Democracy's Detectives : The Economics of Investigative Journalism / James T. Hamilton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hamilton, James T., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Investigative reporting--Economic aspects--United States.

Investigative reporting.

Press--United States--Influence.

Press.

Press--Economic aspects--United States.

Journalism--United States--Data processing.

Journalism.

Government and the press--United States.

Government and the press.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (381 pages) : illustrations, tables

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In democratic societies, investigative journalism holds government and private institutions accountable to the public. From firings and resignations to changes in budgets and laws, the impact of this reporting can be significant-but so too are the costs. As newspapers confront shrinking subscriptions and advertising revenue, who is footing the bill for journalists to carry out their essential work? Democracy's Detectives puts investigative journalism under a magnifying glass to clarify the challenges and opportunities facing news organizations today. Drawing on a painstakingly assembled data set of thousands of investigations by U.S. journalists, James T. Hamilton deploys economic theories of markets and incentives to reach conclusions about the types of investigative stories that get prioritized and funded. Hamilton chronicles a remarkable record of investigative journalism's real-world impact, showing how a single dollar invested in a story can generate hundreds of dollars in social benefits. An in-depth case study of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Pat Stith of The News and Observer in Raleigh, NC, who pursued over 150 investigations that led to the passage of dozens of state laws, illustrates the wide-ranging impact one intrepid journalist can have. Important stories are going untold as news outlets increasingly shy away from the expense of watchdog reporting, Hamilton warns, but technology may hold an answer. Computational journalism-making novel use of digital records and data-mining algorithms-promises to lower the costs of discovering stories and increase demand among readers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Tables

Introduction

1. Economic Theories of Investigative Reporting

2. Detectives, Muckrakers, and Watchdogs

3. What's the Story?

4. What's the Impact?

5. How Is It Produced?

6. How Is It Supported?

7. A Single Investigative Reporter

8. Accountability and Algorithms

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

9780674973596

0674973593

9780674973572

0674973577

OCLC:

984688058