Economics Of Investigative Journalism

Ren Ming / Wen

Open the thick economics of investigative journalism, written by James T Hamilton, a professor of communication at Stanford University. Whether it is the "new fashion" of academia, or whether it is forced by various institutions in the United States or around the world, such as the government, academic institutions or news media, is fascinated by the "beautiful data", Professor Hamilton spends a lot of energy to quantify the data to show the social value of investigative journalism. But I think anyone who really lives in the world -- from the prairie to the bustling city -- will not deny the value of investigative journalism: is it not these news that lets us see the real situation of ourselves and let us see each other?

The term "economics" refers to Professor Hamilton comparing the "input" and "output" of investigative journalism to the "economic value". For example, in December 2008, the news and observer in North Carolina reported on the probation system for three consecutive days, which eventually led the government to change its policies. According to the number of homicide victims related to probation, there were fewer than 8 people a year after the change of policy, which means that the newspaper invested $200 thousand (a reporter 6 months' survey). The editorial cost and editorial value of the newspaper generated a social benefit of $73 million 900 thousand, that is, the net income of the news cost per US $1 was US $287 (calculated by US dollar in 2013).

There are also some data that do not seem so "eye-catching" example: the report of the US KCBS TV station about the local restaurant inspection system, the reporter obtained relevant data from the government department for 8 months. After 4 months of investigation, the final series of reports has improved the management of the local health inspection system, thus reducing the consumers' "possibility of eating diseases due to meals". The ratio of news input to output is 1:1.7, that is, news input of $1 generates 1.7 dollars in social benefits. In fact, the value of such a report and its "psychological security" at the social level are not what money can measure.

      Although sometimes the volume of data in the book is boring to ordinary readers, the value of the book is also reflected in the "data": in 1990s, the top five news organizations in the United States included 30% of the major Investigative Journalism Awards, and in twenty-first Century, the ratio changed to 50%. From 2005 to 2010, the number of local newspapers that submitted information requests to the federal agencies decreased by nearly half. In recent years, the average age of journalists who won the Pulitzer prize in investigative journalism has risen by nearly 10 years (compared with 80s in the last century). In the face of these unoptimistic prospects, Professor Hamilton hopes to reduce the cost of digging news and open up new paths through the combination of computational programming and journalism.

Perhaps in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of a new generation of journalists in investigative reporting, the book used a chapter to talk about the career of Pat Justice, a famous American journalist. Justice believes that "the goal of journalists is to bring about a series of public products and positive externalities". In the 314 reports written between 1966 and 2008, 159 articles triggered substantive changes in relevant laws, government plans, measures and processes. 31 of them produced new laws, and were praised as "investigative journalists with their own power to change the society". Justice's advice to young reporters is: "we must ask why, in any news, the causes of things are often the most interesting parts"; "numbers may be the foundation, but what motivate people to read is people, people's experiences, feelings and narration, which is what makes a report alive."

"If members of the school board know that journalists are recording what they do, they may become concerned about public reaction and faithfully fulfill their commitments." As the book reveals, the news shows the social cohesion represented by the "human spirit" of "keeping watch": it is this kind of "care" rather than "do not care about each other" - pushing the human society forward.

With the help of Internet, social media and other forms of communication, we can get more and more information that we want. Why do we need media and journalists? The answer lies in the facts revealed by Hamilton: the media and journalists can put in a lot of manpower, material, time and money to report the story of a thing; and we, as ordinary people, will not or can not do so. To this end, this is the value of journalists in a modern society where huge amounts of information consume a lot of attention.