When Did Investigative Journalism Begin To Have A Real Impact On Newspaper Coverage?
Investigative journalism began to make a big impact on the reporting of news early in the 1960s. Sunday Times’ “Insight” was considered to be the bastion of the discipline throughout the next couple of decades. One of their first investigations was an exclusive by Ron Hall who detailed the methods used by a criminal landlord to terrorise tenants. When technology allowed, the Sunday Times introduced the bugging device technique to gather information, such as Metropolitan Police corruption in the early 80s. Private Eye, launched in 1961, was, and to some extent, still is, a keen investigator born out of scepticism, lack of deference and satirical wit. From the shifty relationships and manoeuvrings of James Callaghan, to forensic investigations, to the sanctions busting of BP in Rhodesia, Private Eye had rich men investing huge sums of money and energy into bringing it down. As the years went past, the Observer, the Guardian the New Statesman and various investigative publications (such a
