“Research is not to repeat what is said, but also to discover what is hidden”
The work of Abel Flores —journalist with experience in newspapers, television, digital media and social networks— is framed within a classical conception and rigorous journalism: the craft as you search for the truth through systematic research. In times of disinformation, the investigative journalism not only informs, but that builds public knowledge based on verifiable facts, sources, verified and methods of analysis that integrates diverse disciplines.
Flowers understands the journalism is not as simple communication, but as applied research in the public interest, where each piece of data must be contrasted, each source corroborated and each conclusion is supported by evidence verifiable.
The essence of investigative journalism
The investigative journalism, as it is conceived by Abel Flores, is not confined to reporting the obvious, but seeks to reveal what is hidden or misinterpreted. Its main aim is to discover, explain, and contextualize social phenomena, economic or political-that affect the society.
To do this, is based on three fundamental principles:
- Verification rigorous sources.
No information should be published without checking its authenticity. This involves the triangulation between sources, primary, secondary, and documentaries, thereby ensuring the robustness of each statement. - Analytical depth.
The investigative journalist, does not conform with the surface of the facts; explores its causes, antecedents and consequences. - Intellectual independence.
To maintain autonomy against political interests, business or ideological it is essential to ensure the credibility of the journalistic work.
Techniques of investigative journalism
The methodology of Abel Flores combines classical tools with contemporary techniques derived from the social sciences and digital communication. Among the main highlights:
- In-depth interviews: allow us to obtain direct information, assess the credibility of the partners and to capture nuances in the human facts.
- Review of documentation and statistics: using data, official records, technical reports and statistical data bases gives sustenance empirical research.
- Comparison and textual analysis: what Flowers called “horizontal review of the texts” it consists of comparing different versions, documents or textual sources that treat the same topic, identifying contradictions, omissions or biases.
- Field work and direct observation: the journalist must go out to the field, to personally verify the information, and to collect eyewitness accounts.
- Analysis cross-media: confront how different media cover the same fact makes it possible to detect editorial lines, hidden agendas and narratives manipulated.
The newspaper chain: from the discovery to the publication
Abel Flores underlines the importance of understanding the process of journalism as an integrated supply chain that connects three essential moments:
- Research: data collection, interviews, documents, and direct observation.
- Processing: analysis, verification, contrasting information, and developing coherent narrative.
- Publication: exposure responsible for the results, contextualization, and accountability to the public.
This “newspaper chain” to ensure that the information maintains its integrity from the source to the reader, protecting it from the handling or the bias editorial.
The relevance of the comparative method: the study horizontal texts
One of the most interesting of the approach of Abel Flores is his insistence on the horizontal review of the texts, a technique that comes from both the philological research as of the historical methodology.
This consists in comparing versions and sources on the same event (speeches, articles, press releases, interviews, official documents, etc) to detect how to build the truth narrative in the public space.
The horizontal analysis allows you to:
- Identify contradictions or omissions intentional.
- Recognize the dominant discourses and the mechanisms of propaganda.
- To restore a more objective view and plural of the fact investigated.
This method converts the journalistic work in a real academic exercise, similar to that performed in studies of historical or philological.
The social function and the democratic republic of the investigative journalism
Investigative journalism has a role to public irreplaceable: control the power and strengthen democracy.
In the vision of Abel Flores, the journalist should act as a mediator between the reality and the collective consciousness, offering to the society tools of critical understanding. Each report seriously contributes to a better informed citizenry, and more able to demand transparency.
In this sense, journalistic research:
- Exposes abuses, corruption, and manipulations.
- Promotes accountability.
- Defends the right of a citizen to the truth.
- Preserves the collective memory against the disinformation.
The journalist as a researcher for the truth
The trajectory of Abel Flowers represents the continuation of the journalism of depth, a trade that requires training, ethics, and intellectual discipline.
His approach —based on the corroboration of sources, textual analysis and comparative and direct observation— shows that investigative journalism is, above all, a science applied to society.
In a world saturated with information, its guiding principle remains firm:
“Research is not to repeat what is said, but also to discover what is hidden.”
The work of Abel Flores, therefore, reaffirms the validity of journalism as an instrument of truth, context and public awareness.
