (Summer 2022-present), chairs the journalism curriculum committee (Fall
2021-present) and has been an instructor for Medill’s Cherubs Program. She teaches un-
dergraduate and graduate courses that include news reporting and business and econom-
ics reporting. Hanford is the president for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and

xiv
 
Contributors

Writing (April 2023-April 2024). She was a contributing editor to the business-to-business
Building Operating Management/FacilitiesNet for more than a decade. She also worked as
an equities reporter for Dow Jones & Co. for more than ten years and worked for other news
organizations and magazines.

Sophie Knowles is an associate professor of journalism at Middlesex University. She has

written widely on the media’s role in the global financial crisis. She co-edited “The Media
and Austerity: Comparative Perspectives” (Routledge 2018), and “Media and Inequality”
(Routledge 2022). Her book, “The Mediation of Financial Crises: Watchdogs, Lapdogs or
Canaries in the Coal Mine,” was published in 2020.

Stephen Kurczy is a visiting assistant professor at Providence College, where he teaches

journalism. He has also taught courses on media law, ethics, and writing at Seton Hall Uni-
versity and The King’s College. An award-winning reporter, over nearly two decades, he
has written and edited for regional, national, and international publications, including the
Cambodia Daily, Christian Science Monitor, and New York Times. A past Knight-Bagehot
Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism at Columbia University, where he earned his
MS in Journalism, he is also the author of “The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a
Town Suspended in Silence” (Dey Street Books 2021).

Alyson Martin is a founder and editor of Cannabis Wire, a reader-supported, newsletter-

driven news organization that covers policy, regulation, and research focused on the global
cannabis industry. Cannabis Wire was launched with grant funding, including a Magic Grant
from the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation (a collaboration
between Columbia University and Stanford University), and a grant from New York City’s
Office of Media and Entertainment. Martin also co-authored the book “A New Leaf: The
End of Cannabis Prohibition” (The New Press). Martin teaches journalism courses at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and runs the Columbia News Service.

Jill Martin is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Col-

lege of Journalism and Mass Communications. She teaches reporting and editing. She is
the director of the Nebraska News Service and the co-director of the college’s Experience
Lab. Prior to accepting the position at CoJMC, Martin served as the managing editor of
four weekly publications in Southeast Nebraska, including the Seward County Independent,
Milford Times, Friend Sentinel and Wilber Republican. Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in
communication studies and a master’s degree in professional journalism from UNL. She has
nearly two decades of experience in newspapers, radio and television news, including posi-
tions at KLKN-TV in Lincoln and KNOP-TV and KELN/KOOQ in North Platte. She has
received numerous awards in the Nebraska Press Association’s annual newspaper competi-
tion. She is a member of the Nebraska Press Women, the Society of Professional Journalists,
Investigative Reporters & Editors, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication.

Joe Mathewson is a professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Mar-
keting Communications at Northwestern University, Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. He
was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York, Washington and Chicago, covering
various industries, the stock market, Congress, and the Supreme Court. He graduated from

xv
 Contributors


the University of Chicago Law School and practiced law in Chicago, where he also worked
in financial services. He is the author of “Ethical Journalism: Adopting the Ethics of Care”
(2021), “A Quick Guide to Writing Business Stories” (2016), “Law and Ethics for Today’s
Journalist: A Concise Guide” (2013), and “The Supreme Court and the Press: The Indis-
pensable Conflict” (2011). He has taught business reporting and writing to MSJ students
for more than 20 years.

Henrik Müller is the chair of economic policy journalism at the Institute of Journalism and
Mass Media at TU Dortmund University, Germany, where he directs bachelor and master
programs at the intersection of economics and journalism studies. He studied economics
at the University of Kiel, holds a doctoral degree in economics from the University of the
Armed Forces Hamburg, and graduated from German School of Journalism in Munich. Prior
to joining the faculty in Dortmund, he worked as a business journalist for two decades, his
last position being the deputy editor-in-chief at manager magazin, a monthly. Müller is the
author of numerous books on economic policy and is a weekly columnist for Der Spiegel, the
German news magazine. In 2023, his book, “Challenging Economic Journalism – ­Covering
Business and Politics in an Age of Uncertainty,” was published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Matthew W. Ragas (PhD, University of Florida) is a professor of public relations in the Col-
lege of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. He was the founding director of
the master’s in professional communication program. He researches, teaches, and consults
on subjects within the fields of corporate communication and strategic communication, in-
cluding developing business literacy for communicators. With colleague Ron Culp, he has
co-authored or co-edited “Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators” (2021), “Mas-
tering Business for Strategic Communicators” (2018), and “Business Essentials for Strategic
Communicators” (2014).

Kaci Richter is an assistant professor of practice and communication design coordinator at

the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. She teaches audio production, pod-
casting and communication design courses. She worked in commercial radio as on-air talent
at KIBZ-FM, KSLI-FM and KLMY-FM in Lincoln, Nebraska. She held various positions off
the air, including promotions director and web director at both KSLI-FM and KLMY-FM.
Richter began her teaching career at Iowa Western Community College where she served
as the Media Studies Program Chair and faculty from 2008 until 2019. She has a bachelor’s
degree in journalism, a graduate certificate in public relations and social media and a master’s
degree in professional journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also holds a
master’s degree in management and leadership from Doane University and is pursuing a PhD
in public administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Richter is a published
audiobook narrator, producer, podcast host and free-lance audio editor.

Ceci Rodgers is a professor of journalism in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, In-
tegrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. A former broadcast and
print business journalist, her academic appointments include being the Director of Global
Journalism Learning at Medill. She is Northwestern’s Faculty Senate Past President, after
serving as President and President-Elect. Her teaching focuses on business and economics
reporting, basic writing and reporting and multimedia reporting. Her work appeared on

xvi
 
Contributors

CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, NBC, Reuters Insider, the syndicated show BusinessWeek Weekend
and the PBSshow CEO Exchange.

José Luis Rojas Torrijos is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Seville,
Spain. He also participates in the MA programs in journalism and sports communication at
Pompeu Fabra University, the European University in Madrid, San Antonio Catholic Uni-
versity in Murcia, Pontifician University in Salamanca and Marca-CEU University. He holds
a PhD in Journalism (2010) and a BA in Information Sciences (1994) from the University
of Seville. His research focuses on sports journalism, quality journalism, media innovation
and digital storytelling.

Chris Roush is the former dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac Univer-
sity. He spent 17 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he started
its business journalism program. He is the author or coauthor of ten books, including the
textbook “Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Com-
munication” and “The Future of Business Journalism: Why it Matters for Wall Street and
Main Street.” He has won awards for business journalism teaching and has taught business
journalism on five continents.

Steve Schifferes is the former Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism and founder
of the MA in Financial Journalism at City University of London, where he is currently an hon-
orary research fellow at City’s Political Economy Research Centre. He is also a visiting profes-
sor of journalism at Middlesex University. He is the co-editor of three books: “The Media and
Financial Crises” (2014), “The Media and Austerity” (2018) and “The Media and Inequality”
(2023), all published by Routledge, and the author of the chapter on financial journalism in
the “Edinburgh History of the British and Irish Press in the Twentieth Century” (2020). He
has written and lectured widely on financial journalism and financial crises across the world.
He was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic Journalism at the Columbia University Gradu-
ate School of Journalism and a BBC Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journal-
ism at Oxford University. Before his academic career, he covered business and economics for
BBC News for two decades, leading the BBC’s online coverage of the global financial crisis.

Anya Schiffrin is the director of the technology and media specialization at Columbia Uni-
versity’s School of International and Public Affairs and a senior lecturer who teaches on
global media, innovation and human rights. She writes on topics related to journalism sus-
tainability, impact and online disinformation. Her most recent book is the edited collection
“Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms and Governments Control the News” (Co-
lumbia University Press 2021). She holds a PhD from the University of Navarra.

Ibrahim Seaga Shaw is the Chairman and Information Commissioner of the Right to Access
Information Commission in Sierra Leone and Chair, Graduate Programme, Faculty of Com-
munications, Media, and Information Studies, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
He was a Senior Lecturer in Media and Politics at Northumbria University, U.K., and served as
the Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) between 2012
and 2016. He is the author of five books, including “Business Journalism: A Critical Politi-
cal Economy Approach,” (2016), published by Routledge, and “Human Rights Journalism”

xvii
 Contributors


(2012), published by Palgrave, and over 40 academic articles and book chapters. He holds a
PhD from the Sorbonne. He is also a journalist and publisher/CEO of the Expo Media Group
that publishes Expo Magazine (monthly) and the Expo Times newspaper in Sierra Leone.

Melony Shemberger is a professor of journalism and mass communication at Murray State

University in Murray, Kentucky. She researches and writes about journalism history and the
scholarship of teaching and learning. Before entering academia, Shemberger had successful,
award-winning careers as an education and business journalist and later in university public
relations. Shemberger has a bachelor’s degree, with a double major in mass communication,
and history and government, Western Kentucky University; a master’s in mass communica-
tion, Murray State; a master’s in management, Austin Peay State University; a master’s in
instructional systems design, University of Kentucky; and a doctorate in administration and
supervision, with a concentration in higher education, Tennessee State University.

Sara Silver holds the Alan Abelson Endowed Chair of Business Journalism at Quinnipiac
University, where she teaches students to follow the international money trail and established
a training partnership with The Wall Street Journal. As an adjunct at Columbia Journalism
School, she trains master’s students and international journalists to uncover the rich trove of
news in financial statements. While at the WSJ, she covered the implosion of telecom equip-
ment giants under pressure from Chinese competition. She began reporting for The Associ-
ated Press in Mexico, where she later wrote an award-winning series for the Financial Times
that kept a would-be Evita from channeling charity to her campaign to succeed her husband
as the president. Silver earned an MBA and an MS in Journalism at Columbia, both thanks
to the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.

Dean Starkman is an investigative journalist, media analyst, author, and teacher who fo-
cuses on finance, media and the intersection between the two. As a newspaper reporter,
he helped lead the Providence Journal to the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Investigations, and
covered white-collar crime, corporate governance and general business news for The Wall
Street Journal and other major American newspapers; as a magazine writer, he wrote about
the financial crisis, business media, and economic inequality for The New Republic, The Na-
tion, Mother Jones and other publications. As a media critic, he ran the Columbia Journalism
Review’s business section, “The Audit,” a daily critique of the U.S. business press. He wrote
“The Watchdog that Didn’t Bark: the Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investiga-
tive Journalism” (Columbia University Press 2014). He has taught media courses for Cen-
tral European University’s Department of Public Policy. He is currently a senior editor at
the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, responsible for
overseeing longform investigative stories; prize-winning projects include “Paradise Papers”
(2017), “The Implant Files” (2018), The China Cables” (2019), “Luanda Leaks” (2020),
“The FinCEN Files” (2020), “The Pandora Papers” (2021), “The Uber Files” (2022), and
“The Ericsson List” (2022).

Nadine Strauß, PhD, is an assistant professor of strategic communication and media man-
agement (tenure track) at the Department of Communication and Media Research at the
University of Zurich. From 2019 until 2021, she completed a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fel-
lowship at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford,
where she studied the role of the news media for sustainable finance. Her research has been

xviii
 
Contributors

published in various peer-reviewed journals, such as Journalism, Digital Journalism, Climatic

Change, and Communication Research.

Alecia Swasy is a professor and the Donald W. Reynolds Chair in Business Journalism at
Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. She worked as a reporter and edi-
tor at the Wall Street Journal and the St. Petersburg Times prior to earning her PhD at the
University of Missouri. She is the author of “A Wall Street Guidebook for Journalism and
Strategic Communication” (2020), “How Journalists Use Twitter: The Changing Land-
scape of U.S Newsrooms” (2016), “Changing Focus: Kodak and the Battle to Save a Great
American Company” (1996) and “Soap Opera: The Inside Story of Procter & Gamble”
(1993).

Jeffrey Timmermans holds the Donald W. Reynolds Chair in Business Journalism at Ari-
zona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and
is the director of the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism. He worked for more than a
decade as a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He
joined the Cronkite School in 2021 from The University of Hong Kong, where he served as
an associate professor and director of the undergraduate journalism program. He has a BA
from Colgate University, an MS from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism
and a PhD from The University of Hong Kong.

Hai L. Tran is an associate professor of journalism at DePaul University in Chicago. His

research and teaching link theory to practice in journalism, including data-driven reporting,
multimedia storytelling, agenda setting and methodology. Tran’s scholarship is informed
by several years of experience working across platforms in the newsroom. He has published
journalism research in top-tier journals such as Journalism & Mass Communication Quar-
terly, Media Psychology, Journalism Studies, and Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism,
among many others.

Dan Trigoboff is on the faculty at St. Augustine’s University and has served on the faculties
at Elon University and Methodist University, all in North Carolina. He also taught at North
Carolina State University, where he earned his PhD. A lawyer and journalist, he covered legal
issues for The Los Angeles Daily Journal, American Lawyer Media, and Legal Times, and
covered media as a senior editor at Broadcasting & Cable magazine. He began his career at
the Taunton Daily Gazette (Massachusetts). His work appears in “Society, Ethics, and the
Law: A Reader” (2020), and “Guns 360: Differing Perspectives and Common-Sense Ap-
proaches to Firearms in America” (2022).

Alfonso Vara-Miguel, PhD, is an associate professor of economics, media management and

business journalism at the School of Communication at the University of Navarra, Spain.
His main research interests are media management, journalism, and economic and finan-
cial news. He has published several papers about these issues in Journalism Practice, Dis-
course and Society, and Communication and Society, among others. He is the author of
“Economía básica para Comunicadores” (2009) and (with Ángel Arrese) “Fundamentos
de Periodismo Económico” (2011). Since 1998, he has headed the Seminar of Financial
and Business Journalism, a training program for undergraduate students at the university’s
School of Communication.

xix
 Contributors


Rob Wells is an associate professor and PhD Program Director at the University of Mary-
land’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. His research focuses on business journalism,
particularly the trade press. He teaches data journalism, investigative journalism and gradu-
ate journalism courses. He is the author of “The Enforcers: How Little-Known Trade Re-
porters Exposed the Keating Five and Advanced Business Journalism” (University of Illinois
Press 2019) and “The Insider: How the Kiplinger Newsletter Bridged Washington and Wall
Street” (University of Massachusetts Press 2022). Wells was a reporter and editor for several
news outlets, such as The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and Dow Jones Newswires/
The Wall Street Journal.

xx
 INTRODUCTION
Joseph Weber

As we move through the third decade of the 21st century, business and economic journalism
endures as a vibrant area of news coverage around the world. Its history is fascinating, dating
back to the very earliest publications, as this volume makes clear. And its status today remains
rich and varied, even as practitioners contend with the financial and technological challenges
(and opportunities) facing all media.
In this book, distinguished journalists and journalism academics explore the field in its
wondrous variety. Readers will find information about and analysis of this fascinating corner
of the news business from several continents and many countries. The tapestry that emerges
in these pages stretches from Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas, all locales where
commerce makes for compelling coverage.
As they range from discussions of the globally important Panama and Pandora papers to
the growth of entrepreneurial journalism in the Spanish-speaking world and the challenges
facing the field in places such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, and China (as well as across the West-
ern world), the contributors provide unique perspectives drawn from their immersions in
those areas. Still others here share their knowledge and reporting about issues such as the
rise of women and minorities in the field and the hurdles they’ve overcome or still face, the
difficulties in covering economics in times of great ferment, and the roles public relations
specialists play in the reporting of business matters.
Business and economic journalism, of course, touches on all aspects of life and culture.
So, along the way, our contributors explore politics, the impact of such individuals as Rupert
Murdoch, the role of labor, and the rich history of this field. Some discuss the effects vari-
ous technologies have had on business reporting, ranging from the influence of television
to the growth of the internet and emerging fields such as podcasting. Others paint portraits
of the rise and fall of once-powerful media outlets, explore the growth and importance of
trade journalism and the coverage of art and sports, and examine the transitions that business
journalists make into areas such as public relations or academia.
This effort, nearly three years in the making, involved 44 major contributors and sev-
eral others who aided them and the editors. Their expertise in the field – whether as cur-
rent or former practitioners or as academics who study the area – allowed them to provide

1
DOI: 10.4324/9781003298977-1
 Joseph Weber

exceptional depth in each chapter. Their expertise is as varied as business and economic
journalism itself.
While we, as editors, have sought to retain the varied voices of each contributor, in the
hope that their varying approaches will reflect their cultures and norms, we also sought some
consistency. Thus, the text here adheres to the latest Associated Press style with just a few
departures. Bowing to the needs of an academic volume, however, the notes and references
adhere to Harvard style.
Our hope is that readers find this volume to be an engaging snapshot of the field at this
most important and tumultuous point in its development, as well as a rich accounting of
where it has been and where it is heading. It has been a delight and an education to work
with the talented folks whose insights have shaped this volume. Enjoy it.

2
 PART I

Hot Topics
 1
PANDORA PAPERS
An Insider’s View of Cross-Border Collaboration

Dean Starkman

Introduction
Everybody loves cross-border journalism – these days.
At this point, it has arrived. It’s an accepted journalism practice. One could even call it a
thing.
Many people are saying so.1
Who, after all, can be against collaborating? Collaborating to amplify societal impact?
Data? Sharing data? Using bespoke, high-end, ultra-secure technology to share the data
to collaborate to amplify societal impact? At this point, only oligarchs,2 arms traffickers,3 a
string of former Honduran presidents,4 the former Czech prime minister,5 the Ecuadorian
president,6 Apple,7 Nike,8 the offshore services industry,9 certain global law10 and account-
ing firms,11 the former Icelandic prime minister,12 Vladimir Putin’s judo partners and other
flunkies,13 HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and major global banks,14 the defunct
Estonian branch of a Danish bank15 and maybe a few others.
Other than that, it’s pretty popular. And there are many good reasons for that, which we’ll
get to.
This paper offers a practitioner’s perspective on cross-border journalism collaboration,
focusing on the Pandora Papers, the 2021 blockbuster probe of the offshore financial system
organized by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Washington-
based news organization where I work as a senior editor.
The Pandora Papers project offers a good opportunity to pause and reflect on the practice
of cross-border journalism. By any fair measure – and I realize I have a dog in this fight – it
made for a highwater mark for the practice.
The documents were the focus of the largest journalism collaboration in history16 – and I
can testify that publishing a project based on them certainly felt like it.
In terms of raw size, the Pandora Papers leak, at 2.94 terabytes, was bigger than both Pan-
ama Papers (2.6 terabytes) and Paradise Papers (1.4 terabytes). If you go by the number of
files, the Paradise Papers had more – 13.4 million files, compared to Pandora’s 11.9 million.17

5
DOI: 10.4324/9781003298977-3
 Dean Starkman

Unlike the Panama Papers, which came from a single offshore service provider – Mossack
Fonseca (now defunct) – the Pandora Papers came from 14 providers based in tax havens
around the world from the Seychelles to Cyprus to, well, Panama again.
ICIJ shared the files with 150 media partners, including The Washington Post, the BBC,
The Guardian, Radio France, Oštro Croatia, the Indian Express, Zimbabwe’s The Standard,
Morocco’s Le Desk and Ecuador’s Diario El Universo. The investigation spanned two years
and came to include more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.18
I pause to let the “600 journalists” on a single project figure sink in.

An Insider’s View
Here, I offer views on what it’s like to work inside one of these projects; the impact it had
on the world, from where I sat; and an assessment of where cross-border journalism stands
today. It has evolved from admirable idea to core business journalism practice vital to the
public interest. Oh, and we need to figure out how to make it sustainable.
Chuck Lewis, a renowned investigative reporter, founded ICIJ and is a historian of the
cross-border journalism movement. He traces the practice to at least the founding of the
Associated Press in 1846, when four New York newspapers pooled resources to better cover
the Mexican-American War. But in a sense, he is being modest, and he quite rightly moves
quickly to his own role in founding the Center for Public Integrity in 1989, a non-profit
newsroom designed to carve out a space for journalism in the public interest amid the pub-
licly traded, commercially motivated media monoliths of the day. Almost as an outgrowth of
its non-profit model, it pioneered the then-radical idea that news organizations might coop-
erate, when in 1994, it collected some 2,000 pages of paper Indian campaign contribution
records, manually typed into a single database, and shared them with a consortium it organ-
ized of legacy Indiana news organizations. The project, “Statehouse Sellout: How Special
interests Have Hijacked the Legislature,” was a hit. A model was born.19
Lewis went on to found ICIJ in 1997 to expand the cooperative idea across borders, an
idea ahead of its time. Housed in the basement offices at the Center for Public Integrity with
just three full-time staffers, ICIJ had produced worthy investigations into tobacco smuggling
and the U.S. AIDS policy abroad, among other things.20
It’s important to pause to remember that ICIJ was born into a different media world than
exists today – one of robustly profitable (albeit, yes, flawed) commercial news organizations
supporting giant newsrooms. Local markets supported local newspapers, some of them ex-
cellent, some of them less so.21 ICIJ then could be seen as a noble experiment that would
supplement the output of the mainstream.
The organization’s modern incarnation began just as the old world was cratering, with the
arrival in 2008 of accomplished Argentine journalist Marina Walker Guevara and again in
2011, when Gerard Ryle, the investigation editor for the Sydney Morning Herald, arrived as
the director of ICIJ. At the time, he was already in possession of a hard drive of containing
2.5 million documents from two offshore financial service providers.22
Two years later, an ICIJ-led global collaboration of journalists from nearly 40 news or-
ganizations and 46 countries used the hard drive’s leaked records to produce an investigation
formally called Secrecy for Sale but known internally as Offshore Leaks.23 The probe was
a journalistic landmark, and the leak – as leaks tend to do – generated others, documents
from other offshore service providers, banks, law firms and other sources. This remarkable
string of gets provided the basis for a string of offshore blockbusters, including Luxembourg

6
 Pandora Papers

Leaks, based on nearly 28,000 pages of confidential tax rulings granted by the government
of Luxembourg to some of the world’s largest corporations24; SwissLeaks, featuring records
from the Swiss branch of one of the world’s biggest banks, HSBC25; and the Bahama Leaks,
in 2016, based on internal documents from the island nation’s corporate registry.26
The Panama Papers,27 also published in 2016, have been much remarked-upon and right-
fully so. Featuring a massive leak from the now-defunct Panamanian law firm Mossack Fon-
seca, they included financial and attorney-client information on more than 214,000 offshore
entities, and were anonymously leaked by a confidential source to reporters Bastian Ober-
mayer and Frederik Obermaier at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, an ICIJ
partner. The stories are still powerfully relevant today.28
My career in investigative and financial journalism began as a local reporter in Anniston,
Alabama, with an investigation into health, safety and labor law violations at a steel plant in
nearby Georgia. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, I worked as an investigative reporter
and later investigative chief at The Providence Journal, in Rhode Island, then beset by the
twin plagues of public corruption and organized crime. I became fascinated by money – its
motivational power, by the mechanics of corruption and its corrosive effects on public trust
and democracy itself.29 Later, as a staff writer at The Wall Street Journal, I reported on white-
collar crime, securities law, corporate governance, and later heavy industries and the com-
mercial real estate business (where I crossed paths in the early 2000s with Donald J. Trump,
then considered a second-tier New York developer). Later, I became a critic of the business
press, and while an editor at the Columbia Journalism Review, wrote a book on financial
journalism’s tragic and glaring failures in the lead-up to the financial crisis.30
And while at CJR, I became an admirer of ICIJ and began noting the potential of cross-
border collaborations.31
So, it felt slightly karmic when, in 2017, ICIJ asked me for editing help for the final stages
of the Paradise Papers,32 based principally on the leak of documents from a high-end offshore
provider, the Bermuda-based Appleby law firm. That project was followed by others: Mau-
ritius Leaks, an exposé of the tax haven’s role in diverting tax revenue away from its African
neighbors,33 Luanda Leaks, on the insider dealings of Africa’s richest woman and daughter
of Angola’s president,34 the Implant Files, exposing the dangerously underregulated medi-
cal devices industry,35 China Cables, based on leaked Chinese government documents on
mass incarceration in Xinjiang,36 and FinCEN Files, a project with BuzzFeed News on major
banks’ role in money-laundering.37 My job as a senior editor consists of working with ICIJ
editors and writers to shape the overall project and with the writers to shape the copy of
ICIJ’s longform investigations.
By the time the Implant Files were published in the fall of 2018, a mere two years after
the Panama Papers, cross border had crossed a threshold to the point that CJR’s Jon Allsop
could write.
When ICIJ published the Panama Papers in 2016, its collaborative model seemed like a
bold departure from the old logic of fierce competition. Two years later, pooling resources
across organizations no longer feels so novel. News organizations the world over are strug-
gling financially; many have folded; those that survive often have such slender resources
that ambitious investigative work is beyond their means. In the Trump era, meanwhile,
some outlets, especially in the U.S., have started to see each other less as rivals and more
as allies in the face of vicious rhetoric attacking the media as a whole. ICIJ’s success with
the Panama Papers – not to mention its Pulitzer Prize for the work – no doubt fueled this
trend, too.38

7
 Dean Starkman

By then I, too, had become acclimated to the routines of cross-border work – mostly
working in isolation with copy, or one-on-one with reporters, punctuated by a series of
secure video conference calls throughout the week with fellow ICIJ staffers, and, less fre-
quently, with reporters and editors from partner organizations in various time zones.
Work on the Pandora Papers began in early 2021 the usual way: an excited Signal call
from Ryle announcing a new leak, except this one was going to be bigger and more explosive
than anything that had come before. ICIJ’s data team, led by Emilia-Diaz Struck in Wash-
ington, had been sifting through what we would later call an “offshore data tsunami”: the
11.9 ­million-plus records were largely unstructured. More than half the files (6.4 m ­ illion)
were text documents, including more than 4 million PDFs, some of which ran to more than
10,000 pages. The documents included passports, bank statements, tax declarations, com-
pany incorporation records, real estate contracts and due diligence questionnaires. There
were also more than 4.1 million images and emails in the leak. Spreadsheets made up 4
percent of the documents, or more than 467,000. The records also included slide shows and
audio and video files.39
ICIJ published a methodology of the data work on Pandora40 but suffice it to say that
roughly half of ICIJ’s staff on a project are data experts who do the work of stripping out text
from PDFs, emails and other documents, weeding out duplicates, formatting them, making
make them searchable and – critically – verifying the accuracy of every number in the story,
such as, for instance, the number of Russian oligarchs found in the data (46).41
Even less visible in the final published project – but no less indispensable – is the work
of ICIJ’s discrete (and discreet) technology group, which develops the bespoke technology
platforms that provide the foundation for both searching data and communicating findings
efficiently and securely. Led by Pierre Romera in the Paris office, the group built Datashare,
a software that allows reporters to index, search, star, tag, filter and analyze data whatever
the format (text, spreadsheets, pdf, slides, emails, etc.). Datashare automatically highlights
and extracts the names of people, locations and organizations in documents, as well as email
addresses.
Above all, Datashare is secure and can be used locally on personal computers to minimize
the risk of interception. Primarily designed for investigative journalists, it can be used by any-
one who needs to analyze and explore a set of documents. It’s also open-source and free.42
The technology group also developed the I-Hub,43 the social media platform that allows
previously vetted partners to share findings securely and, as we learned with the Pandora
Papers, can accommodate hundreds of reporters at the same time, all talking at once.
The ICIJ collaborative model is based on previously established relationships with mostly
legacy news organizations – e.g., Le Monde, the BBC – and individual professional practi-
tioners. The success and security of the enterprises rise and fall on these trust relationships. I
have described ICIJ’s model as a form of “professional peer production.”44 In my view, the
concept represents an advance from both the old model of an individual news organization
acting on its own and the utopian idea once popular in some quarters of crowd-sourced news
and investigations.45
The rules for partners are simple, but adherence is critical. Once a publication date is es-
tablished, no one jumps the deadline. And once allowed into the data, partners are expected
to share what they find. That’s basically it.
Pandora, code named Aladdin, had to overcome a serious handicap: because of COVID,
we never met in person. Typically, partners and ICIJ assemble somewhere – Washington for
“Implant Files,” Paris for “Luanda Leaks,” for instance – to hash over initial impressions of

8
 Pandora Papers

the data, draw up potential storylines, vote on a publication date and, importantly, socialize
over meals, coffees and drinks to establish or cement relationships.
Instead, we launched with a massive call on a secure communications platform with doz-
ens of partners staring out from small boxes on a screen. Since COVID, the world has
become accustomed to living our entire work lives online, for better and for worse. In the
cross-border business, remote work is built into the model. It was remote before COVID.
It will be remote afterward. I’m unable to add any original insights to the subject of remote
work here, except to say in-person newsrooms at least allowed the possibility for humanizing
chance encounters that might help resolve lingering tensions. In a remote newsroom, there
are no chance encounters or non-transactional conversations. Every communication is delib-
erate, even calls to “catch up.”
But I don’t want to idealize newsrooms of the past. There were plenty of tensions there,
too, and plenty of ways to avoid people you didn’t get along with. The main disadvantages to
remote work for me are virtual meetings. The format lends itself more to presentations than
conversations or proper give-and-take. Actual feedback and critique are best left to private
calls on Signal. Beyond that, and despite everything, my experience in a news organization of
moderate size, remote work basically works.
And so it did with Pandora. I work from home in Budapest or at an office provided by the
Democracy Institute at the Central European University, with which I am affiliated. From
my perch, I worked with ICIJ staffers to shape many of the stories we publish. Our edito-
rial process, which has been refined since I arrived, generally involves reporters digging into
data, performing Datashare searches for weeks or even months to find story ideas. While this
may sound like a series of glorified Boolean searches, don’t kid yourself. It is frustrating –
and because it is frustrating – exhausting work. I spent days in the Aladdin data and came
up with precisely nothing. It is highly specialized work and the ICIJ bylines you read result
from the fact that the authors were able to find the stories in the first place. It took senior
reporter Scilla Alecci with help from Pavla Halcova of ICIJ’s Czech partner investigace.cz to
discover that the then-sitting rightwing prime minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babis,
had secretly bought a French chateau via complex transactions involving an anonymous
shell company registered in Monaco.46 And ICIJ’s Will Fitzgibbon found that while foreign
aid was pouring into Jordan, King Abdullah II was secretly buying $100 million in luxury
properties in the U.S. and elsewhere. His Swiss and Caribbean wealth advisors referred to his
majesty as “you know who.”47
I’ve spoken to ICIJ reporters informally about how they do it, and, invariably, and mod-
estly, they chalk it up to instinct, hard work and patience. A fuller accounting of their data
searching techniques awaits further study.
My view of the project from Budapest was limited. The nature of remote cross-border
work requires each practitioner to work in personal isolation that is mitigated by virtual con-
tacts on a variety of platforms – Rocket Chat groups, WhatsApp and/or Signal groups and
direct messages, I-Hub posts and direct messages, emails, sometimes encrypted using the
Mailvelope application. I attended weekly internal “Aladdin” calls run by ICIJ’s unflappable
managing editor, Fergus Shiel, who also serves as the hub for the entire project, manag-
ing relationships with partners and mediating any disputes that arise both within ICIJ and
among partners.
The project formally launched in April 2021 with a virtual general meeting of partners
that already numbered several dozen and began to mushroom from there. Smaller group calls
were periodically organized for Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Central

9
 Dean Starkman

Asia, Africa, each group managed by an ICIJ regional coordinator. Newly arriving partners
went through Datashare training offered by Jelena Cosic, ICIJ’s Belgrade-based training
manager who also coordinates Eastern European partners.
Soon, the I-Hub began to fill with more posts, news, tips and excited chatter as stories
began to emerge.
Latin America proved a particularly rich vein. Among the 14 offshore service providers
whose data was leaked was the prestigious Panama law firm, Alemán, Cordero, Galindo &
Lee, which, ICIJ’s data team discovered, had set up offshore companies for 160 politicians –
nearly half of the 300 or so political figures whose names appear in the leaked records. And
of the 35 current and former heads of states who appear in the records, 14 were from Latin
America.48
Leads popped up around the world. Family members of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa’s family had used shell companies to buy luxury property and artwork.49 The fam-
ily of Kenya’s reformist president Uhuru Kenyatta secretly had owned a network of offshore
companies for decades.50
America’s largest law firm, Baker McKenzie, turned out to have been a go-to firm for
Kremlin-linked companies seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.51
And we found, a leading center for offshore finance turns out to be Sioux Falls, South
Dakota.52
Maybe the richest trove turned out to be the offshore service providers that cater particu-
larly to Russians, including the Cyprus law firm Demetrios A. Demetriades and Seychelles-
based Alpha Consulting Limited.53
Putin’s propaganda chief, Konstantin Ernst, owned a secret stake in a massive, state-
funded privatization deal. Herman Gref – the chief executive of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest
bank – used an offshore operative in Singapore in 2015 to restructure a $75 million family
trust tied to a tangle of offshore companies.
And so on, and so forth.
The I-Hub became inundated with posts from all over the world. Newcomers, and even
old timers, couldn’t be blamed for feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data, and as
much as ICIJ struggled to make the information flow coherent, reading the I-Hub could
itself become an overwhelming experience. The Russia section alone contained 128 original
posts. A single post about a single figure, Putin’s alleged mistress, Svetlana Krivonogikh, a
former cleaning woman found to have ties to a luxury Monaco apartment,54 generated 735
posts and comments.
ICIJ meanwhile prepared a staggering budget of more than a dozen longform investiga-
tions, each numbering more than 4,000 words, each with countless sensitive facts about
dozens of powerful and often litigious subjects.
I worked with reporters on copy, spending sometimes hours at time on a Signal call work-
ing with a reporter someplace far away on a document on a secure Google Drive server. The
most extreme example of remote working collaboration came on a story that would reveal
the offshore holdings of members of the Pakistani military and ministers in the government
of erstwhile reformer Imran Khan.55 Over the course of at least six days, I sat down at 8 a.m.
Budapest time for a line-by-line edit of the 4,000-plus word copy with the authors, Margo
Gibbs, working on London time, Malia Politzer, working in Spain, and a co-editor, Mia
Zuckerlandel, working from 11 p.m. often until 3 a.m. from her base in California. Such is
the new normal in the world of cross-border collaboration.

10
 Pandora Papers

Tension within the project spiked in August when the Russian government declared ICIJ’s
local partner, Important Stories (known as IStories), along with the independent broadcaster
Dozhd, as “foreign agents,” an ominous step that came just five months after Russian police
had raided iStories’ offices and the homes of some of its staff members.56 IStories is now
based outside Russia.57
The project built to a crescendo with the beginning of “comment period,” the massive,
coordinated global effort to contact every subject in every story to provide an opportunity to
respond to the findings. The unfolding of the comment period, which began several weeks
before publication, began the most intense period of the project, in which reporters both
finished and fact-checked their stories while incorporating the responses, or as often happens,
grappling with legal threats from high-powered law firms around the world.
So, what in the end was the point of all this work, all this confrontation, all this stress?
During media appearances on behalf of ICIJ, or just at a dinner party, someone invariably
asks: Why do we bother anyway when nothing ever changes?
Doesn’t it?
A week after Pandora Papers was published, a bloc of Czech opposition parties stunned
Babis and his party in the national elections, pushing the rightwing government aside and
allowing a new coalition to form a government. One media poll suggested that 8 percent of
his party’s supporters switched their votes as a result of Pandora Papers disclosures.58
The project sparked a protest wave throughout Latin America. Honduran voters in the
country’s presidential election rejected Nasry Asfura, the once-favored ruling party candi-
date exposed as secretly invested in Panamanian companies59; Chilean lawmakers moved to
impeach President Sebastián Piñera in response to revelations about his children’s offshore
dealings60; Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso survived his own impeachment, an effort
directly sparked by the probe.61
Pandora Papers revelations, on top of a decade of work on Russian oligarchs, became in-
stantly relevant after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The U.S. and other Western
governments began levying sanctions against those named in the Pandora Papers and other
ICIJ projects. Among them: the banker Gref, the cellist Sergey Roldugin exposed in the
Panama Papers as likely Putin front man,62 and, significantly from my point of view, the prop-
agandist Ernst,63 who had largely managed to evade international scrutiny until our exposé.
In February 2022, the U.K. government announced a new economic crime bill that
would establish a new registry forcing foreign owners of U.K. property to reveal and verify
their identities or face harsh penalties, including prison.64 Meanwhile, citing ICIJ’s FinCEN
Files, a government agency published a white paper outlining a long-overdue overhaul of
Companies House, the government registry and notorious safe-haven for anonymous shell
companies.65
In the U.S., the House of Representatives passed the so-called ENABLERS Act that for
the first time required trust companies, lawyers, art dealers and other professionals to inves-
tigate clients and report suspicious activity to the Treasury Department. The measure was
introduced days after the Pandora Papers’ publication and was inspired by it, according to
the bill’s authors.66
The list goes on.
Listen, no one is arguing that ICIJ – or all of cross-border journalism put together – is
more than just another set of voices in the broader fight for democracy and rule of law in
an increasingly authoritarian world. And while the roll call of reform law and other project

11
 Dean Starkman

impact is a point of pride and fair game in the endless fundraising struggle, it’s important to
keep some perspective. The reforms cited here remain incremental and incomplete. The U.K.
registry law is “full of loopholes,” some critics say.67 The ENABLERS Act as of this writing
remains stuck in the Senate and faces stiff opposition from the American Bar Association68
and other powerful interests.69
But journalism can be a long game.
In January 2021, Congress passed The Corporate Transparency Act, requiring companies
registered in the U.S. to report their true owners to the Treasury Department.70 The law ef-
fectively ended the anonymous shell company business in the U.S. and further discredited the
practice in general. And in October 2021, 136 countries of the Organization of Economic
Cooperation and Development signed an agreement to tax multinationals at a minimum rate
of 15 percent in a bid to clamp down on profit shifting and aggressive tax avoidance.71
Both measures are flawed. Both are also landmarks. Both, in my view, are inconceivable
without cross-border exposés hammering offshore finance over a decade.
From a journalism perspective, the Pandora Papers stretched the limits of the possible
when it comes to cross-border journalistic collaboration and raises the question of how big
is too big? In my view, a lot depends on the point person for a project – whoever has overall
coordinating responsibility within the organization that is managing all the partners.
The subject calls for further academic research, and I’d suggest that future researchers
start with Shiel, my boss, who coordinated for Pandora. By way of preview, I excerpt his
response to a recent email exchange with me on the topic:

Time, technology and complexity are the great limitations to every international in-
vestigation. Together with editorial resources, source protection and team safety, they
largely dictate the scope and duration of the work. To succeed, you need clear divisions
of responsibilities; regular operational meetings; a production schedule; constant tech-
nical support: and an immutable bedrock of trust.72

The year 2021 also marked a coming out of sorts for collaborative journalism in general.
Where the ICIJ model was once a journalism novelty, it has now proliferated in the form of
organizations dedicated to the practice, such as European Investigative Collaborations,73 as
well as ad-hoc cooperative efforts. The Facebook Papers,74 the Pegasus Project75 and Suisse
Secrets,76 all ad-hoc collaborations, appeared in the months before and after the Pandora
Papers. The Facebook Papers, exposing the platform’s cynical anger-driven business model,
and the Pegasus Project, showing the misuse of NSO Group spyware on journalists, human
rights defenders, academics and others, were bona fide blockbusters.
The cross-border field is becoming populated, even crowded. The public is now routinely
exposed to projects with alliterative titles, all touting big numbers, the size of the leak, the
number of partners and so on.77 This proliferation is a good thing. ICIJ can take some credit,
if I may say so.
But as much as a sign of strength, this proliferation, to Allsop’s point above, can also be
seen as a response to journalism’s financial weakness78 and its marginalization in minds of
huge swaths of the population.79 That makes the sustainability of cross-border even more of
a public interest imperative.
The proliferation also raises questions about where the practice goes from here, whether
ad-hoc collaborations have advantages over ICIJ’s fixed-hub-and-spoke model, and, if so,
how dispersed the model should become. I’m an interested party, but I’d say that there’s

12
 Pandora Papers

a good argument for a professional organization with long experience in handling leaks
securely, building collaborative platforms, cleaning data and managing projects of vast size
and scope. In other words, I’m thinking if ICIJ didn’t exist it would probably have to be
invented. I realize, as the Wall Street expression goes, I’m talking my book, but there you are.

Conclusion
The Pandora Papers should be seen as the most recent, and maybe strongest evidence so far,
that cross-border journalism has evolved from a status as a useful supplement to professional
journalism – a feel-good enterprise that everyone can applaud – into a core competence and
indispensable tool for journalism in general and for business journalism in particular. The
financial industry and the economy globalized long ago. So, too, did large-scale public cor-
ruption, along with the industry that launders the proceeds using anonymous shell compa-
nies registered in secrecy jurisdictions. These shell companies then open bank accounts80 in
corrupt regional banks that then – for some reason – are still allowed to shuffle the money
through giant global banks in Lower Manhattan with accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York. That’s all pretty global.
Business journalism is only now catching up, and it is in large part, thanks to cross-border
journalism. Its impact on public debate has only grown and is now manifest. In short, cross-
border journalism is no longer nice to have. It is required in the public interest.
Finally, a cautionary note: it’s important to remember what cross-border journalism is and
isn’t. It is a valuable journalism tool. It’s not a business model. ICIJ, for instance, relies solely
on donor funding,81 and for the time being its financial success is only very indirectly tied to
its journalistic success.
And that makes its future uncertain.

Notes
1 See, for example: Sambrook, R. (2018) Global Teamwork: The Rise of Collaboration in Investi-
gative Journalism, The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism ISBN: 978-1-907384-35-6
Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-03/sambrook_e-
ISBN_1802.pdf; Heft, A. and Baack, S. (2021) “Cross-Bordering Journalism: How Intermediaries
of Change Drive the Adoption of New Practices,” Journalism, Vol. 23 (11), 1–19. https://doi.
org/10.1177/1464884921999540; Hume, E. and Abbott, S. (2017) “The Future of Investigative
Journalism: Global, Networked and Collaborative,” Center for Media Data and Society, March.
Available at: https://cmds.ceu.edu/sites/cmcs.ceu.hu/files/attachment/article/1129/humein-
vestigativejournalismsurvey_0.pdf;
  Lück, J. and Schultz, T. (2019) “Investigative Data Journalism in a Globalized World,” Journal-
ism Research, Vol. 2 (2), 93–114. ISSN 2569-152X; cross-border now has at least one funding insti-
tution devoted to the practice, e.g., The IJ4EU fund, which supports cross-border investigations of
public interest in Europe; see https://www.investigativejournalismforeu.net/; Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism offers post-graduate fellow known as, “The Cross-Borders Data
Project’: see Investigations.https://journalism.columbia.edu/cross-borders-data, among other
examples.
2 Sallah, M. and Kozyreva, T. (2020) “With Deutsche Bank’s Help, an Oligarch’s Buying Spree Trails
Ruin Across the US Heartland,” International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Septem-
ber 22. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/with-deutsche-banks-help-an-
oligarchs-buying-spree-trails-ruin-across-the-us-heartland/
3 Michaels, M. and Hudson M. W. (2021), “​​Pandora Papers Reveal Emirati Royal Families’ Role
in Secret Money Flows,” ICIJ, November 16. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/
pandora-papers/pandora-papers-reveal-emirati-royal-families-role-in-secret-money-flows/

13
 Dean Starkman

4​​ Medina, B. Escudero, J. and Díaz-Struck, E. (2021) “When Latin America’s Elite Wanted to Hide
Their Wealth, they Turned to this Panama Firm,” ICIJ, October 3. Available at: https://www.icij.
org/investigations/pandora-papers/alcogal-panama-latin-america-politicians/
5 No author (2021), “Pandora Papers: The Power Players),” ICIJ, October 3. Available at: https://
www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/power-players/
6 Ibid.
7 Bowers, S. (2017) “Leaked Documents Expose Secret Tale of Apple’s Offshore Island Hop,”
ICIJ, November 6, 2017. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/
apples-secret-offshore-island-hop-revealed-by-paradise-papers-leak-icij/
8 Bowers (2017) “How Nike Stays One Step Ahead of the Regulators,” ICIJ, ­November 6, 2017. Avail-
able at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/swoosh-owner-nike-stays-ahead-of-
the-regulator-icij/
9 No author (2021), “Pandora Papers: The Secrecy Brokers,” ICIJ, October 3, 2021. Available at:
https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/secrecy-brokers/
10 Ibid.
11 Hallman, B. et al. (2020), “Western Advisers Helped an Autocrat’s Daughter Amass and Shield
a Fortune,” ICIJ, January 19. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/luanda-leaks/
western-advisers-helped-an-autocrats-daughter-amass-and-shield-a-fortune/
12 No author (2016): “Official: Iceland PM Resigns Amid ‘Panama Papers’ Fallout,” CBSNews (on-
line), April 5. Available at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iceland-prime-minister-sigmundur-
david-gunnlaugsson-resigns-panama-papers/
13 Gibbs, M., Kranhold, K. and Cosic, J. (2021) “Putin Image-Maker’s Role in Billion-­Dollar Cin-
ema Deal Hidden Offshore,” ICIJ, October 3, 2021. Available at: https://www.icij.org/inves-
tigations/pandora-papers/vladimir-putin-konstantin-ernst-russia-tv-offshore/; Bernstein, J. et al.
(2021), “All Putin’s Men: Secret Records Reveal Money Network Tied to Russian Leader,” ICIJ,
April 3, 2016. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/20160403-
putin-russia-offshore-network/
14 ICIJ (2020), “Global Banks Defy U.S. Crackdowns by Serving Oligarchs, Criminals and Ter-
rorists”; “Global Banks Defy U.S. Crackdowns by Serving Oligarchs, Criminals and Terror-
ists,” September 20, 2020. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/
global-banks-defy-u-s-crackdowns-by-serving-oligarchs-criminals-and-terrorists/
15 Bowers, S., Kehoe, K. and Roonemaa, H., “Inside Scandal-Rocked Danske Estonia and
the Shell-Company ‘Factories’ That Served It,” ICIJ, September 21, 2020. Available at:
https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/inside-scandal-rocked-danske-estonia-
and-the-shell-company-factories-that-served-it/
16 Starkman, D., et al. (2021), “Frequently Asked Questions About the Pandora Papers and ICIJ,”
ICIJ, October 19. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/frequently-
asked-questions-about-the-pandora-papers-and-icij/
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Lewis, C. (2018) “Tear Down These Walls: Innovations in Collaborative Accountability Research
and Reporting,” in Sambrook, Investigative Reporting Workshop, https://archive.investigativere-
portingworkshop.org/2018/01/26/the-power-of-reporters-working-together/
20 Sadek, N. (2022) “The Inside Story of How the Offshore Leaks Database Became a Go-to Resource
on Offshore Finance,” ICIJ, May 3, 2022. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/
pandora-papers/the-inside-story-of-how-the-offshore-leaks-database-became-a-go-to-resource-on-
offshore-finance/
21 For a fuller discussion of journalism’s transformation, see Starkman (2014), The Watchdog That
Didn’t Bark, Columbia University Press, New York, Chapter 10, “Digitism, Corporatism, and the
Future of Journalism: As the Hamster Wheel Turns.”
22 Sadek.
23 The “Secrecy for Sale” project is available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/offshore/secret-files-
expose-offshores-global-impact/
24 The “Luxembourg Leaks” project is available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxembourg-
leaks/

14
 Pandora Papers

25​​ The “Swiss Leaks” project is available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/swiss-leaks/about-

project-swiss-leaks/
26 The Bahamas Leaks project is available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/offshore/former-eu-
official-among-politicians-named-new-leak-offshore-files-bahamas/
27 The Panama Papers project is available at https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/
28 See Bernstein et al., which exposed a clandestine network operated by Putin associates, including
the unlikely figure of cellist and Putin childhood friend, Sergey Roldugin, that shuffled at least $2
billion through banks and offshore companies.
29 The author notes that the governor of the day, Edward D. DiPrete, later imprisoned on corruption
charges stemming from the author’s reporting, chose to retain as his principal political advisor none
other than the young Paul Manafort, then in a consulting firm with Roger Stone, now both key
figures in the U.S. ongoing crisis of democracy.
30 Starkman (2014).
31 Starkman (2013) “Investigative Collaboration, Cross-Border Edition,” CJR (online), April 8. Avail-
able at: ​​
ttps://archives.cjr.org/the_audit/investigative_collaboration_cr.php?page=all: “A Good
Sign That Your Investigation Has Hit the Mark Is When Law Enforcement Agencies Start Demand-
ing to See Your Data.”
32 The Paradise Papers project is available here:https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-­papers/
the-inside-story-of-how-the-offshore-leaks-database-became-a-go-to-resource-on-offshore-­finance/
33 The “Mauritius Leaks” project is available at https://www.icij.org/investigations/mauritius-leaks/.
34 The “Luanda Leaks” project is available at https://www.icij.org/investigations/luanda-leaks/
35 The “Implant Files” project is available here: https://www.icij.org/investigations/implant-files/
36 The “China Cables” project is available here: https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/
37 The “FinCEN Files” project is available here: https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/
38 Allsop, J. (2018) “Under the skin of ICIJ’s Implant Files,” Columbia Journalism Review, November
26. Available at: https://www.cjr.org/special_report/behind_the_scenes_icij_implant_files.php
39 Diaz-Struck et al. (2021) “Pandora Papers: An Offshore Data Tsunami,” ICIJ, October 3. Available
at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-leak-dataset/
40 Ibid.
41 Shiel, F. (2021) “About the Pandora Papers,” ICIJ, October 3. Available at https://www.icij.org/
investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-investigation/
42 Ledésert, S. (2019) “What Is Datashare,” ICIJ, November 4. Available at https://www.icij.org/inside-
icij/2019/11/what-is-datashare-frequently-asked-questions-about-our-document-analysis-software/
43 Boland-Rudder, H. and Cabra, M. (2014) “ICIJ to Build Global I-Hub, a New Secure Collaboration
Tool,” ICIJ, July 17. Available at https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2014/07/icij-build-global-i-
hub-new-secure-collaboration-tool/
44 Starkman. (2017) “#ParadisePapers and the Rise of Professional Peer Production,” Center for Me-
dia, Data and Society, November 8, 2017. Available at: ​​https://medium.com/center-for-media-
data-and-society/paradisepapers-and-the-rise-of-professional-peer-production-fc56a5ca9a87
45 For a discussion on hopes for socially produced news, see Starkman (2011) “Confidence Game:
The Limited Vision of the News Gurus,” CJR, November/December, an examination of the work
of academics Jeff Jarvis, Clay Shirky and Jay Rosen, Where I Address This Debate. Available at
https://archives.cjr.org/essay/confidence_game.php
46 Alecci, S. (2021). “Czech Prime Minister Secretly Bought Lavish French Riviera Estate Us-
ing Offshore Companies,” ICIJ, October 3. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/
pandora-papers/czech-prime-minister-andrej-babis-french-property/
47 Fitzgibbon, W. (2021) “While Foreign Aid Poured in, Jordan’s King Abdullah Funnelled $100m
Through Secret Companies to Buy Luxury Homes,” ICIJ, October 3. Available at https://www.
icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/jordan-king-abdullah-luxury-property/
48 Medina, B. (2021) “Chilean Legislators Impeach President after Pandora Papers Revela-
tions.” ICIJ, November 9. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/
chilean-legislators-impeach-president-after-pandora-papers-revelations/
49 Hudson and Fitzgibbon (2021) “Pandora Papers Caps off 2021 with Consequences Felt Around
the Globe,” December 21. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/
pandora-papers-caps-off-2021-with-consequences-felt-around-the-globe/; and Alecci (2021)

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 Dean Starkman

“Clamor for Crackdown on Hidden Wealth Jolts Sri Lanka Elite Following Pandora Papers Rev-
elations,” ICIJ, November 1. Available at https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/
clamor-for-crackdown-on-hidden-wealth-jolts-sri-lanka-elite-following-pandora-papers-revelations/
50 Olewe, D. and Adamou, L. (2021) “Pandora Papers: Uhuru Kenyatta family’s Secret Assets Ex-
posed by Leak,” British Broadcasting Service (online), October 4. Available at: https://www.bbc.
com/news/world-africa-58775944
51 Freedberg, S. (2022) “Baker McKenzie, a Go-to Firm for Kremlin-Linked Companies, Now Says it’s
Leaving Russia,” ICIJ, March 15. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/
baker-mckenzie-a-go-to-firm-for-kremlin-linked-companies-now-says-its-leaving-russia/
52 Fitzgibbon, Cenziper, D. and Salwan, G. (2021) “Suspect Foreign Money Flows into Booming
American Tax Havens on Promise of Eternal Secrecy, ICIJ, October 3. Available at: https://www.
icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-trusts-offshore-south-dakota-tax-havens/
53 Woodman. (2022) “How a Network of Enablers Have Helped Russia’s Oligarchs Hide Their
Wealth Abroad,” ICIJ, March 22. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/russia-archive/
how-a-network-of-enablers-have-helped-russias-oligarchs-hide-their-wealth-abroad/
54 Sonne, P. and Miller, G. (2021) “Secret Money, Swanky Real Estate and a Monte Carlo Mystery,”
The Washington Post (online), October 4. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/
interactive/2021/putin-monaco-luxury-apartment/?itid=lk_inline_manual_13
55 Gibbs and Politzer (2021) “Prime Minister Imran Khan Promised ‘New Pakistan’ But Members of
his Inner Circle Secretly Moved Millions Offshore,” ICIJ, October 3. Available at: https://www.
icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/pakistan-imran-khan-prime-minister-allies-offshore/
56 Shiel and Cosci (2021) “Russia brands IStories a ‘Foreign Agent’ in Independent Media Crack-
down,” ICIJ, August 20. Available at: https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2021/08/russia-brands-
istories-a-foreign-agent-in-independent-media-crackdown/
57 Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (2022), “Reporting from Exile: A Webinar
with Russian Journalist Roman Anin,” OCCRP, July 19. Available at: https://www.occrp.org/en/
announcements/16481-reporting-from-exile-a-webinar-with-russian-journalist-roman-anin
58 See Hudson and Fitzgibbon (2021)
59 Ibid.
60 Medina (2021) “Chilean President Avoids Removal after Senate Impeachment Vote Sparked by Pandora
Papers,” ICIJ, November 16. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/
chilean-president-avoids-removal-after-senate-impeachment-vote-sparked-by-pandora-papers/
61 Medina (2021) “Ecuador President Survives Removal Effort by National Assembly Following
Pandora Papers Revelations,” ICIJ, December 8. Available at:https://www.icij.org/investiga-
­
tions/pandora-papers/ecuador-president-survives-removal-effort-by-national-assembly-following-­
pandora-papers-revelations/
62 Bernstein et al.
63 Cosic, J. (2022) “Canada Sanctions 10 Putin Allies, Including Russia’s Leading TV Propa-
gandists,” ICIJ, March 8. Available at https://www.icij.org/investigations/russia-archive/
canada-sanctions-10-putin-allies-including-russias-leading-tv-propagandists/
64 Gov.UK (2022) “Government Takes Landmark Steps to Further Clamp Down on Dirty Money,”
Gov.Uk, February 22. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-takes-
landmark-steps-to-further-clamp-down-on-dirty-money
65 Kehoe (2022) “UK Moves to Clamp Down on Dirty Russian Money,” ICIJ, March 4. Available at:h
​​ ttps://
www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/uk-moves-to-clamp-down-on-dirty-russian-money/
66 Toosi, N. (2021) “Lawmakers, Inspired by ‘Pandora Papers,’ to Push New Anti-­Corruption Bill,”
Politico, October 5. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/05/pandora-
papers-anti-corruption-bill-515177
67 The Guardian (2022) “Register of Offshore Owners of UK Properties Full of Loopholes, Say Ex-
perts,” The Guardian, March 22. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/
mar/01/register-of-offshore-owners-of-uk-properties-full-of-loopholes-say-experts
68 American Bar Association (2022), “House Passes Sweeping Defense Authorization Bill Imposting Bank
Secrecy Act Regulations on Lawyers,” July 28. Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/
governmental_legislative_work/publications/washingtonletter/july-22-wl/enablers-0722wl/
69 “H.R. 5525: ENABLERS Act” (2021), U.S. Congressional Legislation. Govtrack.us (online).
Available at: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr5525

16
 Pandora Papers

70 Mustafa, A. (2020) “Advocates Celebrate Major US Anti-Money Laundering Victory,” ICIJ, De-
cember 11. Available at: https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/advocates-celebrate-
major-us-anti-money-laundering-victory/
71 Boland-Rudder and Fitzgibbon. (2021) “136 Countries Agree to Global Minimum Tax for
Corporations in ‘Historic’ OECD Deal,” ICIJ, October 8. Available at: https://www.icij.org/
investigations/paradise-papers/136-countries-agree-to-global-minimum-tax-for-corporations-in-
historic-oecd-deal/
72 Shiel, F. (2022) ICIJ managing editor, email to the author, August 4–5.
73 See https://eic.network/
74 For an example of the ad-hoc consortium’s output, see Wired Staff (2021) “Inside the Face-
book Papers,” Wired (online), October 25. Available at: (2021https://www.wired.com/story/
facebook-papers-internal-documents/
75 Forbidden Stories (2021) “About The Pegasus Project,’” Forbidden Stories (online), July 18. Avail-
able at: https://forbiddenstories.org/case/the-pegasus-project/.
76 For an example of the project’s output, see The Guardian (2022), “Suisse Secrets.” Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/suisse-secrets
77 Examples: “Through our partner, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, OCCRP obtained leaked
records on more than 18,000 Credit Suisse accounts, the largest leak ever from a major Swiss bank.”
See https://www.occrp.org/en/suisse-secrets/; and: “An unprecedented leak of more than 50,000
phone numbers selected for surveillance by the customers of the Israeli company NSO Group shows
how this technology has been systematically abused for years. The Forbidden Stories consortium
and Amnesty International had access to records of phone numbers selected by NSO clients in more
than 50 countries since 2016.” See https://forbiddenstories.org/about-the-pegasus-project/
78 For a full discussion, see Starkman and Chittum, R. (2021), “The Hamster Wheel, Triumphant,”
in Schiffrin, A. Media Capture How Money, Digital Platforms, and Governments Control the News,
Columbia University Press, pages 232–258; and Grieco, E. (2020) “10 Charts About Ameri-
ca’s Newsrooms,” Pew Research Center, April 20. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/
fact-tank/2020/04/28/10-charts-about-americas-newsrooms/
79 For a history of rightwing efforts to discredit the press, see Brock, David (2004) The Republican
Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy, Crown Publishers, New York.
80 For what it’s worth, the author finds it hard to believe that major U.S. banks are still permitted to
make dollar transactions between foreign bank accounts owned by anonymous shell companies.
81 For a discussion of philanthropy and journalism, see Benson, R. (2017). “Can foundations Solve the
Journalism Crisis?” Journalism, Vol. 19 (8), https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884917724612.

Further Reading
Hamilton, J. (2016). Democracy’s Detectives: The Economics of Investigative Journalism, Cambridge, MA,
Harvard University Press. Groundbreaking study of investigative journalism’s positive externalities.
Sambrook, R. (2018) Global Teamwork: The Rise of Collaboration in Investigative Journalism, The Reu-
ters Institute for the Study of Journalism ISBN: 978-1-907384-35-6. A multi-faceted exploration
of cross-border journalism.
Schiffrin, A. (2021) Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms, and Governments Control the
News, New York, Columbia University Press. A valuable overview of media problems and possible
solutions.
Starkman, D. (2014). The Watchdog that Didn’t Bark: The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of
Investigative Journalism, New York, Columbia University Press. Places business journalism history
within a framework that juxtaposes two competing fields: access vs. accountability journalism.

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 2
SHINING A LIGHT ON
TAX AVOIDANCE
How the Panama Papers Created Salience
in a World Crowded with Good Causes

Alexandre Gonçalves, Anya Schiffrin and Shant Fabricatorian

Introduction
The Panama Papers, published in 2016, brought the problem of tax avoidance to front pages
around the world. A massive leak of documents laid bare the role of lawyers who helped the
rich and powerful keep their money in offshore accounts and the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) showed the costs to society of this tax avoidance. By pub-
lishing a series of articles, and following up with other leaks, including Lux Leaks in 2014,
Swiss Leaks in 2015 and the Pandora Papers in 2021, the ICIJ helped set the agenda and
bring the problem of tax avoidance to the attention of the public. Other journalists have also
written extensively on such avoidance, including the 2022 series Suisse Secrets published by
the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The reporting by journalists complemented efforts by social justice advocates and cam-
paigns by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that had been trying for
more than a decade to bring about policy changes. Making this arcane financial topic salient
to mass audiences can be difficult, and both journalists and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have used a range of techniques in order to pique the interest of the public and
generate outrage (Keck & Sikkink 1998; Hendrix & Wong 2014). However, the reporting
by dozens of outlets belonging to the ICIJ, and their massive release of news on the same
day across the globe, captured the world’s attention in a way that NGO campaigns did not.
A number of studies show the effectiveness of the ICIJ reporting in raising awareness and
bringing about political change (Pitt & Green-Barber 2017; Graves & Shabbir 2019; Lub-
linski 2020).
The ICIJ’s reporting has been extensively studied and a number of scholars have high-
lighted the impact of the papers (Graves & Shabbir 2019). Scholars have looked at the policy
changes that resulted (Pitt & Green-Barber 2017; Konieczna & Graves 2020). They have
also studied the effects on the journalism profession, including the role of data journalism
(Bradshaw 2021), ethics and norms (Cortés and Luengo 2021) and the role of advocacy
journalism (Stonbely 2022). In her work on “Global Muckraking,” Schiffrin highlighted the
long-standing relationship between journalists and NGOs and, using a number of historical
examples, argued that journalistic reporting is more likely to bring about change when there

DOI: 10.4324/9781003298977-4 20

 Shining a Light on Tax Avoidance

are already INGOs working on solving a social problem, entities that are accountable, and
regulators that are able to change government policies (Schiffrin 2014; Stapenhurst 2000).
For this reason, it is essential to look at journalism investigations in relation to other efforts
already underway (Konieczna & Graves 2020).
Despite the fact an increasing number of journalists identify as advocacy reporters (Powers
2018), there are, of course, differences between journalists and advocates as well as similari-
ties. What the ICIJ shares with the INGOs involved in campaigns against tax avoidance is
the desire to catalyze change so that tax avoidance is lessened.1 By articulating new infor-
mation, journalists not only raise awareness, but can help change norms and inspire policy
makers and regulators who can address the problem. Accordingly, this research employs the
definition of media impact laid down by Protess et al. Protess and his colleagues argued that
impact unfolds in three phases: personal, deliberative (for example, Congressional hearings)
and substantive, such as policy changes or new laws (Protess 1991). Raising awareness and
generating public outrage can help bring about change in all three phases that Protess and
colleagues described.
We agree with the INGO argument that large-scale tax avoidance and evasion are unfair,
deprive governments of revenue needed to fund social services, and undermine voter faith in
the legitimacy of the tax system as well as in government. Because we believe that large-scale,
long-term tax avoidance presents a threat to democracy, we are particularly interested in
understanding the effect of ICIJ’s reporting and how it captured public attention. We build
on the argument by Barabas and Jerrit (2009) that media coverage does lead to changes in
the level of knowledge among the American public. As well as reviewing literature describ-
ing how journalists and INGOs attract attention for their campaigns, one of the authors
(Gonçalves) studied the response on social media to the ICIJ reporting on tax avoidance as
well as the INGO campaigns in order to evaluate their relative importance, frames commonly
used, shifts in sentiment and most prominent actors. We found the ICIJ reporting resulted in
substantial and sustained media coverage of tax avoidance that endured over time.

Background on Tax Avoidance

Addressing tax avoidance is a task that has historically relied heavily on reputational sham-
ing, and as such, depends on widespread knowledge of wrongdoing. Although not illegal,
certain types of tax avoidance have become tied in public perception to illegal tax evasion
(McBarnet 1992) – due in part to what might be termed its “professionalization” by teams
of accountants and lawyers working for multinational corporations (MNCs) and high-net-
worth individuals.
Of course, efforts to minimize tax burdens are not new, but the problem has been quan-
tified and discussed more in the past decade. In some cases, it is because local regulations
encouraged the development of offshore banking, such as in the well-known cases of Swit-
zerland and Panama (Zucman 2015). In other instances, local regulations or loopholes en-
couraged a race to the bottom by different states, areas or regions. For example, different
U.S. states changed their regulations in order to become tax havens. South Dakota began in
the 1980s, while Delaware began more than 100 years ago (Roe 2003; Dyreng, Lindsey &
Thornock 2013; ICIJ 2021; Salmon 2021).
Despite public anger, and attempts by some regulators to reduce tax avoidance, the in-
ternationalization and deregulation of the financial sector in recent decades, as well as the
dramatic gains in prosperity of the globe’s wealthiest individuals, have provided tax-dodging

21
 Alexandre Gonçalves et al.

efforts with new impetus. Globally, revenues lost from tax avoidance are estimated to total
some $427 billion annually, and between $21 trillion and $31 trillion in financial assets are
sitting offshore in tax havens, according to the Tax Justice Network (Tax Justice Network
2022). According to one estimate, the United States loses $200 billion a year from tax
avoidance, and Britain’s Labour Party has said the U.K. was deprived of some £13 billion in
revenue over five years from 2010 to 2015 (Buchan 2017; Turner 2018). At the same time,
there is evidence to suggest that such tax dodging is highly unpopular among the public.
A 2014 study by ActionAid indicated that some 85 percent of British adults considered
tax avoidance by large corporations to be morally wrong, even if it was technically legal (Ac-
tionAid 2014), and in 2016, the Financial Times reported a shift in business attitudes, not-
ing that only one in five big businesses thought that tax avoidance was acceptable (Houlder
2016). The majority of Americans say that they are bothered a lot by the feeling that some
corporations and wealthy people don’t pay their fair share in taxes (59 percent each), accord-
ing to a Pew Research Center survey (Dunn & Green 2021).
The race to the bottom has raised public ire as the discrepancies between different coun-
tries’ tax policies have become clear. The European Commission has attempted to crack
down after reporting in 2013 revealed that Irish law permitted Apple to attribute over $100
billion in profit to its subsidiaries in Ireland in order to avoid paying taxes in the United
States. In 2017, Apple was ordered to pay back $15 billion in taxes by the European Com-
mission, while Ireland was accused of depriving other EU members of tax revenue by allow-
ing Apple to attribute nearly all profits generated in the EU to Ireland. Apple later moved
two of its three Irish subsidiaries to Jersey, another popular European tax haven (Farrell &
McDonald 2016; Drucker & Bowers 2017).

Exposing Tax Avoidance

Over the past decade, the major voices challenging this trend of large-scale corporate tax
avoidance in the global sphere have come from NGOs such as the Geneva-based Tax Jus-
tice Network, ActionAid, Christian Aid, Oxfam, and the Independent Commission for the
Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), along with important reporting by
the ICIJ, which published several lengthy series on tax avoidance and the Organized Crime
and Corruption Reporting Project. Their reports and series of articles laid bare the extent
to which loopholes such as offshore accounts, subsidiary shell companies and declarations of
profits in tax havens are widely employed.

The Role of Transparency

Disclosure and transparency are central to the core beliefs of the journalism community
as well as the INGOs that campaign against tax avoidance (Christensen & Murphy 2004;
Craft & Heim 2008). Allison Christians, in a discussion of “taxpayer morality,” argues that,
while an imperfect mechanism, transparency is “the best hope for achieving justice across a
wide variety of governance-related failures of which unjust taxation is a prominent example”
(Christians 2014). She contends that transparency forms “the central core of all contempo-
rary treatments of the problem of governance, and there is no reason why it should not also
define the contours of thinking about what behaviors should be acceptable when it comes to
taxation” (Christians 2014). The paradox, however, is that more disclosure can lead to infor-
mation overload in a world crowded with good causes (Thrall et al. 2014). Thus, journalists

22
 Shining a Light on Tax Avoidance

and campaigners try to find ways to make the problem meaningful and attract the sustained
attention of the public as well as government officials and regulators.

How to Garner Attention in a World Crowded with

Causes – Showing Why It Matters
In the well-known framework outlined by Keck and Sikkink (1998), international advocacy
networks use symbolic politics, information politics and leverage politics in order to bring
about change. They find potent symbols, provide information to their audiences and push
governments to sign international agreements and treaties, and then hold them to these
agreements. Part of how such organizations attract attention in a world crowded with good
causes is by creating “salience” (Hendrix & Wong 2014; Thrall et al. 2014). In other words,
NGOs and journalists need to find ways to make the subject of tax avoidance seem like a
problem that affects everyone, and that society needs to fix (O’Sullivan 2017; Quantrill
2017; Siu 2017; Powers 2018).

Creating Salience
In his study of the political salience of the Tax Justice Network, Dallyn (2017) contends
that, notwithstanding the increased prominence of tax avoidance in media coverage in recent
years, existing accounting analyses have done “little to explain how some accounting issues
acquire political attention and media coverage.” He emphasizes the important role of news-
papers in translating a complex, often-arcane area into one that has general public resonance.
This has also been supported through members of TJN contributing stories to journalistic
outlets to help increase exposure (see also Shaxson 2011) and advising politicians about in-
ternational policy proposals.
Political salience is used by Dallyn to understand how the practice of corporate tax avoid-
ance “emerged as a high profile political issue” (2017). It draws on previous work by Wong
(2012) with regard to how and why some accounting issues generate more substantive atten-
tion than others; he considers political salience “a concept that operates across different dimen-
sions, so as a heuristic it is best assessed through a compound of indicators” (Dallyn 2017).

Tactics of INGOs – Showing the “Human Cost”

Both INGOs and journalists use a number of tactics to create salience, some of which over-
lap. Organizations like the ICIJ and Oxfam, as well as INGOs that focus on public services
such as education and health, have tried to frame tax avoidance as a fairness question that
has costs for society. Both tax avoidance campaigners and journalists have sought to show
how much revenue is being lost through tax avoidance and what else could be done with
that lost revenue. By showing the “human face” of tax avoidance, INGOs and journalists
hope to show the salience of what may seem, on initial acquaintance, obscure financial jargon
(ActionAid, author interview).
Journalists and INGOs show the human costs of tax avoidance in order to make their
reporting more salient to broader audiences. For example, The New York Times published a
story looking at what the U.S. government could fund if the top 1 percent of the wealthy in
the United States paid more taxes. According to the article, the lost revenue would be more
than enough to provide free undergraduate college for all, free universal pre-kindergarten,

23
 Alexandre Gonçalves et al.

fix all of the U.S. highways, or contribute to health care (Cohen 2015). Other groups like
Oxfam, the National Education Association (NEA), ActionAid and Britain’s Christian Aid
have also quantified the economic effects of tax avoidance, with the NEA noting that of
the $222.7 billion lost to the federal government through tax avoidance schemes, $9.8 bil-
lion would have gone to public schools and colleges, funding academic support for low-
income and disabled students, financial aid, pre-kindergarten programs and jobs in education
(­National Education Association 2011).
In their reporting, the ICIJ sought to stress the human cost. The Panama Papers stories in-
cluded a video showing that clinics in Uganda were short of medicines because of tax avoidance.

We as journalists at ICIJ were very aware that a project like Panama Papers would have
limited impact if we didn’t try to explain how the offshore world can touch everyday
lives. We hope we achieved that, at least to some extent.
(Schiffrin interview 2018)

Another tactic related to both information and symbolic politics (Keck & Sikkink 1998)
and the notion of the “human cost” is the tendency by journalists and NGOs to “name and
shame” particular companies and individuals. A report by ActionAid (Hearson & Brooks
2010) named the multinational brewing company SABMiller and shamed them for paying
less taxes than the people that sell their beer. Reporters interviewed a Ghanaian beer stall
owner named Marta Luttgrodt who was shocked at the discovery, as it became clear that the
international tax system was an enabler of injustice.

Using High-Profile Spokespeople

In keeping with sociologist Clifford Bob’s findings about the importance of INGOs using
high-profile spokespeople to gain attention, the key groups campaigning against tax avoid-
ance have recruited high-profile individuals such as Colombian economist and former trade
minister José Antonio Ocampo, Member of the European Parliament Eva Joly, and Nobel
laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz to write reports and issue statements on the subject of tax avoid-
ance (Bob 2009; ICRICT 2022).
According to Toby Quantrill, then the global economic justice lead at Christian Aid, IN-
GOs have adopted a conscious effort to try to more effectively communicate with the public
about the need for reform and enforcement. “We knew that a bunch of NGOs and radicals
shouting about ‘new paradigms’ is relatively easy to dismiss in public debate,” he said.

[T]he theory was that by using a group of highly credible and global voices arguing for
the depth of change required, then we could begin to shift public assumptions about
what can be done. This needs us to be successful in reaching public ears, and policy
makers in as many countries as possible, something we are still working out how to do.
(Schiffrin interview 2017)

Timing the Release of News, Finding and Creating News Hooks

In addition, NGOs seek public attention by timing their news releases in the hope they will
have more impact, and ensure they relate the “scandal of the moment” to tax avoidance

24
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 LA SIRENA NEGRA

EMILIA PARDO BAZAN

LA
SIRENA NEGRA
NOVELA

MADRID
M. PÉREZ VILLAVICENCIO, EDITOR
REINA, NÚM. 33
1908

Es propiedad.
Queda hecho el depósito que marca la ley.

Tipografía de Archivos.

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII,
XVIII.
 I
En la esquina de la Red de San Luis y el Caballero de Gracia, me separé
del grupo que venía conmigo desde el teatro de Apolo, donde acabábamos
de asistir á un estreno afortunado. Si hablase en alta voz, hubiese dicho
«grupo de amigos», pero, para mi sayo, ¿qué necesidad tengo de edulcorar
la infusión? Espero no poseer amigo ninguno; no tanto por culpa de los que
pudieran serlo, cuanto por la mía. Si alguna vez me he dejado llevar del
deseo de comunicación, de expansión, de registrarme el alma y enseñar un
poco de su obscuro contenido—á la media hora de hacerlo estaba corrido y
pesaroso, según estaría un sacerdote hebreo que hubiese permitido á un
profano tocar al arca de alianza.
Por lo mismo, me guardé de terciar en la polémica que armaron sobre
«la idea» de la obra. La tal idea es ya para mí una persona de toda
confianza: por sexta vez en este invierno la aprovecha un autor. Según los
recitados, cantares y diálogos de la zarzuelilla, la vida es buena, la alegría
es santa y los que no andan por ahí chorreando satisfacción son unos porros.
No sé por qué (acaso por efecto de la discusión trabada entre los del grupo,
y que me golpeó en el cerebro con redoble de martillazos secos y ligeros
sobre una placa sonora), la cuestión, en aquel momento, me preocupaba.
Ningún problema, para el que vive, revestirá mayor interés que este de la
calidad de la vida.
Y, aunque preocupado, mediante la facultad de desdoblamiento que
poseemos los meditativos sensuales, no dejaba yo de notar una serie de
insignificantes circunstancias. Bajo mis pisadas, la acera resonaba
metálicamente. La noche era límpida; el frío, puñalero; y al abrigo del
tapabocas de malla de seda, mi respiración se liquidaba en gotitas glaciales,
humedeciendo la barba. Se me ocurrió tomar un coche; después opté por
seguir andando. El frío duro me activaba el pensar, y en aquel mismo
instante decidí plantearme yo el problema, aprovechando todas las
ocasiones de caminar hacia su resolución, no en beneficio del género
humano, sino para mi gobierno tan sólo. El «género humano» es el vocablo
más vacío de sentido; no hay humanidad, hay hombres. Si algo se afirma
del género humano, los hombres se encargan de desmentir al punto la
afirmación. Rumiando estas afirmaciones, saqué el pañuelo y sequé las
esférulas que me aljofaraban la barba, impregnada de brillantina olorosa.
Al entrar en la calle de Jacometrezo, interrumpió mis cavilaciones una
criatura de mantón gris, de ojeras carbonadas. ¿Qué opinará del vivir esta
mujer, á quien rechazo con fastidio como á una mosca? No necesito
preguntar: si hay algo previsto, conocido, de psicología rudimentaria, es el
poso del ánimo de estas galantes callejeras. Las llaman de la vida, por
antonomasia, y, á más, de la vida alegre. Para olvidar un instante lo alegre
de su vida, fuman, gritan, riñen, se embeodan, insultan,—y su ideal, su
dorado sueño, es acostarse temprano y dormir á pierna suelta.
Cien pasos más allá, el sereno se inclina sobre un hombre espatarrado en
el suelo. A mi ademán auxiliador y á mi pregunta, el vigilante responde
solícito para mí y compasivamente desdeñoso para el caído. Nada, lo diario:
un borracho que todas las noches se tumba exactamente en esa rinconada
misma... Nunca llega á su casa, que dista dos pasos... Y es lástima de él: un
carpintero, perito en su oficio, con cinco chiquillos que caben debajo de una
cesta...
Cuando le enderezamos, algo líquido, viscoso, resbaló por mi mano, que
sacudí con repugnancia. Era sangre. «Está herido»—advertí al sereno; y le
llevamos con mayores precauciones á su morada, edificio angosto y caduco,
de esos que abundan en las vías más céntricas del Madrid viejo. Salió la
esposa, abotargada de sueño, desgreñada: vió la rotura de la cabeza de su
marido, y maldijo y se desdichó: «¡Gaste usted ahora en médicos y botica!»
Al oir los consuelos negativos del sereno,—en vez de un herido,
pudiéramos traer un difunto, si el filo de la acera le coge de otro modo—
renegó la comadre: «A un difunto no le duele ná. El dice siempre que los
probes nunca estamos mejor que difuntos»...
Dejé un duro para botica y pedí un poco de agua para lavarme la mano
maculada. Me sacaron de la trastienda una palangana tan negruzca, que opté
por tamponarme sencillamente con mi pañuelo. Me alejé, sintiendo un
escozor irritado, un enojo sordo. La noche no me ofrecía sino impresiones
«de color sombrío», como las palabras leídas por el Dante sobre el dintel de
la puerta del infierno. Sin embargo, de análogas impresiones se sacan
obrillas aplaudidas, donde el vicio y la borrachera son temas regocijados.
Debe de consistir la sabiduría en mirar todas las cosas desde un punto de
vista gayo y saltarín; de seguro yo no sé colocarme en él: peor para mí, ¡qué
demonio!
Todavía me dirigí otro reproche. Aunque no creo en la humanidad,
concepto hueco, palabra de meeting, un instinto de estética moral me induce
á mostrarme piadoso con los desgraciados y los insignificantes, cuando me
los encuentro al paso. Me pesaba de no haberme quedado velando al
carpintero, de no haber buscado para él un médico y remedios y hasta de no
haberle dado consejos sobre la mala costumbre del alcohol. ¿Causas de mi
abstención? Dos, que voy á declarar. La primera, una especie de pudor
vergonzoso de practicar eso que se llama el bien, la beneficencia, y que no
comprendo en relativo, sino en absoluto—dedicando á ello la existencia
toda.—El hacer algo caritativo acarrea el que se apeguen á uno
caninamente, ó siquiera el que le den á uno gracias y le ensalcen por su
bondad, otras tantas mentiras, pues privarse de lo que nos sobra ¿qué
bondad revela?—La segunda, un miedo á la acción, que no puedo (ni
quiero) vencer. La acción es enemiga de los ensueños y reflexiones, en que
encuentro atractivo singular. Ni hay acción tan noble como una idea: pensar
lo que estoy pensando, vale más que correr á casa de Alejandro San Martín
y traerle á la cabecera de un beodo que batió contra una piedra saliente.
¡Pss! Allá él. Zurrapa más, zurrapa menos en la barrica...
Encogiéndome de hombros, sigo hacia mi casa—sin prisa—. En la
plazuela trabajan, á estas altas horas, obreros del alcantarillado y del Canal.
Según parece, su labor no puede interrumpirse. Un arroyo de agua helada
corre bajo sus pies. Para no quedarse hechos unos carámbanos, han
encendido un brasero, al cual por turno se arriman, resoplando y estirando
las manos engarrotadas. Para impedir que los transeúntes sufran percances,
han colgado un farolito avisador sobre los adoquines arrancados y apilados.
Antes que dedicarse á tal labor, ¿no preferiría yo... otra cosa? Será que ellos
también, como las coristas que desafinaban hace una hora en Apolo,
entienden que la vida es

muy rica y buena,

prenda divina
de encantos llena...?

Un poco más adelante—tropiezo que pudiera ser divertido—avanzan por

la acera, pegadas al caserío, recelosas, dos mujeres no mal vestidas,
pulcramente calzadas. Las reconozco: son las modistas del tercero de mi
casa, muchachas de San Sebastián, que han venido á establecerse en
Madrid. Suelo encontrármelas en la escalera. La mayor es agraciada, fresca
aún, á pesar del trabajo y del sedentarismo. La menor es coja; su pierna
desigual la hace pegar saltos de codorniz, asaz ridículos. Emparejo con ellas
y las ofrezco mi compañía: se me antoja saber si resuelven que la vida es
buena. Ellas suponen que voy con otro fin, fin condenable y gustoso. La
mayor se atribuye la conquista; la coja, en su humildad de lisiada, nunca
imagina que tales cosas vayan con ella. Para entrar en materia, las pregunto
si están contentas de Madrid y qué tal marchan sus negocios.
—Regular. Por ahora, no sabemos... ¡Las señoras son tan raras! Hasta
que nos acostumbremos á sus caprichos...
De dónde venían?—¡Casualidad más sorprendente! Del mismo teatro
que yo, sólo que á la salida unas amigas las habían convidado á chocolate...
¿El estreno? Bonito; música muy animada.
—¿Y qué opinan ustedes de eso de que la vida es buena? Pilita...
Manola... ¿Están ustedes contentas de haber nacido?
La pregunta fué contestada con risas y dichetes. Creían que bromeaba, y
no se quedaban atrás. Probablemente (después se me ha ocurrido) estas dos
abejas cuyo dardo es la aguja no se encuentran desgraciadas. Yo sí que me
encontré cándido al elegir para mi indagatoria tales sujetos. A fin de desviar
la conversación, las dirigí unos cuantos requiebros insulsos, antes de
dejarlas á la puerta de mi domicilio. Subir con ellas de bracero, era una
pacheca insoportable, y preferí callejear un poco todavía.
No sé qué tienen, en las horas que preceden al amanecer, sobre todo en
invierno, cuando la noche es más noche, las calles de una capital populosa.
Detrás de las imponentes puertas de los palacios; detrás de las ventanas,
parecidas á ojos que dejaron caer sus párpados al adormirse,—¡qué infinito
de misterio! ¿Por qué esta suspensión de la vida, en toda la ciudad á la vez?
—La multitud recogida en sus dormitorios, míseros ó confortables, ¿no está
realmente como si hubiese muerto? ¿No es cada alcoba, cerrada y tibia, una
antesala del sepulcro? Y este silencio, esta paz letal de la noche, ¿no es el
único período delicioso, dulce, apacible de las veinticuatro horas que tejen
el giro diurno?
Cuando, por casualidad, el trasnochador se cruza con otro trasnochador,
¿no sienten los dos un movimiento de desconfianza, de medrosa curiosidad?
Sólo velan y sólo ambulan fuera del nicho de sus dormitorios las almas
perdidas por la miseria, por la delincuencia ó por el amor clandestino. Si
veo á un trasnochador derrotado, mendigo ó malhechor; si á un burgués
bien trajeado, de tapabocas, subido el cuello del gabán, amante oculto. Y el
caso es que yo no soy lo uno ni lo otro, y también vago, transido y envarado
de frío ya, de ese frío matinal, tórpido, que no es como el del anochecer,
porque se complica con el agotamiento nervioso, cansado por el insomnio.
—Esta reflexión me hace detenerme al pie de la blanca fachada, correcta,
tranquilizadora, del teatro Real.—¿Qué hago en las calles, dando diente con
diente? ¿No tengo mi alcoba, tan silenciosa, tan recogida, mi cama tan
cómoda, de dorado bronce, con un sommier y un colchón que convidan á
tenderse en ellos, con un edredón relleno de plumón de ánade, que halaga
sin pesar, que al apoyar en él la palma, brinca y se hunde fofo para volver á
erguirse inflado?
—¿Cuántos me lo envidiarían?—pensé; pero al iniciar la retirada hacia
mi agujero, me faltó fuerza de voluntad y seguí calle del Arenal adelante.
Una transparencia lívida se difundía en el firmamento: el amanecer.—La
iglesia parroquial abría sus puertas para la primera misa. Subí la escalera,
crucé el atrio, me deslicé en la sacristía penumbrosa,—y por una puertecilla
entré en la nave. El contacto de la recia estera fué simpático á mis pies, que,
á pesar de la caminata, eran dos montones de granizo. En un rincón, un
banco se ofreció á mi fatiga; me dejé caer en él; y, sin ser poderoso á
resistir, rendido, exánime, cedí á un letargo repentino, de esos que saltean al
jinete sobre su montura, al timonel con la mano en la caña.
Al despertar, siendo ya día claro, no sabía dónde estaba, y fué grande mi
asombro cuando vi de soslayo el retablo del altar mayor y á mi lado un
púlpito. A decir toda la verdad, desperté porque el sacristán me dió
palmadas en un hombro, y me silabeó en el hueco del oído un «pssitt ¡eh!
¡caballero!» bastante encolerizado. Parece que existe y está clasificada la
variedad de los trasnochadores que gustan de descabezar un sueño en el
apacible recinto de las iglesias á la madrugada, y que los monagos abrigan
contra esta ralea justificada prevención y la corren como á los perros
intrusos.
Hice mis genuflexiones y salí del templo enervado, con el malestar del
insatisfecho, de la función fisiológica interrumpida. Bebí en cualquier sitio
un vaso de café caliente para despabilarme, y, al contrario, diríase que
aumento mi afán de reposo, mi nostalgia de la muerte temporal, mi sed de
la nada. Salté dentro de un alquilón y di mis señas. Amodorrado y
cabeceando contra mi pecho en el ángulo del clarens, donde no me atrevía á
recostarme temeroso de la impureza promiscua depositada allí por tantas
cabezas, iba pensando que es una niñería humana el temer á ciertos modos
de morir, pues muérase como se muera, ello es que descansamos. El sueño
que yo buscaba en mi alcoba, donde no faltan refinamientos, no iba á ser
más dulce y total que el hurtado sobre duro banco en el rincón de una
iglesia. Tomado ya el sueño, logrado el aniquilamiento, ¿qué importan
precedentes?
Entré con mi llavín; los criados seguramente no se habrían levantado; mi
hermana, menos; la casa estaba muda. Encendí mi serpentina de gas fluido,
y á los cuatro minutos tuve agua caliente para las abluciones. Enjabonado,
pasada la esponja de mil ojos, enjuto, reaccionado, me vestí el camisón, y
llegó el momento mágico de alzar las ropas y deslizarse, ágil y desmadejado
á un tiempo, en el ancha cama, suspirando de placer. La frialdad de las
sábanas cede á la corriente de calor que pronto establece el cuerpo; el
colchón rebota con suave elasticidad al dar yo vuelta y arroparme; los
ruidos de la calle se extinguen para mí... Por última vez, suspiro de
bienestar... Duermo.
 II
Mi hermana Camila tiene, acerca de mí, proyectos matrimoniales. Creo
que es el caso general de todas las hermanas, á menos que sea el contrario
—, un odio corso á cualquier ser femenino que su hermano distinga.
Propala mi hermana que ha sido muy feliz en su matrimonio; y no lo
dudo, entre otras razones, porque la unión duró cinco ó seis años, y mi
cuñado estuvo dos de ellos en Cuba, arreglando negocios pendientes. Si
Camila fuese franca, confesaría que es ahora cuando lo pasa bien; pero, ¿y
la pose de viuda inconsolable? ¿Quién se la quita? Una vez, anualmente,
inconsolable la proclama la cuarta plana de La Correspondencia, en la
esquela más cara y espaciosa de las que allí se publican. Aquel día, la viuda
encarga misas en diversas parroquias. Por la tarde, una docena de amigos y
parientes vienen á hacer el duelo á Camila; un duelo en que no se alude al
finado, en que se murmura sin mostaza y se planean combinaciones de
abonos para la temporada de primavera. Ya el año pasado, que acudió más
gente, se sirvió té, con galletas (auténticas de Londres), y un revistero de
sociedad anunció el five. Ese día no falta ella nunca; y, generalmente, la veo
cada semana dos ó tres veces, en el Real ó en mi casa, donde almuerza
bastantes domingos.
He subrayado ella, únicamente por no singularizarme; por conformarme
á los usos establecidos en tales materias. Si miro hacia mi corazón, ó
adonde se cobijen los afectos, allí no la llamo ella, sino buenamente Trini.
¿Su retrato? Ni bonita, ni fea. Hay menos beldades por ahí adelante de lo
que las novelas y las planas á todo color de los semanarios harían suponer.
Tiene un defecto, la cara redonda; un atractivo peculiar, la boca húmeda de
juventud y dentada á maravilla. Es hija de un magistrado que fué íntimo de
mi padre, que casó con una heredera opulenta de Aragón, y hubo de sus
legítimas nupcias una hembra y dos varones. Si al fin me uno á Trini,
deberé á la gran Segadora verme libre de suegra y suegro. Los padres de
Trini son honrados; les han hecho las honras, por cierto á todo lujo. Trini
manda en sí y en su caudal y es modelo de «señoritas formales». Unas
cuantas dueñas cotorronas, tertulianas de Camila, no se sacian de repetirlo,
y protegen instintivamente la candidatura. A pesar de mi espíritu crítico y
minucioso, conozco que Trini será una gran ama, no sólo de llaves, sino de
sala y gabinete. Es fina, lista, limpia, primorosa.
Yo me acerco, me dejo caer, la hago unos asomos de corte; pero ni me
derrito, ni acabo de decidirme á meter el pie en el agua. ¿Es que quiero á
otra?—El lenguaje es una tela teñida de los colores primarios, chillones y
sin degradación. ¿Existe, acaso, la escala de los matices verbales, justos,
imperceptibles, que correspondan al matizado riquísimo del sentir? ¿Cómo
denominar lo que no he definido?
La casualidad me ha puesto en relación con una criatura miserable y
desquiciada, á quien encontré en la antesala de un médico varias veces. Para
dar idea del tipo de esta mujer, sería preciso evocar las histéricas de Goya,
de palidez fosforescente, de pelo enfoscado en erizón, de pupilas como
lagos de asfalto, donde duerme la tempestad romántica. El modesto manto
de granadina, negro marco de la enflaquecida faz, adquiere garbo de
mantilla maja al rodear el crespo tejaroz que deja en sombra la frente. De la
mano de la mujer se cuelga un niño como de cuatro á cinco años; un niño
hechicero, travieso y cariñoso, por medio del cual entré en trato con la
madre. El primer día en que les vi, su turno de consulta precedió al mío, y
antes de dar pormenores de mi gastralgia, me enteré de si era grave el
padecimiento de la cliente.
—No me ha consultado para sí—contestó el doctor.—Se trataba del
chiquillo.
—¡Pero si ella parece enfermísima!
—Y lo está. Sólo que pertenece al número de las enfermas que no
quieren hablar de su mal, suponiendo que si no le llaman por su nombre, el
mal no acude. No he visto mujer más impresionable. Me gustaría que se
consultase, porque debe de ser un caso.
La segunda vez, el doctor—mirándome con escama algo guasona,
sorprendido de mi interés por aquella esmirriada—amplió las noticias. Se
llama Rita Quiñones, y vive estrechamente, con una criadita, en un piso
bajo de la calle de San Lorenzo. No es casada. No es tampoco una mujer
galante... Parece andaluza. ¿Sus antecedentes? Ignorados.
Al encontrarla de nuevo, conseguí hacer migas, adulando al niño,
acariciándole y regalándole bombones. Obtuve permiso para visitarla, á
pretexto de llevar un juguete, y lo aproveché en seguida. Sin manto, con
pañoleta de linó y encaje, raída á fuerza de lavados, y dejando asomar por
debajo de la falda de lana negra un pie combado, pequeño—era más
marcada aún la semejanza con algunos de los inquietadores modelos del
Sordo.—Me empeñé en que hablase de sí misma, y, en cierto límite, lo
conseguí fácilmente: estaba en uno de esos días en que á los neuróticos se
les sale parte del alma por la boca. Según creí alcanzar, mi visita, mi
solicitud, la alborozaban; parecíanle caso de enamoramiento, y ella era
mujer: sobre todo, mujer. No cometió, sin embargo, provocación ni grosería
alguna, de esas que suelen gastar las decaídas: al contrario, me pareció
notar que miraba con instintiva repulsión las demasías, las materialidades.
Su amor al niño era una mezcla de fiebre y ternura: le nombraba con
compasión dolorosa, con palabras como las que se pronuncian á la cabecera
del enfermo desahuciado, ó al apiadarse del reo que va á salir para el
suplicio. Cuando le di el caballito de cartón, causa de transportes de júbilo,
la madre murmuró:
—Que se distraiga, que goce... Siquiera mientras pueda gozar, alma
mía...
Su voz es deliciosa, cristalina, menuda; su fraseo púdico y decente, en
medio de la vehemencia de su expresión y del violento afán con que repite
que es «mala», «muy mala». He aquí lo curioso y lo atrayente de esta
mujer: no miente, es de las histéricas verídicas, que son las menos; calla, sí,
algo, sin duda lo más grave de su historia.—Es versátil. Lo que ayer sintió
de un modo, lo siente mañana del opuesto; y del propio modo se trata á sí
misma de maldita y de condenada, con la expresión más tétrica en los
abismos de asfalto de sus grandes ojos, que se disculpa, se conmueve de
lástima de sí propia. Me ha contado que nació en Cádiz; que su familia era
antigua, y de las buenas, venida á menos; que después de apuros y miserias
estuvieron en Manila varios años...
—¿Empleado alguien? Su padre de usted...?
Al nombre de su padre, los ojos hondos y calenturientos se velan como
de una nube de humo... Sin duda el papá se mostró inhumano para ella; y
continúa:
—Sí, empleado fué... ¡Qué tierra aquella! Calor pegajoso... y está uno
tan flojo, tan débil... Falta el ánimo, todo le da á uno igual... A eso llaman
aplatanarse... Luego nos volvimos á España... En Madrid nació Rafaelín,
pobrecito mío...
 No me resuelvo á insistir. La veo tan descolorida, tan desencajada, que
aplazo. He percibido que aquí está la clave...
Mes y medio hace que dura nuestra relación (¿se puede llamar relación á
esto?) y ninguna tarde encuentro igual á Rita. Tan pronto canta y ríe
infantilmente, como yace tendida en un sofá forrado de damasco muy raído,
languideciendo, casi sin aliento, en la angustia de la disnea. Un día me
enseña el pañuelo estrellado de sangre; otro me pide violetas y dátiles y
bruños secos, y se atraca como los chiquillos. Ya habla del amor con
murmurío estático, ya lo diseca con buen sentido de abuelita septuagenaria,
ó lo condena con crispaciones de repugnancia espiritualista. Y no hay
ficción, no hay cálculo: lo que fluctúa en sus ojazos es el oleaje de su alma
inquieta, torturada no sé por qué. Sólo dos sentimientos invariables
encuentro en ella. El primero, la idolatría de su hijo. El segundo, un pavor,
un sobresalto casi continuo, el miedo á la nada, á la disolución de su
organismo.
—¡Morir!—repite cogiéndome la mano con la suya, húmeda y ardorosa.
—¿Verdad que no me moriré? ¿Verdad que no es nada esto que tengo? No,
no me repita usted lo que sepa por el médico; si yo no he querido
consultarle. Al fin, no le curan á uno. Prefiero no saber...—Y cierra los
pozos de sus ojos, y un estremecimiento sobrenatural corre por todo su
cuerpo y se comunica al mío.
—¡La he visto, la he visto pasar!—grita una tarde saltando del sofá, con
las pupilas dilatadas—. Es una sombra grande, muy alta, que llega al techo.
¡Ha salido por la puerta de mi alcoba y ahora acaba de desvanecerse en la
del pasillo! ¿Pero usted no la ve...? ¿No la ve?
—¿A quién, Rita, á quién?—respondo chancero.
—A la Seca, á la... ¡Jesús!
Y se cubre el rostro, y su temblor, como un aura del otro mundo, le eriza
el fosco pelo goyesco.
No sabiendo cómo distraerla de la aprensión y los terrores, la he
propuesto ir al teatro algunas tardes. Ha aceptado palmoteando de alegría.
Compro un proscenio segundo, localidad vergonzante, y la llevo en coche;
nos bajamos un poco antes de llegar á la puerta del teatro, y ella entra sola;
yo me reúno momentos después, disimulo que me impongo para que no me
importunen con chismes y habladurías. Rita lleva sus acostumbrados trajes
de lanilla negra, muy pobres, y como nota de lujo, un boa blanco de pluma
que yo la he regalado. La agitación y emoción de su contento trazan en sus
pómulos una pincelada de carmín, demasiado violenta, sin el suave
desvanecido de las rosas clásicas. Sus manos consumidas bailan dentro de
los guantes, también ofrecidos por mí, manejando el abanico con garbo
típico de maja gaditana. Yo aparezco poco después, y me quedo agazapado
en el fondo del palco. Empieza la representación. Rita se pone de codos en
el antepecho, saca fuera el busto, y bebe, absorbe el drama; ó mejor dicho,
el drama la absorbe á ella, la arrebata momentáneamente á la realidad, la
desprende de sí propia; como la de los extáticos, su alma sale de su cuerpo
minado por la enfermedad, codiciado y reclamado por la tierra, y se mete en
el cuerpo vibrante de la actriz; sus labios, en un balbuceo, repiten los
párrafos más conmovedores, las frases más efectistas; y mientras el agua
que duerme en el fondo de sus pupilas tenebrosas salta un momento á la
superficie, en chispas de diamante, se vuelve hacia mí y repite:
—¡Qué hermoso! verdad? qué hermoso!.. Me enternezco! ¿Qué, á usted
no le gusta?
Sonrío y contesto que sí me gusta mucho. No tengo pujos críticos
cuando estoy con Rita. Todo es admirable; el almizcle de París que
desempaquetaron la víspera, el bacalao de Noruega de Ibsen, la
ferranchinería romántica, las moralejas garbanceras, sensibleras,
genuinamente nacionales, el efectismo de chafarrinón... No me importan
estilos, géneros, corrientes, ni moldes; en pos de la neurótica, aprendo á
viajar por fuera de mi juicio. Alguna vez que se me ha ocurrido censurar al
autor, sonreir de una inverosimilitud, Rita me ha atajado, murmurando:
—En la vida pasan cosas... ¡vaya! más gordas que todo eso!
He sacado en limpio que Rita vive de una pensioncilla que le pasa su
abuela materna; que su madre murió hace bastantes años; que de su padre
no se sabe á punto fijo el paradero;—se le sospecha en Manila otra vez,—y
que la abuela, señora pudiente de San Lúcar, aunque manda á su nieta
limosna, no ha querido volver á verla: sin duda la maldice. Mi información
ha sido fragmentaria: hoy arranco un pedacillo de verdad, mañana otro; y
queda, detrás de los hechos escuetos que voy ensartando como pájaros
muertos por varilla de cazador, un infinito de historia, un secreto que
presiento y que me irrita, como la fragancia de vino encerrado, inaccesible,
al bebedor de oficio.
 Mi tesis con Rita es persuadirla indirectamente de que morir no hace
mal; de que el instante decisivo no lleva aparejado ningún tormento.
Observando que cuando ha dormido bastantes horas está contenta, la
predico la identidad del sueño con la muerte, sin más diferencia que el
instante del despertar, y algunas sensaciones que preceden al punto de
dormirse.
—¡Sí, sí, pero... ese despertar!—gime aterrada la española.—Cuando las
personas son como yo! tan malas, tan malas!
La ofrezco el trivial consuelo de la frecuencia, de la insignificancia de la
culpa. ¿Quién no es culpable? ¿Está el mundo lleno de santos ó de
pecadores?
—No todos los pecadores son iguales... Hay pecados de pecados...—Y la
afirmación de la infeliz se completa con un relámpago de su mirada, velado
inmediatamente por una niebla de incurable amargura. En estos momentos
yo la acaricio para calmarla, sin rastro de maliciosa intención; ella se desvía
—porque es la española, que no concibe que un contacto de hombre y
mujer puede nunca ser inocente.—Un día, sin embargo, me somete el caso
de conciencia. Yo la estoy hartando de finezas, de regalos para ella y
Rafaelín... ¿La creo obligada á complacerme?... ¿Mi objeto es acaso...?
—No es ese mi objeto, Rita. No piense usted disparates. Soy un amigo.
Me toma una mano y me la estrecha con devoción. Sonrío y saco del
bolsillo una cajita de cartón rosa llena de tabletas de chocolate, de las caras.
Rita adora el chocolate; me arrebata la caja, y con transporte de criatura
indisciplinada, antojadiza, hinca el diente á la golosina helvética, dándome
las gracias con un mirar risueño, aclarado de alegría.
Mientras ella mordisquea, yo la considero, y quisiera abrir su cabeza,
destaparla, registrarla,—para conocer el arcano que oculta, y por el cual me
tiene sujeto, con fidelidad de amante que espera y teme y respeta y calla;—
el arcano, único atractivo de este espíritu que, de noche, vaga perdido entre
las tinieblas del Miedo y del Mal.
 III
Amoscada anda mi hermana con lo de Rita: no sé quién se lo habrá
soploneado. Es verosímil que me haya espiado en el teatro, á pesar de las
precauciones que tomo. Y se me figura que Trini y ella, en sus intimidades,
han conferenciado acerca del asunto, con esos campaneos de cabeza y esos
enarques de cejas que son la mímica de esta clase de conciliábulos entre
mujeres sensatas.
Al fin no pudo vencerse Camila, y cierta mañana irrumpió en mi
gabinete-despacho, una hora antes de la de almorzar, el momento que
dedico á leer cosas serias, porque tengo la cabeza despejada y el estómago
libre. Hubo preámbulos, diplomacia y, por último, estallido. Yo tenía una
querida, y además, un hijo de semejante mujerzuela. Y mi tácito
compromiso con Trini, y el mal lugar en que las dejaba, y la honra, y, y, y...
Mientras Camila se explaya, la considero atentamente, sin enojo y sin
reto, como se mira correr en estío una fuente parlera. Camila se parece de
un modo sorprendente á mi madre; las mismas facciones clásicas de
matrona romana, la misma mirada imperiosa, el mismo cuerpo arrogante,
donde la seda hace pliegues solemnes, como estudiados, y juegos de luz, al
estilo de los ropajes suntuosos que pintaba Madrazo con tanto acierto. Un
cariño meramente instintivo ó impulsivo era lo que por mi madre sentía yo,
y, realmente, según el espíritu, sólo soy hijo de mi padre, rezagado
romántico, soñador, y que, conforme á la moda de su tiempo, fué algo poeta
(ahora, por moda también, somos algo intelectuales). Hacia Camila
experimento el mismo apego natural que hacia mi madre; pero con un toque
de desdén, de convicción de mi superioridad. Ella entiende lo contrario; me
tiene en menos; se cree más cuerda, más práctica, más razonable cien veces
que yo, y me protege y vela por mí (que es modo de desdeñar). Ejerce sobre
mí un ascendiente material, del cual reniego, y que se funda en mezquinos
servicios y auxilios prestados á veces, como cuidados durante
enfermedades, advertencias relativas á cuestiones de interés; nada en suma.
De todo cuanto me decía Camila, me hizo eco en el alma únicamente
aquel concepto de considerarme padre de Rafaelín. Al estarlo oyendo,
sentía ansias de que fuese verdad. Yo no deseaba un hijo, en el sentido
estricto de la frase; pero se me ocurrió que sería delicioso tener ese hijo;
ese, no otro.
Las gracias y perfecciones del niño se me representaron todas en aquel
punto, con tal viveza, que mi corazón se iba hacia él y le besaba
paternalmente.
Veía yo, mientras Camila me acusaba del dulce hurto no cometido, la
cara oval, morena, igual á la de Rita, pero con el barniz regio de la salud;
los ojos santos, puros, sin mancha; el reir gorjeante, la travesura celeste del
chiquillo, la sal de su media lengua y de sus antojos, la monería de los
bofetones tiranos que me pegaba y de los brazos que me abría al decirle su
madre: «¿Ves? Ya te ha traído don Gaspar otro juguete...» Un calor íntimo
se me esparcía por el alma al recordar todo esto; y un propósito, una
resolución de ser el padre de Rafaelín por mi voluntad, no por azar de la
carne, surgía en mí, al mismo tiempo que mi hermana me reprendía
severamente suponiendo la paternidad. Era la defensa del instinto de
perpetuarse, instinto que ya creía punto menos que abolido en mí; era... ¡ah,
no me cabía duda! ¡era la vida, la vida, la vida, la maga, que me llamaba
otra vez, y al llamarme me ofrecía una copa de amor! La pobre Rita estaba
sentenciada; pero, ¿el niño? Por él podría yo—¿quién sabe?—interesarme
en algo sencillo, bueno, natural...
Con ímpetu, derramando efusión, cogí las manos de Camila, y exclamé:
—Pues bien: no lo discuto. Sí que es mío ese chico. Ya verás; un sol, una
monada. Vas á chochear con él.
Mi hermana retrocedió. No sabré describir cómo se le inmutó la cara; sus
clásicas facciones adquirieron el ceño y la contracción adusta de las
antiguas Melpómenes. ¡Indignada, es hasta fea Camila!—decidí para mis
adentros.
—Supongo que bromeas; pero la broma, hijo, es de pésimo gusto.
—No bromeo.
—Vamos, piensas casarte con la mamá de la criatura.
—No se me ocurre:—respondí con sinceridad—entre otras cosas, porque
no creo que la queden dos meses de estar en este mundo. Me coges en un
momento de espontaneidad, Camila; desarruga ese entrecejo, que te sienta
muy mal; ¡si te vieses! El chico es más mío, ¿lo oyes?, que si lo hubiese
engendrado materialmente. Lo material es muy despreciable en todo; pero
en eso del amor y de la paternidad es en lo que más ruin é insignificante se
me figura. ¿No crees tú lo mismo? Si tienes alguna elevación en el sentir...
—Pero... el chico—interrumpió ella vacilando—, ¿es tuyo ó no es tuyo?
¿En qué quedamos, Gaspar? Descíframe el enigma.
—¡Pch! El enigma no te importa—respondí, pensando para mi sayo:
«¡Alma, ciérrate!»—Los resultados, querida hermana, van á ser
exactamente los mismos que si el chico fuera mío, como entiendes tú que
son nuestras las cosas. Y los resultados son lo único que aquí se pleitea.
—¿Pleitear? Te engañas—articuló Camila con aviesa esquivez.—No
pleiteo. Allá tú; allá te las compongas. Desde que vivimos reunidos, ¿en qué
asunto tuyo me he mezclado?
Yo podría contestarle que en todos absolutamente, porque desde el color
de mi colcha hasta la colocación de mis fondos, mi hermana interviene
siempre en cuanto me incumbe, indirectamente, pero con la tenacidad de un
insecto preso en un vaso y que busca salida. Sospecho que hasta abre mis
cartas y las curiosea. Sin embargo, opté por encogerme de hombros y
convenir. Porque en mis verdaderos asuntos—los de mi espíritu—Camila
no puede mezclarse, no conociéndolos.
—Corriente: dado que no intervendrás en mis negocios, hija mía,
prepárate á la transformación que mi vida va á sufrir. Si Trini quiere que nos
casemos, el niño tendrá quien le cuide, quien haga veces de madre... ¿Qué
opinas tú? ¿Trini sabrá amar como madre á mi Rafaelín?
Camila parpadeó y constriñó los labios, gesto de las personas demasiado
cargadas de razón, que no quieren dar suelta á la palabra para que no
muerda. De contener la respiración se puso arremolachada. Al cabo,
ajustado ya el antifaz de calma indiferente, exhaló un susurro:
—Qué sé yo... allá ella y tú... Entérate.
—¿No tienes opinión?—Y mi tono era irónico.
—¿Opinión? ¿No he de tenerla?—saltó, disparando con cerbatana las
sílabas, que me azotaron airadas.—A la primer palabra de semejante delirio,
Trini te dirá, y con razón, que ella no está para cuidar chiquillos espúreos,
que no tiene por qué cargar con lo que le encajas. Que santo y bueno
tomarse molestias por los hijos propios, pero que los ajenos, memorias.
¿Qué te has creído tú de Trini? Pretendientes la sobran que no la impongan
condiciones raras y obligaciones fantásticas. ¡Pues digo!...
 —Si Trini me amase—articulé sosegadamente—amaría á la criatura, por
cariño á mí. ¿No viene hoy á almorzar? Pues la interrogaré. Tú no la
prevengas: déjala seguir su impulso.
Una hora después llegó Trini. Me había vestido prestando suma atención
á los pormenores de mi traje. Sentía emoción de cadete, ante la esperanza,
no tanto de que Trini me quisiese lo suficiente para acoger en un arranque
tierno, de mujer y madre, á Rafaelín,—sino de que, ante su arranque,
naciese en mí el verdadero amor. Lo que me hace palpitar viene del interior
de mi ser: no puede venir de fuera. Si Trini se revela, si vibra...—calculaba
yo—siento que vibraré también; y no será como con Rita, una atracción
perversa, seudo-romántica: será el amor completo, con su raigambre
poderosa, que nos adhiere á la tierra; será el hogar, con humareda azul de
ilusión—porque el hogar, con solo el humo del puchero, lo que es yo no me
siento capaz de resistirlo!—Y enajenado, consagré tiempo al lazo de mi
corbata, á la clavazón en él de la gruesa perla redonda, á atusar el pelo, á
frotar con el pulidor las uñas. Iba tan brillador de ojos y tan amador en mi
porte, que Trini, al estrechar mi mano, se arreboló, olfateando sutilmente,
como hembra, que algo impensado ocurría. Yo (soy muy desconfiado) había
estado en acecho, y salido á encontrarla en la antecámara, temeroso de los
manejos de Camila.—Almorzamos, alegres y decidores los novios, mi
hermana fruncida, encapotada y pesimista. Según su perro humor, el asado
era un carboncillo, las tostadas del té unas virutas, y las quenefas del
bolován eran de escayola. Trini se reía enseñando sus encías jugosas y
vivaces, su fresca lengüecilla inquieta entre la doble fila de gotas de leche
cuajadas de la arqueada dentadura. Me daban tentaciones de caricias
atrevidas,—y sentía por Trini escalofrío humano, ansia celestial. Cien años
que viva (¡no me faltaba sino vivirlos!) no olvidaré el encantador almuerzo,
al canto de la chimenea activa y roja, respirando el aroma de las violetas
tardías y los claveles blancos tempraneros, que adornaban el centro de plata,
en honor á Trini—á ella; entonces sí que se lo llamaba interiormente... Por
debajo de los encajes gruesos del mantel cogí su mano, que no se retiró.
Aún estábamos eléctricamente asidos, cuando se levantó con un pretexto
cualquiera Camila, y nos dejó solos. Trini, sofocada, hizo un movimiento
para seguirla; yo protesté, apretando más la mano de seda y clavándome
con deleite en los pulpejos las sortijas del meñique. Ella comprendió que
llegaba la hora decisiva de aquel noviazgo hasta entonces tan soso y
borroso, y sus ojos, avergonzados, buscaron el dibujo de la alfombra.
 —¿Trini?—suspiré—. Sabe usted que esta mañana le dije á Camila que
nuestra boda es inminente?
—¿Camila?...—tartamudeó ella agarrándose á lo que podía ayudarla á
disimular su confusión—. Dice usted que Camila... Estaría por eso de tan
mal talante?—y sonrió á la hipótesis.
—Por eso precisamente, no. Va usted á saber por qué, Trini...—Acerqué
mi silla, solté la mano y nos reclinamos, muy próximos, en la mesa.—
Escuche y pese la respuesta...—¡No venga usted hasta que le llame!—
ordené al criado que entraba trayendo leña.—Trini, yo trato á una mujer, y
esta mujer tiene un niño.
Ella se demudó.
—Ya lo sabía. ¿Para qué me lo dice usted?
—Porque el eje de esta conversación es eso: la mujer, el niño; sobre
todo, el niño... ¿se entera usted, amiga mía?
Trini indicó el gesto de desviarse, pálida y turbada.
—Por Dios! No así, Trini; no así. Hay que escuchar, y sobre todo hay
que entender. Cuando usted haya entendido, decide. A la mujer la visito
diariamente, pero no tengo con ella más relación que visitarla... Como si
fuésemos hermanos. ¿No lo cree usted? No tengo para qué mentir. Es una
enferma, una tísica. Si eso puede contribuir á la tranquilidad de usted, no la
veré más.
—Pero el pequeño... No es... No es...—murmuró la muchacha, sin
resolverse á concluir, y mostrando confusión y acortamiento.
—¿Mío...? Según como usted comprenda la idea de pertenencia y
propiedad. No he besado á su madre nunca. Sin embargo, mío es el niño,
porque mío quiero que sea... Fíjese usted. Tampoco usted es mía, y por el
amor puedo apropiármela. El niño tiene mi sangre espiritual. De manera
que es mi hijo.
—Todo eso... lo encuentro rarísimo... Perdone usted, Gaspar; me cuesta
trabajo entenderlo.
—Malo, malo—discurrí en mi interior.—Corta de entendederas, corta de
cara, carirredonda... ¡Malo! ¡Esta no es mi hembra!—Y una melancolía
súbita me envolvió en su crespón inglés. No argüí nada; ella porfió:
—No se explica... Trate usted, por lo menos, de que yo acierte á
descifrarlo.
 —Creo que no podrá usted. Esto se descifra mediante un impulso, una
corazonada. No haciéndose cargo de pronto, es ya difícil... ¡En fin!—Y
resoplé desalentado:—¿No hay mil cosas inexplicables? Figúrese usted que
la pidiesen explicaciones del por qué quiere un hombre á una mujer; del por
qué nos es simpática una persona, y otra nos es insufrible... A mí ese niño
me ha dado la grata sorpresa de inspirarme un interés que me... me distrae
de otros pensamientos... algo... algo peligrosos; ¿te enteras, Trini?—Y al
brusco tuteo, uní la caricia inesperada, un estrujón, un raspón á la mano
contra mi bigote. Ella se encendió, su respiración se apresuró, y dijo
balbuciente:
—No, Gaspar... No me entero... Pero es lo mismo. ¿Qué pretende usted?
¿Qué desea usted de mí? A ver si hay medio...
—Trini, si nos casamos, el niño se vendrá á casa... Serás su madre. ¿Lo
serás?
Un esguince. Los ojos pestañudos, antes terciopelosos como uvas
negras, se hincaron en mí, fieros, enojados.
—¡Ah! Era eso...
—¿No aceptas?
—No... No sabía... Creí que se trataba de otra cosa; de darle educación,
de no abandonarle. Eso, bueno... Pero, ¿en casa? ¿Conmigo? ¿Qué se diría?
¿Qué papel haría yo?
Me incorporé. El almuerzo me pesaba como plomo en el estómago, y el
calor de la chimenea me asfixiaba. Volví las espaldas, sin saludar, sin
despedirme, y á paso lento me retiré á mi cuarto. Trini dijo no sé qué; acaso
pronunció con ahinco mi nombre. No hice caso alguno. Ya en mi
habitación, tomé sombrero, abrigo, guantes, y me fuí á ver á Rita.
 IV
La encontré con una hemorragia. La palangana, llena de coágulos,
descansaba sobre una silla. Ella, echada en su humilde cama de hierro,
apenas respiraba. Me sonrió doloridamente, como al través de un velo. La
niñera y única sirviente, la guipuzcoana Marichu, entretenía á Rafaelín por
medio de un carro hecho de dos carretes y unas cañas. Pero el niño, al
verme, dejó sus juegos y vino á agarrarse á mis piernas.
—¡Bapar! ¡Aúpa!
Le aupé, le besé los ojos, le apreté firme. Reía á chorros, pegándome
manotazos y tirándome de las barbas. Le dejé en el suelo, y anuncié:
—Vuelvo con el médico.
Vivía muy cerca uno, joven, sin clientela aún; estudioso, apurado de
recursos, ansiando trabajo y lucimiento. Se echó la capa y me acompañó. Su
examen de la paciente fué minucioso, su interrogatorio largo, pero sin
fineza psicológica. No veía sino el cuerpo de la enferma. Recetó; la criada
corrió á la botica. Yo, con Rafaelín en brazos, me fuí al cuartuco que hacía
de comedor, encendí el quinqué de petróleo—no se veía, eran las cinco de
la tarde—y reclamé la verdad.
—No sé si pasará de esta noche. Si la hemorragia repite...
Un golpe sordo me retumbó dentro. Iba á encontrarme cara á cara con la
Guadañadora.
—¿Querrá usted que me quede aquí?—interrogó el médico,
expansivamente.
—Lo agradecería.
—Voy á avisar á mi mujer, para que no se asuste; tomaré un bocado, y
aquí me tiene usted antes de una hora. ¿Gracias? No, si es un deber...
Quedé solo. El niño se adormecía sobre mi hombro, bañado en sudor, de
tanto diablear. En la alcoba se oía una inspiración lenta, irregular,
cavernosa. Sobre la almohada, la cabellera fosca de Rita se expandía
formando aureola de tinieblas. La cara, en medio, blanqueaba.
Congojosamente me llamó:
—¡Gaspar! ¡Gaspar!
 —¿Está usted mejor?
—Estoy... muy bien. Como si de encima del pecho... me hubiesen
quitado un peso... de una arroba.
—No hable. No se fatigue.
—¿Qué dice el médico?
—Que es lo de otras veces. Un ataquillo sin importancia.
Los ojos de mar muerto, de betún calcinado, despidieron vislumbre
repentina.
—Es el fin... ¡La de vámonos!.. Tengo miedo, Gaspar... Mucho miedo...
—No hay miedo... Estoy aquí... ¿Qué quiere usted que haga, niña, para
quitarla ese miedo bobo?
—¡Si pudiese... Si pudiese usted... traerme un... confesor!.. Pero un
confesor que sea muy bueno... que me perdone... Que sea como... como
Nuestro Señor crucificado!... así, bueno, para todos... para mí... que no mire
á mi iniquidad!...
—¿Va usted á agitarse? A empeorar?.. Sosiéguese, haga por dormir.
Arroró!..
—No puedo sosegarme... No soy mora, no soy judía. He pecado, estoy
en pecado mortal... ¡el mayor pecado!., y estoy... en lo último...
—Todos pecan... Tranquilícese...
—No, no, yo soy otra cosa; para mí no hay perdón; yo...
Hízome con la mano señal de acercar mi oído á su boca, y entre un vaho
de calentura pronunció:
—¡Yo... estoy... condenada!.. ¡Condenada!
—¡Qué disparate! Usted se va al cielo... dentro de muchos años... Bueno,
no se aflija, la complaceré... Ahora mismo traigo al sacerdote. Tome
primero la poción, recobre fuerzas...
Regresó de la botica Marichu, y al entregarme un frasco envuelto en
papel, me secreteó afanosa.
—Un cura se necesita, pues... No ha de ir como los perros, señor...
Cristiana es, cura han de llamar...
—Iba á salir á buscarle... Tráete una cuchara de plata.
No la había. Marichu fregó una de vil plomo. Cucharada tras cucharada,
administré á Rita la dosis. Pareció reanimarse un poco, y recargó:
 —El confesor... ¡Volando!
El médico volvía ya, dispuesto á pasar la noche á mi lado. Olía su boca
barbuda á vino barato, á queso de Flandes.
—Mandaré á la chica que le haga á usted una taza de café, doctor... Y
que le saquen una botellita de cognac. Hay de todo aquí; yo confiaba en el
alcohol y en la cafeína para sostener este organismo. Usted queda en su
casa; voy por ahí en demanda de un sacerdote. Desea confesarse... ¿Ve
usted peligro? ¿Inconveniente?
—No. Si lo ha pedido ella misma, la servirá de consuelo. No es uno
creyente fervoroso, pero hay que respetar mucho estas exigencias...
Salí, tomé un coche y di las señas: las de un anciano ex párroco,
bondadoso y sin tacha, hombre aficionadísimo á libros, y que por satisfacer
sus manías de erudición y bibliografía ha renunciado un curato pingüe.
Encontré al inofensivo viejo en un cuartucho donde hay pilas de infolios
por el suelo y polvo de tres años, y le expuse el caso apremiante. El me
conoce de tertulias de librería y de coincidencia en casas de gente estudiosa,
pues yo gusto, temo que con exceso, de estas vanidades. Plegó las arrugas
de su cara avellanada y titubeó antes de soltar la pregunta:
—¿Es... parienta de usted esa... señora?
—No. Es amiga. Nada, nada más que amiga: palabra de honor.
Descolgó su manteo en mal uso, se arropó rezongando «corre fresquete»
y rodamos hacia la vivienda de Rita. Por el camino enteré de algo al
sacerdote...
—Es un alma sin rumbo, sin norte y sin hiel; seguramente ha vivido á la
inversa de lo que viviría, si poseyese fuerza de voluntad. Se acusa de
maldad tremenda; asegura que para ella no hay perdón.
—Oveja descarriada...—asintió él.—¡Pobrecilla! Más suele ser el yerro
que la malicia en esta clase de pecados. Y que no es maligna, se ve en el
solo hecho de llamarme. Este rato que ahora tiene que pasar es el que
decide la suerte de las personas... Una buena muerte; y lo demás no supone
nada. El pensamiento del soneto está íntegro en el último verso.
Se me escapó una frase confidencial:
—Todas las muertes son buenas, porque todas son la conclusión de la
vida.
Soltó el viejo una risita inocente.
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