Dave Traube
3/18/10
“The Future of Investigative Journalism in an Era of Downsizing and Economic Uncertainty.”
In true watchdog fashion, investigative is a form of journalism designed to get to the bottom of what is going on in the world. The future of this type of journalism, however, may be changing right before our eyes.
News organizations continue to lay off more people as the economy continues to remain an unstable beast, and reporters are asked to take on more roles – including ones that are uncomfortable, at best, such as being asked to cover stories that are short, easy to understand, and more sensational; even more celebrity focused. There’s less time for the effort and expense it takes to conduct investigative stories.
This is where change assaults the future of investigative journalism. It is not going to be an option to continue these investigations as they have always been approached. In his book, Investigative Journalism, Proven Strategies for Reporting the Story, author William C. Gaines discusses a general definition of what these journalists do and the guidelines that mold their findings. Gaines writes that an investigative journalist works to reveal important information someone is trying to keep hidden, uncovers stories that are a matter of importance to the public, works hard to secure stories rather than obtain them from a “leak from a government agency investigation,” and exposes things like government corruption or wasted tax money.
Just from that explanation alone, it is not hard to tell that it isn’t a job for the faint of heart. The problem with an audience that is always looking for the next story is that this kind of information needs to come at a faster pace than ever before. The audience wants to be entertained and, with the downsizing and uncertainty that is affecting many organizations, this makes accuracy an increasing issue.
The good and bad side of the future is the role that the Internet will play. In a forum headed by the Web site concernedjournalists.org, USC professor Richard Reeves said, “The first (challenge) is being in a time of terrific technological change where news cycles are disappearing and even news magazines go on the net to report so that they can have an around-the-clock connection to the people.”
Investigative journalism does not lend itself well to this type of immediacy. Instead, it frequently relies on three and four-part stories to get its point across instead of being rushed to print in one night.
The economy has forced news organization to rely more on entertainment news than hard news and for this reason, hard hitting reporting like investigative pieces are either more rare, reported before they are thoroughly fact checked, or non-existent. All forms of media are being forced to adapt, but print is perhaps the one most likely hanging on by it’s teeth.
Discussing his time working for a newspaper is his article, “A Thousand Cuts,” author Terry McDermott discusses what makes print journalism great – and why those aspects are being threatened by lay-offs and money issues.
“The second circumstance (when a paper is at its most prominent) is when breathtaking stories you knew nothing about, but that people had been working on for years, suddenly appear in the paper, “ McDermott writes. “The depth of a newspaper’s staff allows for this relative luxury.”
McDermott goes on to say that this kind of hardnosed, investigative reporting is threatened, as the way newspapers have always gone about their business is under increasing economic pressure, but “because of their irregular, episodic nature, readers will not necessarily know they are gone, but their absence will make a community’s news culture considerably poorer.”
This is the reality of the time we live in. The type of print journalism that uncovered Watergate may soon be changing and acquiring a noticeable lack of depth to it.
Finally, and it may be hard to believe, but the new faces of investigative journalism are popping up in places never before imagined, such as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Stewart not only gives satirical political commentary on current hot-button news topics, he gets to the bottom of political and governmental situations that before were only touched by newspapers. Educated people who once relied on newspapers for their investigative stories are turning to shows like Stewarts; programming that also has a very strong Internet following.
All citizens need to be informed regardless of their education or social status. According to a study done by the Nielson Media Research firm, viewers of shows such as Jon Stewart’s, are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch other more hardnosed news shows like, “The O’Reilly Factor.” What I think this research shows is this – Stewart is wildly popular but is liberal. O’Reilly is wildly popular but is conservative. American politics are wildly polarized and partisan; journalism seems to have become the same. Informed people will need to access more than one source to get the complete story.
Investigative journalism is not going away by any means. Instead, it is changing to survive in a culture more full of opportunities and uncertainties than any time before it.
