Washington, D.C., 2014—It didn’t seem possible.
Who would have thought, amid the newsroom devastation of the first decade of the twenty-first century, that investigative reporting would find a way to not just survive, but flourish, in an improbable, highly innovative new golden age?
Things had never looked bleaker financially than in 2008, when Gannett and McClatchy alone cut 5,500 newspaper jobs. Overall, according to an Advertising Age analysis of federal employment data, between 2000 and 2008, media industries lost more than 200,000 jobs. And no media sector was harder hit than newspaper and magazine publishing.
The most substantive public-service journalism in American history had been initiated and published by the nation’s newspapers. So the specific impact of this newsroom carnage on investigative reporting—one of the most expensive and difficult genres of journalism—had been dire. Numerous Pulitzer-caliber investigative reporters throughout the nation lost their jobs, and entire “I-teams” at newspapers and television stations were shut down.
Complete access to this article will soon be available for purchase. Subscribers will be able to access this article, and the rest of CJR’s magazine archive, for free. Select articles from the last 6 months will remain free for all visitors to CJR.org.
Bravo! Finally, a scenario that just might work.
Posted by Robert Thompson on Wed 11 Mar 2009 at 03:07 PM
Mr. Lewis,
I saw that you briefly mentioned that students could be involved in this. Though I don't attend American, I would be interested in getting involved in this project. I am currently the editor-in-chief at the Wesleyan Argus, the bi-weekly student newspaper at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. You can see our new website at wesleyanargus.com. My email is ezra.silk@gmail.com and I would be willing to help out this summer if there was anything I could do that would be useful.
Good luck,
Ezra
Posted by Ezra Silk on Wed 11 Mar 2009 at 04:01 PM
You know, I was thinking about asking Lewis for a job too. Please?
Posted by Josh Young on Wed 11 Mar 2009 at 06:33 PM
I've read this thoughtful piece twice now, once yesterday and once today, and I'm not sure I get it as a coherent whole. It is sort of two parts introducing WIRE to the world, one part looking into a near future that's a pretty linear extension of the present, and one part looking a bit further into the future that represents a serious break from the present.
This isn't criticism, but if I had my druthers, though, I would have liked the piece to focus on its final part, which is really only discussed in the last few grafs. They're the inspiration for the title of the thing--'social networks' and all--and they're the vaguest part of the article. While that vagueness is certainly understandable, I'm not sure it's necessary. It would have been awesome to see that vision more fully fleshed out and undergirded by some economic, political, or cultural logic.
For instance, while it's fun to talk about "enlisting thousands of knowledgeable, concerned people in the various social networks we’ve partnered with on six continents to help us construct a free, searchable, ever-expanding archive," you've got to give these enlightened folks some incentive. At least make an argument that they'll do it for love or attention or reputation. Or maybe some of them aren't so enlightened. One doesn't have to be a barbarian to be competitively selfish at the margin (that's why companies dumps many millions of dollars into SEO). But you might have to guard against plain sabotage too.
Posted by Josh Young on Thu 12 Mar 2009 at 10:51 AM
One would think that with Charles Lewis investigative chops he would have noticed at his recent conference @ Columbia no people of color were present on his panel.
I hope Charles understands that people of color not only are investigative journalists but will probably be the focus and subject matter of the bulk of the investigative agenda in these social network for decades to come
Posted by Greg Thrasher on Sun 15 Mar 2009 at 09:47 AM
Mr. Lewis,
I really enjoyed WIRE's searchable databases, video presentations and breaking updates in their 2015 expose of how Bush and Obama used the economic collapse to consolidate power under their World Bank employers. That's something we can't expect to read under the bylines of newspaper journalists who failed to predict the meltdown and refused to report the international banking shifts that resulted while the press corps compared first-lady fashion preferences.
However, as you continue to develop this new form of journalism, could you please try to bring forward some of the traditions of old-school journalism, in which we don't mix fact and fantasy.
"This social-network strategy actually became more feasible in 2010 when we launched..."
"But by 2012—boosted by President Obama’s national Broadband Initiative—broadband access in America had increased by a remarkable 40 percent, which, of course, energized advertisers."
"By the end of 2011, WIRE had a full-time staff of twenty. "
"By 2011, however, it turned a 2.6 percent annual profit, and by the end of 2013 profits were at 5 percent."
"With all of this in mind, in late 2009, I began world Investigative Reporting Enterprises (WIRE), a global gateway to investigative journalism"
"After all the newsroom devastation, by late 2008, many individual newspapers and TV stations had begun to realize that they couldn’t function without some basic national reporting content—but they needed it without having to shoulder the related overhead."
Posted by Stan Dup on Tue 7 Apr 2009 at 11:21 AM
Both journalism and democracy desperately needed new economic models to support and deliver investigative reporting, as well as a place to explore and incubate new platforms and approaches.
thank you for the information...^^
Buzz News
Posted by alex on Sat 20 Jun 2009 at 12:04 PM
Maybe people are getting tired of the one sided media. Look at the presidential election. obama got a huge amount of media and McCain hardly had any.
air conditioner filters
Posted by ryan on Sat 20 Jun 2009 at 03:17 PM
Whoever controls the press controls the agenda. That's it.
What does an anxiety attack feel like
Posted by Steve Walsh on Sat 20 Jun 2009 at 05:54 PM
Charles,
that is really interesting that so many people can be lost to an industry in such a short space of time. The current economic climate is really not good for many industries including retail and manufacturing.
Mobile Phones
Posted by Mark Dunne on Sat 20 Jun 2009 at 07:52 PM