Centre Blog

May 21, 2009

There's been a major outcry in the last while about the crisis in journalism. Daily news reporters are being laid off across the country - the Canadian Association of Journalism puts the number at over two thousand in the last two years. Mostly we've heard of the threat to local daily news, as major television networks such as CTV and Global seek to sell or shut down entire stations. As CBC lays off 800 people and cancels shows to cut costs, regional reporting is vulnerable. It's enough to make a journalist weep.

Every reporter loves a scoop. But for a real journalist, the adrenalin rush of being the first to uncover a good story is of secondary importance. It's bringing that truth to the public's attention that really counts. Real journalists see themselves as a cog in the democratic process. Our job is to uncover the truth, no matter what that is. Our loyalty is to the public only - not to any political party, institution or public figure. For without truthful information, the public cannot make an informed choice when it comes to voting for its representatives or running its institutions, which is essential to shaping its society, laws and the kind of country we live in.

So it is with investigative reporting. Investigative journalists seek to oversee the honesty of our political and societal institutions, to ascertain whether they and those who run them are achieving the goals of the institution, or corrupting them. Investigative journalists find the truth behind the daily headlines, which can and are at times manipulated by the many public relations figures working to garner "friendly" headlines through colourful quotes and spin lines for their paying clients.

As Cecil Rosner, author of "Behind the Headlines" says, "Investigative journalism ... often begins when all the daily reporters have typed their quotes, securely chained opinions to their opposites, and left the scene in search of their next scoop." That's when the real digging begins. Investigative journalism takes a lot more time and resources than producing daily news. It can involve tirelessly pouring over financial statements, months of battling governments to release information through Freedom of Information requests and appeals, and lengthy travel to far-flung places everyone else is ignoring to uncover, double-check and triple-check stories. It can mean costly lawsuits as those they expose attempt to "chill" the reporter into backing off.

They are a tough bunch. Rosner describes the type, and nails it: "They display a keen sense of outrage, exposing injustice wherever it exists. They question why things have worked the way they traditionally do, and are skeptical of conventional explanations. They feel a need to hold powerful, vested interests to account. They have a devotion to seeking the truth, even when it means endangering their careers and personal well-being... They are not content merely with opinions or chronicling the work of others - they want to do their own work."

Without investigative reporting, corruption remains hidden and the voices of those without real power in our society go unheard. It was investigative reporting by the CBC that has exposed much of the information after the fatal RCMP tasering of Robert Dziekanski; it was investigative reporting by National Post reporter Ian McIntosh and Globe and Mail scribe Daniel Lablanc that revealed the sponsorship scandal in Quebec which many argue was the death of the Paul Martin Liberal government; and of course, it was investigative reporting that caused the resignation of Richard Nixon after Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate "cancer on the Presidency" scandal in the Washington Post.

But it's future is shaky. Here in Canada, investigative and political reporting started suffering cuts long before this current recession hit. Press galleries in Ottawa and at provincial legislatures have been shrinking for decades as media outlets sought to cover the news as inexpensively as possible. For some, news is a necessary evil of doing business: covering news was a requirement of acquiring their broadcast licenses from the Canadian Radio and Television Commission. Consequently it was done as with as few reporters covering as many stories as possible. Those journalists were stretched to the limit when major media networks and newspapers "converged" several years ago.

As the number of media outlets grew, the result wasn't more stories, but rather more versions of the same story. A daily reporter's life often goes like this: into the news conference, grab a quick quote or clip, file for the hourly newscast, send another version to the web, do a live hit with the all-news television part of their media organization, file for the 12 noon, 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts, and do a print version for its newspaper division.

The quality and quantity of stories inevitably went down despite the valiant efforts of many a frustrated reporter.

Meanwhile, the fracturing of the audiences into smaller and smaller bits as people scattered across the 500-plus universe and the internet took off meant advertising was less and less cost-effective.

Then the current economic tsunami hit. Really, it just put the final nail in the coffin of the current "news delivery system". Advertising plummeted: the layoffs and shutdowns came fast and furious. Everyone began to talk about how the current "media model" was broken. But no one seemed to know how to fix it.

Stubborn as they are, many journalists themselves are searching for new ways to deliver stories properly in an economically sustainable way. In Hamilton, for instance, CHCH TV employees are raising money in an attempt to buy the station to save local news.

The Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting has been ahead of the curve in launching just such a major initiative. Worried about the dearth of investigative journalism in Canada, a group of seasoned investigative reporters, producers and supporters formed the Centre a year ago. The CCIR is deliberately designed to bring serious, in-depth and important stories to the public, not just through one television station or newspaper, but many TV and radio networks, newspaper chains, magazines and online outlets across Canada.

It's hard to see a downside.

Good for the public.
Good for journalism.
Good for democracy.