Can Investigative Journalism Survive?
In case you’ve been living in a bubble the past several years, you’re well aware that the newspaper industry isn’t exactly doing very well these days. Where newspapers once dominated our media landscape as the main source of news and information, today they have become overwhelmed by the dramatic and unstoppable force of technology and the web in ways never before seen. Radio and of course television changed the face of the media significantly, but over the years newspapers and other print media were able to find ways to stay relevant as well as profitable.
But this most recent era of change has sadly brought into serious question the basic long-term viability of the daily newspaper. Lots of concerned folks, such as Paul Gillin over at Newspaper Death Watch, are watching this issue closely, pondering what’s next and mulling the short-sightedness of investors like Bruce Sherman, who view the media as just another opportunity to make some cash, ignoring its vital role as public watchdog and the backbone of a free democracy.
One particular value that the newspaper had the unique position of delivering was world-changing investigative reporting on issues that were too complex, risky or costly for broadcast or new media to tackle. I’m talking about Pulitzer Price winning journalism such as the Chicago Tribune’s exposure of faulty governmental regulation of toys, car seats and cribs and the Hartford Courant’s exposé on suicide among American soldiers in Iraq, leading to policy change to address mental health problems amongst military personnel.
Ever since Knight-Ridder was forced to sell and divest its once-formidable newspaper holdings in 2006 by frustrated shareholders looking to cash out, I’ve been worried about who’s going to take on this important societal role. Investigative journalism is an often thankless, tedious and expensive proposition, and you never know if there’s even going to be a story in the end. So naturally, as newspapers have struggled and been forced to cut costs, this is one of the first areas to be slashed.
But, a few months ago at a VentureBeat party, I met a young ex-journalist named David Cohn who had the germs of an idea that got me excited about how we can help make sure someone’s keeping tabs on the bad guys. Cohn, a former tech and science reporter for Wired, has created and is getting ready to launch Spot.Us with the goal of creating a new business model that can sustain local investigative journalism. The basic idea is this: a freelance reporter will come up with an issue he wants to follow and proposes a budget for how much it will cost to develop. The idea is then percolated within Spot.Us, where donations from the public can be pledged and processed. Once the goal is met, the story gets launched.
“This is a way for the community to come together to help fund investigative journalism through small donations,” says Cohn. “If you get 100 people to give just $15, that’s enough to pay a journalist to do a story on something that will benefit the community.”
Once the project is finished, it will then be given away to news organizations who can run it at no cost both in print and online. If a news outlet wants exclusive access to the material, they then pay back the original donors, who can then donate to another story being proposed.
Everyone benefits in this scenario: The paper gets free, compelling content that they no longer have the resources to support, helping to keep and draw in readers; the journalists get paid for writing stories that interest them; and society has a system in which more in-depth, investigative journalism can survive.
Ironically, Cohn is building Spot.Us with the help of a grant from the Knight-Ridder Foundation, a remnant of the once-mighty media conglomerate that is dedicated to promoting journalism and supporting the 26 communities where the company formerly operated.
Cohn and his network of freelancers have some interesting early stories in the queue, starting in the Bay Area, which is their first area of focus. The first proposed piece aims to explore whether cement plants can clean up their environmentally unfriendly practices and stay in business, or if they will simply move out of California to less eco-sensitive States and keep on polluting. The story is currently 61% funded and needs another 14 donors to give $10.
A second story is one that I’m sure all of us are concerned about: the credibility of political advertisements (is that an oxymoron?). Newsdesk.org editor Josh Wilson is interested in examining all of the political ads in San Francisco headed our way in the weeks leading up to the election. The story is 75% funded and needs only $500 more to meet its goal. I can’t think of a much better cause than keeping the political manipulators in check. If not these folks, then who?
Update 8/27/08
Great news! Josh Wilson’s story about the political ads was just fully funded and will go forward. Look forward to seeing what Josh finds out; hopefully it helps keep the political marketers in check and the voters educated.
Read David’s enthusiastic note here.
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Comments (2 Responses)
Hey Jason,
I just read your blog about Spot.Us and thought it was facinating. As a print journalist, the deteroriation of the newspaper industry has greatly worried me over the past several years. I am especially facinated by investigative reporting and agree with you–that they are often what lead to significant societal change. One story I was especially taken with was in The San Franciso Chronicle a few years back. It followed a young, educated woman from South Korea who was having trouble paying off her university loans and got swindled into a sex ring. She ended up being sold as a sex slave in San Francisco (on O’Farrell St.) and stayed in the same room for years–until it came to the attention of city government and they shut the ring down.
I will make sure to check out Spot.Us; it is a fantastic idea!
Katie
ThaReal
Posted on August 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am.
I don’t feel sorry for the newspapers at all. Maybe if they attempted to report the facts instead of skewing stories all these years, they’d have a little more credibility. What happened was people who were forced to read newspapers for all those years from lack of more reliable sources, jumped ship left and right, creating this huge exodus from newspapers. They had a chance to establish a strong customer base but neglected to do so by reported biased and untrue news and they’re getting EXACTLY what they deserve!