photo by visual dichotomy (Flickr)
Alright, the title is misleading. There will always be investigative journalism, but no can argue that it has become a privilege for few.
The head of the jury for the prize of the Dutch Association of Investigative Journalists (VVOJ) put the right question forward: is there any space left for investigative journalism in newsrooms?
Ad van Liempt’s interrogation follows the announcement of this year’s nominees. In the category ‘text’ all three nominees have published their work in a book. In fact, out of the top six written works up for the award only one was published as a series of reports in a newspaper.
In an article he wrote for the Dutch Journalist Union NVJ Liempt worries about how limited this field of journalism is becoming. He points out to the fact that most journalists can’t publish longer reports as the tendency among publications is to make stories shorter – and therefore stripped of context and depth.
Click to read Ad van Liempt’s article in full (in Dutch)
