Sitting on a story of systematic institutional abuse?

Veteran investigative journalists in England are trying to make sure the breakdown in business models for journalism does not prevent important stories from being told. The group of 12 journalists have started The Investigations Fund, a grant fund launched this month to subsidise investigative journalistic work.

Journalists who have a story in their notebooks begging for serious, considered investigation are invited to apply to the Fund in order to be able to afford to do the work of investigation.

“I think the idea of an investigation usually involves a story where somebody is actively trying to stop you from getting information, be it in high finance or government or politics,” said Nick Davies, one of the journalists supporting the Fund. He contributes to the Guardian and is the author of Flat Earth News.

“And it’s a story that’s important.”

The Investigations Fund is one of many nonprofits springing up to subsidise this most expensive and difficult form of journalism. Donations are now being accepted. The Fund will accept private and public donations of any amount, so long as the donor does not attempt to influence editorial decisions.

More funds

In Europe:
Pascal Decroos Fund
Association des Journalistes Professionnels
Romanian Fund for Investigative Journalism
Scoop In the US:
The Huffington Post Investigative Fund
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
ProPublica

How it works

Unlike the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, journalists who apply to the Investigations Fund are not required to have a buyer for their story established in order to win a grant. The team of journalists working for the funds will help find a market for the story.

If there are no interested buyers, the Fund would release the story for free, Davies said.

Davies said no applications have yet been considered. Decisions have not yet been made about languages and location of journalists. Davies said, for example, the team leading the Fund has not decided if stories must be published in English.

But he’s sure all kinds of serious pitches will be considered.

“If somebody comes and says, ‘I live in a small town and the local government in that town are clearly corrupt… it’s a great story for the town,” Davies said. “I think in principal we would want to help the local journalist expose corruption in their town.”

Sustainable approach?

But do nonprofits supporting one-off investigations perpetuate a permanent culture of freelancers? Its often journalists without fulltime employment who would apply to such a fund and receive a stipend to work one story. But after they publish it, then what?

Couldn’t funds be used for more sustainable efforts, like training and planting investigative journalists in existing newsrooms? The Fund could by paying salaries of these “embedded” investigative journalists ensure the proliferation of investigative journalists in mainstream media.

Davies says the Fund should be seen as a stepping stone, not an end-all solution to the problems facing the industry.

“We can’t see the future of our profession because the business model has been broken by internet and credit crisis,” he said. “If you have been just made redundant, here is a stepping stone. If you’ve got a good story worth covering and we recon that’s going to cost you 2,000 pounds in expenses, six weeks of research, then here’s the funds for research. And I guess what follows is that if that journalist deliver a great story, it makes it more possible that he or she can get a job or can come back to us for another grant for another story.

“I don’t think that what we’re doing is not going to answer the global problem in crisis but I do think it will help a bit.”

The Investigations Fund might also offer training opportunities, sharing its greatest wealth – experience – with younger reporters. 

Published: June 24, 2009