MIJT Conference: Investigative journalists debate the future of their craft

Kim Bowden ‘Investigative journalism is to media what poetry is to the literary world,’ argue industry experts at a conference in Auckland: it is vital but it will never make any money. Journalists and media academics from Nepal, Australia, New Zealand and other countries tackled issues surrounding the future of longer-form investigative journalism during a panel discussion at the Media, Investigative Journalism and Technology 2010 conference, held at AUT University this weekend. The panellists, chaired by the presenter of TVNZ 7’s Backbenchers programme, Wallace Chapman, agreed good investigative journalism is essential if the industry hopes to continue its core function of holding the powers that be to account. Independent New Zealand journalist Jon Stephenson said investigative work is “the core business” of journalism, making the comparison that without it, the industry is like “a hospital where you do elective surgery but no emergency or trauma.” Funding and the future Uncertainty and debate centres around how to fund and distribute investigative stories in a corporate-driven media environment, say the panellists. Bill Birnbauer, who has 35-years experience working for various Australian newspapers, said that in the same way poetry has its merits yet generally isn’t commercially viable and must be subsidised to survive, so too investigative journalism. “The future for investigative journalism lies outside of mainstream media,” he said. Birnbauer suggested a funding model that relies on donations from government and NGOs as one way of providing for investigative work. Wendy Bacon, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, said while there is still interest for longer-form stories in the 21st century, story lengths in newspapers is continually being cut. She said non-fiction books written by journalists are on the increase, as well as documentary films, as a means for journalists to tell their stories. Key role for universities Both Birnbauer and Bacon argued universities have a role to play in the future of investigative journalism and Bacon highlighted numerous investigative projects she has been involved in with university students. Birnbauer said going forward, universities around the globe need to collaborate further on such projects, to better carry out the fourth estate role. “I will tentatively call it ‘university muckrakers’,” joked Birnbauer. He said the concept of collaboration between commercial news publishers and independents is also an interesting new trend, challenging the traditional and “arrogant” mindset held by newspapers of “why would we take someone else’s copy?” He referred to major stories published this year by both the Washington Post and the New York Times under the “ProPublica byline”. ProPublica describes itself as “an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.” Stephenson, who has worked independently as a journalist in Afghanistan and Iraq, was less optimistic about the ease with which longer-form investigative pieces by independent journalists can be published, in New Zealand at least, and half-joked, “independent journalism can be a synonym for poor.” Investigative ideas not ‘sexy’ “There seems to be a perception among people who call the shots in media...people aren’t interested in heavyweight stories,” he said. “Ideas aren’t sexy. “It’s very, very tough to get any traction for investigative stories.” Although online media is being touted as “the holy grail,” Stephenson’s answer to the question of where to publish investigative stories is in mainstream media, which still has the “punching power.” Panel contributor Kunda Dixit, the publisher of the Nepali Times, said too often online work gets “lost in the tail” of mass information online. “Yes, the space is there, but is anyone reading you?” he asked. Dixit is cautious of Birnbauer’s suggestion of a possible funding model for investigative journalism which relies on donations and other support from Governments or NGOs, such as Amnesty International, and said it has the potential to compromise the independence of the media, especially in the developing world. He said traditional media, especially newspapers and radio stations, is “booming” in the developing world, in contrast to the situation in western countries.