Thursday, July 31, 2008
Staff cutbacks by one corporate news conglomerate after another are creating a legion of "self-unemployed" journalists... Dennie Williams, long ago a colleague of mine at The Hartford Courant, points out the difference between covering breaking news on a staff paycheck and uncovering harder-to-break news with fewer reporters, fewer editors, and nobody answering the phone after 4 p.m.
See his Editor & Publisher column on the plight of freelance journalists: An Investigative Reporter's Plea.
On a related note, Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, recently made a pitch for "can-do" optimism about alternative funding for investigative work in this PBS MediaShift interview by Mark Glaser, Digging Deeper:
What's a "doer" to do? Lewis is launching an Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. Also see the "recent work" section of his home page, including Nieman Reports and Columbia Journalism Review articles on non-profit sources of funding journalism projects.
In fact, while you're at the Nieman Reports site, check out the rest of that issue, particularly these two sections...
Nonprofit approach:
All of a sudden, I think I've got a good start on the reading list for my Specialized Reporting class for this fall!
11:56:52 AM #
See his Editor & Publisher column on the plight of freelance journalists: An Investigative Reporter's Plea.
"As an investigative reporter for over four decades
for The Hartford Courant, I always thought the toughest of all tasks
was getting answers from politicians, corporate heads and all varieties
of scofflaws. Since November 2005, I have been an active freelance
writer. After hundreds of emails to newspapers and news Internet sites
soliciting investigative reporting ideas and stories, I now believe
that today the news media is a tougher nut to crack than any
investigative target. Why?"
On a related note, Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, recently made a pitch for "can-do" optimism about alternative funding for investigative work in this PBS MediaShift interview by Mark Glaser, Digging Deeper:
"I actually think it's one of the most exciting times in the history of
journlism even though it sometimes feels like there's a piano coming
down on our heads... I'm a doer, not a bemoaner, and I'm
tired of bemoaning, I want to create." (more)
What's a "doer" to do? Lewis is launching an Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. Also see the "recent work" section of his home page, including Nieman Reports and Columbia Journalism Review articles on non-profit sources of funding journalism projects.
In fact, while you're at the Nieman Reports site, check out the rest of that issue, particularly these two sections...
Nonprofit approach:
-
Seeking New Ways to Nurture the Capacity to Report
-
By Charles Lewis
-
By Charles Lewis
- By Charles Lewis
-
By Gilbert Cranberg
-
By Paul E. Steiger
-
By Florence Graves
-
By Bill Buzenberg
-
By John Hyde
-
By John Hyde
-
Compiled by Rachel Schaff
-
By Mark Schapiro
-
By Daniel Brogan
Digital Journalism: Will It Work for Investigative Journalism?
By Barry Sussman
Revealing the Disinformation Industry
By Barry Sussman
Reporting With the Tools of Social Science
By Stephen K. Doig
Building a Toolbox for Precision Journalism
By Stephen K. Doig
Reporting Is Only Part of the Investigative Story
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
When Video Is King
By Stuart Watson
Are Reporters Doomed?
By David Leigh
All of a sudden, I think I've got a good start on the reading list for my Specialized Reporting class for this fall!
11:56:52 AM #
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