Hacker News Reader

Comment by godzillabrennus | Hacker News Reader

Investigative journalism takes money.

Freelance bloggers can’t be expected to put in the time to do the job while they pay for their hobby writing.

When was the last time you saw real investigative journalism? These days it's a race to get what ever click-bait headlines you can get from 'unamed sources' (or my favorite 'sources close to X') up and out the door. Gotta get those sweet sweet ad views. Journalistic integrity is long dead and what's left are those Freelance bloggers; except they no longer write for blogs, but major entertainment outlets.

Paradise / Panama Papers was a good example of recent modern investagative journalism.

Take this story about the "banned words at the CDC" which double checked a story by the Washington Post:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/health/cdc-trump-banned-w...

The NYT contacted the agency spokesman and several present and former federal officials. They contacted the agency spokeswoman of the FDA. They quote a former Surgeon General and an outsider expert.

> Sheila Kaplan reported from Washington, and Donald G. McNeil Jr. from New York. Pam Belluck contributed reporting from New York.

Three people wrote the article and pooled their contacts or input. It was likely edited to make it short and concise. How many blog posts care to do that instead of rehashing or just spinning opinion?

I don't think calling people up and asking them to make a statement is beyond the reach of a blogger. Investigative journalism does take a lot of effort and it needs to be encouraged, however vast majority of journalism produced is not investigative and could be made more efficient and democratic

BuzzFeed have a superb investigative team. This year, they broke the story of the alleged assassination of 14 Russian citizens on British soil and a subsequent cover-up. Six journalists were credited for the piece and it's clear that they spent months on it.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/investigations https://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/from-russia-with-blood-1...

Inside Housing revealed that tower blocks were being fitted with unsafe cladding months before the Grenfell Tower disaster. They uncovered the issue through lengthy reporting of previous fires in high-rise buildings over the course of several years. This obscure little trade magazine has won a shower of national awards for their doggedly determined investigative work.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/inside-housing-bea...

There are hundreds of superb investigative journalists working for local and regional newspapers, doing crucial work under severe constraints. They're underpaid, underresourced and underappreciated, but without their work, all manner of injustices would go unreported. Numerous national scandals have been identified because of the work of one local reporter, doing the dog-work of sitting in courtrooms and knocking on doors.

Mother Jones did a big private prison story (http://www.motherjones.com/media/2016/08/whats-missing-from-...).

> Conservatively, our prison story cost roughly $350,000. The banner ads that appeared in it brought in $5,000, give or take.

In 2017 you learn things when they are leaked, not when they are investigated. How much was Edward Snowden making for the story of the year?

Atlantic on the other hand publishes long form opinion pieces

Leaks still require investigation.

Where was Snowden initially published?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com