Why investigative journalism needs to get networked
I’ve written a piece in the latest Press Gazette about the need to “take down the walls, stop mystifying investigative journalism and include readers in the process, starting now.” Sadly, they’ve pigeonholed it as being about “blog investigations”. Never mind: you can read it here.
Interesting piece, and you give some great examples of readers (people?) digging up information – enhancing traditional media in the case of the construction story, but replacing it, to an extent at least, in the pet food story.
But I think the interweb is creating an evolutionary change in what journalism is about, not a revolution. Newspapers have always appealed to readers for information. Some of the best stories have always come from “the man in the pub” (with the obvious problem of trying to work out how reliable he is). Journalists have always collaborated with other people, such as campaigning groups, on research.
What the internet does is to make it possible to do this more, better, and on a bigger scale. How exactly you make best use of the internet is another question, and a pretty big one.
I don’t disagree with anything you said or that it’s worth saying, I just think the language should be even more about the opportunities the internet presents for better (and in some cases *easier*) journalism.