British investigative journalism venture receives £2 million in funding

Posted by Emma Heald on July 17, 2009 at 9:57 AM

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a new British initiative to support investigative journalism, has been launched with £2 million in funding from the Potter Foundation. It will work with the Investigations Fund, a not-for-profit project backed by a group of investigative reporters which was launched last month.

"Our goal in helping establish this project is to support investigative journalism of the highest ethical standards and to search for sustainable models for its long-term future," says Elaine Potter, a former Sunday Times journalist who is co-founder of the foundation with her husband, David, who is the founder, CEO and chairman of hand-held computer manufacturer Psion.

The Guardian's Roy Greenslade reported that there is a growing belief that the bureau will be set up at City University in London. Stephen Grey, who launched the Investigations Fund, has been named as the bureau's acting editor, until a permanent managing editor is appointed. Other journalists involved include Nick Davies, Heather Brooke, Phillip Knightley, Martin Bright, Misha Glenny, Mark Hollingsworth, Andrew Jennings and David Leigh, according to Greenslade.

Grey said that the new bureau would be focussed on production rather than on publication: it will sell its stories to a news organisation after writing. The bureau will hire a managing editor and a couple of reporters, as well as funding several freelance contributors. Centre for Investigative Journalism director and co-founder of the bureau Gavin Macfadyen said: "We will experiment with all the techniques available to us from crowdfunding to crowdsourcing and provide content across the media spectrum." Google will help the bureau with software tools and technical training.

The creation of such a bureau highlights fears that investigative journalism is suffering in the current economic climate. As well as being vital to a democratic society, investigative reporting is generally both time- and resources-consuming and therefore likely to be one of the first areas to experience cutbacks in times of financial hardship at traditional news outlets. The bureau is one of the first British efforts to find alternative ways to support investigative journalism, following several similar efforts in the US such as ProPublica and the new InvestigateWest.

Source: Guardian, Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette