Can Investigative Journalism Be Done in Collaboration Online?
Robert Parry, an investigative reporter who broke stories about the Iran-Contra scandal in the ’80s, wrote about the importance of investigative journalism for his ConsortiumNews.com site: Investigative reporting is to journalism what theoretical research is to science, having the potential to present new realities and shatter old paradigms how people see and understand the world around them which, in turn, can transform politics. That is why investigative journalism is so important to the health of a democracy. But the health of investigative journalism is in danger. The best investigative pieces are filed by newspaper and magazine reporters. Readership of newspapers and news magazines are in decline as people migrate to new media such as the Internet. Corporate owners of these publications see no boost to the bottom line by investigative reports that require months and perhaps years of work with little financial payoff at the end. (Media Shift) Tata, Microsoft to set up Chinese outso
