Spotlight

Abstract

Against a backdrop of pessimism about the future of investigative reporting, this study reports major findings of a survey of mainly US-based investigative journalists (N = 861). Although respondents reflect some of the current negative discourse, they also report high perceptions of autonomy and job satisfaction and say resources for investigative reporting are maintaining and even increasing. The survey provides empirical indication of the migration of investigative journalists to nonprofit newsrooms, with nonprofit journalists offering especially positive appraisals of the state of their craft. Also explored are investigative journalists’ professional role conceptions as well as perceptions of the nature of their relationship with the public and public policymakers.

KEYWORDS:

• agenda setting
• investigative journalism
• journalistic roles
• nonprofit news
• social responsibility
• survey

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). The authors are members of IRE, and Houston is a former executive director of the organization, as well as a board member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.