The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Who are we?• Since April 2010. Aims are to:

– bolster investigative journalism in the UK. First of its kind.

– identify financial models that will make this sustainable

• £2 million pledge from The Elaine & David Potter Foundation.

• Strict editorial independence and transparency (OFCOM).

• Staff of 3, Freelancers of 10 - 20.

The ‘Crisis in Investigative Journalism’

• Media proliferation resulting in decline in Revenue (Ads and Sales)

• Content reproduction

• Less money and investment in investigative journalism

• Rise of other costs

• Complicated world – need for skills

• The challenge of the reduced attention span

The explosion of choice

Internet killing the investigative journalist?

Newspapers. Remember them?

IMPACT: The ‘Crisis in Investigative Journalism’

Original, in-depth reporting is increasingly scarce:

• Survey of 4 UK broadsheets and the Daily Mail: only 12% of content was original. (Cardiff University, 2008)

• 37% of the 100 largest US dailies had no full time investigative reporters; majority had two or fewer (Arizona State University, 2005).

• Consumer though never had it so good.

How much?

• Massive rise in cost of living, student debt, etc. etc.

• Cost of Lawyers

• Cost of foreign trips

• Lack of governmental help

• Pensions

How to make investigations financially sustainable?

1. MULTI-PLATFORM PRODUCTION

• Single-platform model doesn’t work

• Investigation not defined by journalist’s medium

• Generate sales across as many platforms as possible

• Exploit opportunities from web and multimedia

How to make investigations financially sustainable?

2. COLLABORATIONS

• With other media organisations

• International collaborations

• Profits from international collaborations to subsidise national investigations

The Bureau How do we work?

Self Publication: www.thebureauinvestigates.com

Broadcast: Panorama, Dispatches, C4 News, Newsnight, File on Four, Al Jazeera English and Arabic.

Print: Sunday Times, Observer, FT, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph. Over two dozen front pages.

Investigations: Iraq War Logs

Wikileaks: Iraq War Log

Investigations: EU structural funds

Investigations: EU structural funds

Bureau: Recommends

Bureau: Recommends

Challenges

• Rights issues

• Exclusivity deals

• The Clash of Personalities

• Who takes on risk

• Current model is still sustained by philanthropy

• 40% produced in advance

• Since 2001 - Sweden's newspapers down 17%: sales of SvD up 12%.

• around two-thirds of front pages are planned,

• Emphasis on original, off-diary stories: agenda-setting news lines of their own.

• Loyal following and reason to buy your paper etc.

Investment works