How Do Lines of Inquiry Unfold? Insights from Journalism
Abstract
Abstract The author defines and analyzes a practice central to inquiry: treating things as relevant to questions. This notion helps illuminate what lines of inquiry are, how those lines unfold, and how to evaluate them. When applied to the context of news journalism, we can use the notion of lines of inquiry to understand how questions get built into frames that give shape to news stories. Armed with this concept, we can then better understand the roles of lines of inquiry in journalism, and see more clearly how to evaluate news stories not just by fact-checking, but also by considering which facts should be selected to build a story to begin with.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Media Studies and Communication
Literature
Film
and Journalism Analysis
Narrative Theory and Analysis
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Oxford Studies in Epistemology
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressOxford
- Pages
- 214–234
- Publication date
- 9 January 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter