One of the constant refrains from veteran - especially retired - journalists over the last 20 years or so is that investigative journalism is dead. It is, of course, rubbish.
In different ways, every mainstream newspaper runs investigations of some kind, as do the major news broadcasters. Although months may pass without one, they still turn up and usually make waves.
It is true that cash-strapped newspapers have studied their editorial budgets more closely and there has been greater pressure on reporting teams to produce results more quickly.
Rarely do reporters have the luxury of spending months on an investigatuion, although the Daily Telegraph did just that, saying it spent 10 months on its recent agenda-setting FA tales.
Investigative journalism, off the news diary, separate from the daily round of events, free from PR persuasion, remains among our trade’s greatest reasons for existence.
Sadly, one of its very best exponents, Nick Davies, has retired from the fray. At his farewell party last Friday at the Frontline Club, he blushed at the praise heaped upon him by the former Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger.
But Nick has inspired many people along the way, as has another retired Guardian reporter, David Leigh, who now spends time passing on his knowledge to students at City University.
They know that one of the great benefits of the digital revolution has been the springing up of online outlets that have given a new fillip to their craft.
These so-called “new kids on the block” include the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), which operates from quarters at City University and has received a grant from Google to promote local reporting. Think also of BuzzFeed and Vice.
Then there are the NGOs and global charities that have created investigative journalism units. Greenpeace, for example, has recently hired a team of reporters to dig deeper into stories about climate change and the environment.
Global Witness has increased its already significant investigative capacity. In 2014, it revealed - courtesy of the Guardian, incidentally - a surge in the killing of activists protecting land rights and the environment.
And global collaboration has changed the face of investigative journalism in recent years, as the Wikileaks and Ed Snowden revelations showed. Similarly, the Panama Papers exposure was carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of more than 190 investigative journalists based in more than 65 countries.
If you want to know more about the health of investigative journalism, and also the problems and pressures it faces, then you might try to find a way of attending a Frontline Club event next Thursday (13 October), “New kids on the block in investigative journalism”.
Among the speakers will be David Leigh; the BIJ’s managing editor Rachel Oldroyd; BuzzFeed’s news investigations correspondent Jane Bradley; and Maeve McClenaghan, a freelance journalist who is also Greenpeace’s senior investigative reporter. It will be chaired by Paul McNamara of Channel 4 News
It begins at 7pm (aiming to finish at 9pm). It’s free to attend, but only by invite. So you’ll need to register here.
