A Historic Meeting: Plotting The Future Of Investigative Journalism

It's a difficult time to be an investigative journalist.

In addition to the usual stress of trying to pry uncomfortable truths out of obstinate bureaucrats, corrupt businessmen and fearful witnesses, many of the hardest-working reporters and editors in the country now live in fear of getting laid off. In an era of dwindling budgets, many newsrooms are slashing their investigative teams to save a few dollars. And I know at least half a dozen excellent veteran investigative reporters who've lost their jobs and gone over to the dark side - public relations - to earn enough of a living to pay for their kids' college educations.

So, I didn't expect much hope, let alone optimism, when I attended a conference that brought together nearly all the major nonprofit investigate groups in the country, from the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Investigative Reporting to National Public Radio and American RadioWorks for two days of discussions about pooling their efforts and resources in an investigative news network.

But there on the grounds of the stately Rockefeller estate near Tarrytown, N.Y., almost three dozen of us could not contain our enthusiasm about the historic gathering and the potential it bodes for the future of our venture, the mission that drives us to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

We all agreed that the benefits of cooperation were impossible to ignore - as a super-team, we have the potential to do important, amazing work together.

The historic nature of the gathering was clear to Laura Frank, whose two decades at the Rocky Mountain News abruptly ended in February when the paper closed. Currently, she is helping launch the Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network at the University of Colorado. Frank clearly stated the benefits of cooperation over competition when it came to media coverage of the financial crisis: "If all of us had collaborated, we could have seen what was happening in the housing sector."

Chuck Lewis, the respected news veteran who founded the Center for Public Integrity and now runs the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, put it bluntly:

"The fact of the matter is that no one has attempted to bring together investigative journalism groups like this."

The benefits of collaboration were clear when it came to any number of projects. For example, a look at stimulus spending could use the databases of the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), the local impact could be reported by voiceofsandiego.org, MinnPost, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, St. Louis Beacon and Texas Watchdog and the political machinations could be explored by Capitol News Connection.

In addition to editorial collaboration, there was much discussion of fundraising strategies, marketing, and sharing administrative resources such as lawyers and insurance needs.

In the end, those gathered adopted a resolution, appointing an eight-member steering committee which is initially charged with securing a planning grant.

Within a year, the network should begin collaborating on stories and be established as a 501 (c)3 nonprofit.

Here's to the future!

Comments

[Bardmess]

A discussion on journalism is what I'd expect in a section titled "media". Unfortunately, so much of the HuffPost's idea of media is about what's on television that I rarely ever come here. I'm glad I didn't miss this good news about the media.

[katmeyster]

I'm sure you were all enthusiastic, but where is the money going to come from? Journalism is expensive, especially a collaborative, on-the-ground investigative, database-intensive, long-term, project. I'm a college instructor and we have a whole generation of students who don't even know the value of this type of journalism, and certainly are not getting it from the local news. Will they want to pay for it? They do not know the connection between the media and democracy, and I would suppose that many adults do not either. First we need to educate the public about the necessity of journalism, then maybe they will want to support you -- otherwise you might be left with just large corporations to fund your collaborations, and look how well that has turned out.

[RobRokoli]

Those who call themselves "investigative journalists" have always caused me to wince....occasionally to give a silent eeeewwwww. Journalists ask questions and when they don't receive clear answers they keep asking questions until they get clear answers. Journalists correlate facts, checking archives and comparing the record, past and present. They extrapolate and even prognosticate. Any journalist who is incapable of doing all of these has no right to call himself a journalist. Naturally the general heading of "non-journalist" includes the many reporters who go to assignments and act like vacuum cleaners and uncritically suck in everything they are told, "I don't know what the guy meant. That's just what he said." Really to be a journalist one has to be an investigative journalist, thus rendering the term investigative journalist either a redundancy or terribly pretentious. The future of journalism? Who can say? Today there is an informed public and individuals who are a great deal more grounded on any given story than the vast majority of reporters. The concept of citizen journalism is rife with potential pitfalls but then we are living in a world that only recently has witnessed the Washington press corps under Bush. And that's one of the biggest problems facing the future of journalism today.

[Jen Grisanti - Huffpost Blogger]

I love that you took a negative situation and turned it into a positive. Life is changing. Security is no longer a word that any of us can rely on no matter what industry we're working in.

I lost my job with a top studio after being a TV executive for over 12 years. It was a blow. However, like the group you mentioned in your blog, I opened my own business at www.jengrisanticonsultancy.com. I designed a company based on what I love to do. Life has never been better.

When times change, good things happen. Sometimes it takes the universe giving us a nudge to point us in the right direction.

Wishing you the best of luck with your new collaboration.