Investigative journalism
Encyclopedia
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism
in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime
, political corruption
, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism is a primary source
of information. Most investigative journalism is done by newspaper
s, wire service
s and freelance journalists. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog journalism" or "accountability reporting."
An investigative reporter may make use of one or more of these tools, among others, on a single story:
British media theorist Hugo de Burgh
(2000) states that: "An investigative journalist is a man or woman whose profession it is to discover the truth and to identify lapses from it in whatever media may be available. The act of doing this generally is called investigative journalism and is distinct from apparently similar work done by police, lawyers, auditors and regulatory bodies in that it is not limited as to target, not legally founded and closely connected to publicity."
Books
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism is a primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
of information. Most investigative journalism is done by newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, wire service
Wire Service
Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focuses on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International...
s and freelance journalists. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog journalism" or "accountability reporting."
An investigative reporter may make use of one or more of these tools, among others, on a single story:
- Analysis of documents, such as lawsuitLawsuitA lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s and other legal documents, tax records, government reports, regulatory reports and corporate financial filings. - Databases of public records.
- Investigation of technical issues, including scrutiny of government and business practices and their effects
- Research into social and legal issues
- Subscription research sources such as LexisNexisLexisNexisLexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
- Numerous interviews with on-the-record sources as well as, in some instances, interviews with anonymous sources (for example whistleblowerWhistleblowerA whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
s) - Federal or state Freedom of Information Acts to get documents and data from government agencies.
Professional definitions
University of Missouri journalism professor Steve Weinberg defined investigative journalism as: "Reporting, through one's own initiative and work product, matters of importance to readers, viewers or listeners." In many cases, the subjects of the reporting wish the matters under scrutiny to remain undisclosed. There are currently university departments for teaching investigative journalism. Conferences are conducted presenting peer reviewed research into investigative journalism.British media theorist Hugo de Burgh
Hugo de Burgh
Hugo de Burgh is a British media theorist and academic. Professor de Burgh is Director of the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster, which he set up in January 2005 and is unique in Europe for its focus on studying the world's largest media system...
(2000) states that: "An investigative journalist is a man or woman whose profession it is to discover the truth and to identify lapses from it in whatever media may be available. The act of doing this generally is called investigative journalism and is distinct from apparently similar work done by police, lawyers, auditors and regulatory bodies in that it is not limited as to target, not legally founded and closely connected to publicity."
Notable Exposés
- Julius ChambersJulius ChambersJulius Chambers, F.R.G.S.,There is disparity about an unused first name. The Americana Vol.4 calls him Charles Julius Chambers, Dictionary of American Biography and The Delta Kappa Epsilon Quarterly call him James Julius Chambers. Regardless of the correct name, he used neither one in...
of the New York TribuneNew York TribuneThe New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
had himself committed to the Bloomingdale AsylumBloomingdale Insane AsylumThe Bloomingdale Insane Asylum was a private hospital for the care of the mentally ill founded by New York Hospital. It occupied the land in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan where Columbia University is now located....
in 1872, and his account led to the release of twelve patients who were not mentally ill, a reorganization of the staff and administration and, eventually, to a change in the lunacy laws. This later led to the publication of the book A Mad World and Its People (1876).
- William Thomas SteadWilliam Thomas SteadWilliam Thomas Stead was an English journalist and editor who, as one of the early pioneers of investigative journalism, became one of the most controversial figures of the Victorian era. His 'New Journalism' paved the way for today's tabloid press...
's series of articles in 1885, The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon regarding child prostitution in VictorianVictorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, resulted in the Eliza Armstrong caseEliza Armstrong caseThe Eliza Armstrong case was a major scandal in the United Kingdom involving a child supposedly bought for prostitution for the purpose of exposing the evils of white slavery...
.
- Nellie BlyNellie BlyNellie Bly was the pen name of American pioneer female journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochran. She remains notable for two feats: a record-breaking trip around the world in emulation of Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from...
's investigative reports on Women's Lunatic Asylum appeared in the newspaper New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
in 1887, and later as a book Ten Days in a Mad-HouseTen Days in a Mad-HouseTen Days in a Mad-House is a book written by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly and published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Bly's reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and...
.
- How the Other Half LivesHow the Other Half LivesHow the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York was an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s...
by Jacob Riis (1890), which revealed the squalor of immigrant slums in New York City of the 1890s
- The JungleThe JungleThe Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
by Upton Sinclair (1906), which exposed shocking disregard for hygienic practices in the meat-packing industry of the early 1900s
- The People of the AbyssThe People of the AbyssThe People of the Abyss is a book by Jack London about life in the East End of London in 1902. He wrote this first-hand account by living in the East End for several months, sometimes staying in workhouses or sleeping on the streets...
by Jack London, on poverty in the East End of London in the early 1900s
- Ida M. TarbellIda M. TarbellIda Minerva Tarbell was an American teacher, author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era, work known in modern times as "investigative journalism". She wrote many notable magazine series and biographies...
's history of John D. RockefellerJohn D. RockefellerJohn Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
and the Standard Oil Company for McClure's Magazine (1903).
- Lincoln SteffensLincoln Steffens-Biography:Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a military academy. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California....
's "Shame of the Cities" series on municipal corruption for McClure's Magazine (1903) was then published as a book.
- Herbert Bayard SwopeHerbert Bayard SwopeHerbert Bayard Swope was a U.S. editor, journalist and intimate of the Algonquin Round Table. Swope spent most of his career at the New York World newspaper. He was the first and three time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting...
's role as editor in the investigation into the operations of the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
won a Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Public Service in 1922.
- Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
and Fred W. FriendlyFred W. FriendlyFred W. Friendly was a president of CBS News and the creator, along with Edward R. Murrow, of the documentary television program See It Now...
1954 investigation for CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's See It NowSee It NowSee It Now is an American newsmagazine and documentary series broadcast by CBS from 1951 to 1958. It was created by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly, Murrow being the host of the show. From 1952 to 1957, See It Now won four Emmy Awards and was nominated three times...
of Senator Joseph McCarthy's conduct in the anti-communism hearings and their 1960 CBS ReportsCBS ReportsCBS Reports is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with 60 Minutes , as a series of its own or as specials. The program aired as a constant series from 1959 to 1971...
television documentary, along with David Lowe, Harvest of ShameHarvest of ShameHarvest of Shame was a 1960 television documentary presented by broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow on CBS that showed the plight of American migrant agricultural workers. It was Murrow's final documentary for the network; he left CBS at the end of January 1961, at President John F...
on the condition of migrant workers in agriculture.
- Seymour HershSeymour HershSeymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
's stories on the My Lai massacreMy Lai MassacreThe My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
were distributed by the Dispatch News ServiceDispatch News ServiceDispatch News Service is a left-leaning news agency founded in 1968 by David Obst and Michael Morrow.DNS was the original outlet to purchase Seymour Hersh's story about the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War, pushing it on 35 newspapers at $100 apiece....
during the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and won the Pulitzer Prize for International ReportingPulitzer Prize for International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
in 1970. In 2004, Hersh reported for The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
on torture inside the Abu Ghraib prisonAbu Ghraib prisonThe Baghdad Central Prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km west of Baghdad. It was built by British contractors in the 1950s....
by members of a military police unit of the U.S. Army Reserve during the Iraq War.
- Bob WoodwardBob WoodwardRobert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
and Carl BernsteinCarl BernsteinCarl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
's reporting on the Watergate break-in and other Nixon administration-related crimes for The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1973.
- Mark Dowie and and Carolyn Marshall's 1977 Mother JonesMother Jones (magazine)Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
investigation of fatal dangers in the Ford PintoFord PintoThe Ford Pinto is a subcompact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for the model years 1971–1980. The car's name derives from the Pinto horse. Initially offered as a two-door sedan, Ford offered "Runabout" hatchback and wagon models the following year, competing in the U.S. market with the AMC...
automobile.
- John PilgerJohn PilgerJohn Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
, an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker, collaborated with filmmaker David Munro and photographer Eric Piper on the impact of the Khmer RougeKhmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
on the Cambodian people in a report for the British tabloid Daily Mirror and the documentary Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia (1979) for Associated TelevisionAssociated TeleVisionAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
. This was followed a year later by Cambodia: Year One. Both documentaries won UN Media Peace Prizes. After Year Zero, funds were raised in support of Cambodia.
- Bill DedmanBill DedmanBill Dedman, an American journalist, is an investigative reporter for news site msnbc.com and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting....
's 1988 investigation, The Color of Money, for The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
on racial discrimination by mortgageMortgage loanA mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
lenders in middle-income neighborhoods, received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingPulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in print journalism...
and was an influential early example of computer-assisted reporting or database journalismDatabase journalismDatabase journalism or structured journalism is a principle in information management whereby news content is organized around structured pieces of data, as opposed to news stories....
.
- Donald L. BarlettDonald L. BarlettDonald L. Barlett is an American investigative journalist and author who collaborated with James B. Steele. According to The Washington Journalism Review they were a better investigative reporting team than even Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Together they have won two Pulitzer Prizes, two...
and James B. Steele's two-year investigation for The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
into the deterioration of the U.S. middle class that was then released as the 1992 book America What Went Wrong?
- Turkish journalist Uğur MumcuUgur MumcuUğur Mumcu was an intrepid Turkish investigative journalist for the leading Kemalist broadsheet, Cumhuriyet. He was assassinated with a bomb placed in his car, outside his home.- Biography :...
of CumhuriyetCumhuriyetCumhuriyet is a centre-left Turkish daily newspaper, founded on May 7, 1924 by journalist Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu. Based in Istanbul, it has been situated since October 17, 2005 in Mecidiyeköy. Cumhuriyet was the last newspaper to leave the old press district Cağaloğlu...
had been involved in several high profile and sensitive investigations before his murder in 1993, such as the Kurdish Worker's Party's ties to intelligence, Iranian support for the Kurdish Hezbollah, and even the background of Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul IIBlessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
's assassin Mehmet Ali AğcaMehmet Ali AgcaMehmet Ali Ağca is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979 and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving 19 years of imprisonment in Italy, he was deported to Turkey, where he served a...
.
- Veronica GuerinVeronica GuerinVeronica Guerin was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered on 26 June 1996 by drug lords, an event which, alongside the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe three weeks earlier, helped establish the Criminal Assets Bureau....
of Ireland combined her accounting and journalism skills to expose drug dealers for the Sunday IndependentSunday IndependentThe Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
and Irish IndependentIrish IndependentThe Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
before she was murdered in 1996. After her death, Ireland established the Criminal Assets BureauCriminal Assets BureauThe Criminal Assets Bureau is a law enforcement agency in Ireland, the purpose of which is to recover the proceeds of organised crime. It is a division of the Garda , but reports annually to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform...
to investigate organized crime.
- James RisenJames RisenJames Risen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist for The New York Times who previously worked for the Los Angeles Times. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S...
and Eric LichtblauEric LichtblauEric Lichtblau is an American journalist and Washington bureau reporter for The New York Times.-Life:Lichtblau joined The Times in September 2002 as a correspondent covering the Justice Department. Previously, Lichtblau worked at the Los Angeles Times for 15 years, where he also covered the Justice...
's investigation for The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
into U.S. President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Administration's handling of secret domestic eavesdropping. Their report in December 2005 first made public the NSA warrantless surveillance controversyNSA warrantless surveillance controversyThe NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States during the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...
.
- Anna PolitkovskayaAnna PolitkovskayaAnna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
's reporting in Chechnya and the Russian treatment of the Chechen people led to many investigative reports published in Novaya GazetaNovaya GazetaNovaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
, such as the poisoning of children. Her work was widely recognized by international organizations before she was murdered in 2006. Today an award in her name honors other women who report under circumstances of great danger.
Notable Investigative Reporters (Current day)
- Donald BarlettDonald BarlettDonald L. Barlett is an American investigative journalist and author who collaborated with James B. Steele. According to The Washington Journalism Review they were a better investigative reporting team than even Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Together they have won two Pulitzer Prizes, two...
and James B. Steele
- Walt BogdanichWalt BogdanichWalt Bogdanich is an American investigative journalist.-Life:Bogdanich graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1975 with a degree in political science...
- Bill DedmanBill DedmanBill Dedman, an American journalist, is an investigative reporter for news site msnbc.com and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting....
- Seymour HershSeymour HershSeymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
- Michael IsikoffMichael IsikoffMichael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for NBC News, formerly with the United States magazine Newsweek. He joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in June, 1994, and has written extensively on the U.S...
- Eric LichtblauEric LichtblauEric Lichtblau is an American journalist and Washington bureau reporter for The New York Times.-Life:Lichtblau joined The Times in September 2002 as a correspondent covering the Justice Department. Previously, Lichtblau worked at the Los Angeles Times for 15 years, where he also covered the Justice...
- Jane MayerJane MayerJane Mayer is an American investigative journalist who has been a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine since 1995...
- James RisenJames RisenJames Risen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist for The New York Times who previously worked for the Los Angeles Times. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S...
Awards and organizations
- Pulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingPulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in print journalism...
- Goldsmith Prize for Investigative ReportingGoldsmith Prize for Investigative ReportingThe Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting is an award for journalists administered by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The program was launched in 1991, with the goal of exposing examples of poor government, and encouraging good...
- Investigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
Bureaus, centers, and institutes for investigations
- Bureau of Investigative JournalismBureau of Investigative JournalismThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism is a British not-for-profit news organisation backed by a number of prominent journalists. It is registered as a private, limited by guarantee, no share capital company. It was set up with the aim to produce and encourage independent serious investigations and...
- California WatchCalifornia WatchCalifornia Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan investigative reporting group operated by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Writers and editors at the news organization track a variety of issues, including money and politics, the environment, health and welfare, public safety and...
- Center for Investigative ReportingCenter for Investigative ReportingThe Center for Investigative Reporting is a non-profit journalism organization located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1977 by Lowell Bergman, , and David Weir to reveal injustice and abuse of power through the tools of journalism....
- Berkeley, California, USA - Center for Investigative Reporting - Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Center for Public IntegrityCenter for Public IntegrityThe Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
- Investigative Reporting WorkshopInvestigative Reporting WorkshopThe Investigative Reporting Workshop, a project of the American University School of Communication, is an incubator and laboratory for in-depth, multimedia watchdog reporting...
- Investigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
- ProPublicaProPublicaProPublica is a non-profit corporation based in New York City. It describes itself as an independent non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. In 2010 it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its...
See also
- Freedom of information legislationFreedom of information legislationFreedom of information legislation comprises laws that guarantee access to data held by the state. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions...
- MuckrakerMuckrakerThe term muckraker is closely associated with reform-oriented journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines, continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting, and emerged in the United States after 1900 and continued to be influential until World War I, when through a combination...
- Watchdog journalismWatchdog journalismWatchdog journalism aims to hold accountable public personalities and institutions, whose functions impact social and political life. The term "lapdog journalism", for journalism biased in favour of personalities and institutions, is sometimes used as a conceptual opposite to watchdog...
- Rodolfo WalshRodolfo WalshRodolfo Jorge Walsh was an Argentine writer, considered the founder of investigative journalism. He is most famous for his Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta which he wrote the day before his murder, protesting that their economic policies were having an even greater effect on...
Further reading
Web- "Current State of Investigative Reporting," talk by Seymour Hersh at Boston University, May 19 2009
- Video of the 2010 Logan Symposium at UC Berkeley's Consequences of Investigative Reporting" panel. Reporters from the Sahara ReportersSahara ReportersSahara Reporters is an online news agency that focuses on promoting citizen journalism by encouraging everyday people to report stories about corruption, human rights abuses and other political misconducts in Nigeria...
, the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern, The Washington Post, The Las Vegas Review-Journal and The El Paso Times talk about the dangers investigative reporters face. Their experiences range from threat to life and limb for reporting on corruption in Africa, to subpoenas aimed at a journalism professor and his students for attempting to bring to light a miscarriage of justice. A Pulitzer Prize winner describes reporting on national security as her sources face internal inquisitions; a veteran reporter in Las Vegas talks about taking on casino moguls and organized crime; while a reporter covering the Mexican border explains how she has survived the violent reality of the undeclared war on our border. April 2010.
Books
- Typewriter Guerillas: Closeups of 20 Top Investigative Reporters, by J.C. Behrens (paperback) 1977.
- Raising Hell: Straight Talk with Investigative Journalists, by Ron Chepesiuk, Haney Howell and Edward Lee (paperback) 1997
- Investigative Reporting: A Study in Technique (Journalism Media Manual), by David Spark, (paperback) 1999.
- Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism That Changed the World, John PilgerJohn PilgerJohn Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
, ed. (paperback) 2005.
International Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
- Global Investigative Journalism (U.K., created 2003)
- International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (U.S., founded 1997)
International Progressional Organizations
Africa, Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
Asia, Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
- Nepal Khoj Patrakarita Kendra, or Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ, Lalitpur, established 1996)
- Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ, founded 1989)
Europe, Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
- Bureau of Investigative Journalism (London, launched 2010)
- World Stability Council - independent P3 investigations
Middle East, Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
North America, Investigative Journalism Centers or Bureaus
- Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR, U.S., since 1977)
- Center for Public Integrity's iWatch (U.S., since 1989)
- Investigative News Network (INN, U.S. created 2009)
- ProPublica (established 2007)