Watchdog Conference

In the US, the biggest constraint on watchdog reporting is diminished resources brought about by declining advertising and circulation revenues. This panel will look at successful models of news organizations that have pursued watchdog journalism despite shrinking budgets. The first speaker will be an editor from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which continues to support investigative or projects teams even with reduced resources. The paper’s watchdog unit recently won the AP Innovators Award. The paper’s watchdog editor, Mark Katches, will talk about civic responsibility and also how watchdog journalism has an audience. WNYC, New York’s public broadcasting radio network, has pioneered crowd-sourcing – getting listeners to help in research and reporting – as a way of getting community involvement in investigations. At the same time, investigative reporting is going global. In China, a new generation of investigative reporters has braved the restrictions of the Chinese Communist Party to report on level corruption, financial scams and social issues. Weiqiang Ye of Caijing will speak about muckraking in China, while Daoud Kuttab will speak on finding the spaces for this kind of journalism in the Arab world.

Moderator: Brant Houston, Knight Chair for Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois
Mark Katches, investigative editor, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (winner, AP Award for Innovations in Investigative Reporting)
Brian Lehrer, WNYC Radio: Public radio as a home for investigative reporting; “crowd-sourcing” and other techniques
Daoud Kuttab, Chairman of ARIJ (Arab reporters for Investigative Journalism) and Founder of AmmanNet: Finding space for investigative journalism in the Arab world
Weiqiang Ye, Assistant Managing Editor, Caijing: Muckraking in China amid Communist Party restrictions

As newsroom budgets shrink, nonprofit and other models for funding investigations are emerging. Investigative documentaries have received venture-capital and Hollywood funding. New technologies are making it easier and cheaper to produce and distribute journalistic investigations in various formats.

Moderator: Betsy West, associate professor, Columbia Journalism School
Alex Gibney, independent documentary film-maker: Financing and marketing investigative documentaries
Andrew Golis, deputy publisher, Talking Points Memo
Andrew Donohue, executive editor, VoiceofSanDiego.org
Bob Moser, investigative editor, Texas Observer
Brant Houston, Knight Chair for Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois

In many countries, investigative reporters face the threat of violence and physical harm. About a third of the nearly 700 journalists killed worldwide since 1992 were slain for exposing crime and corruption. In addition, the increasingly dangerous terrain for investigative journalism is a source of psychological stress for journalists. Bruce Shapiro, director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, will talk about psychological threats and the ways groups and individuals around the world have tried to counter those threats. Joel Simon, director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, will speak on campaigns to end impunity in the killings of journalists in Latin America, the Philippines and Russia. Kwame Karikari, head of the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA) as well as one of the founders of the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organizations (NAFEO) will represent African media concerns. Drew Sullivan will talk about cross-border investigations on crime and corruption in the Balkans.

Moderator: Josh Friedman, director of International Programs, Columbia Journalism School
Bruce Shapiro, executive director, Dart Center: Trauma and threats to the psychological well-being of investigative reporters
Joel Simon, executive director, Committee to Protect Journalists: Anti-Impunity Campaigns in Latin America, Russia and the Philippines
Kwame Karikari, head of the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA): The Situation in Africa
Drew Sullivan, advising editor, Center for Investigative Reporting, Bosnia; Director Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina : Transnational investigative reporting on crime and corruption in the Balkans

In the US, the biggest constraint on watchdog reporting is diminished resources brought about by declining advertising and circulation revenues. There are pressures brought about by owners and advertisers as well. Mark Horvit of IRE and Cheryl Phillips of the Seattle Times will talk about the challenges of doing investigative reporting in this environment. Paul Steiger, former Wall Street Journal managing editor and now head of a nonprofit committed to investigative reporting, will discuss how newsrooms have cut their investment in investigations, prompting the need for nonprofit models for funding watchdog reporting. Gustavo Goritti, veteran investigative journalist from Peru, will talk about the constraints posed by media owners and the growing threat of “soft censorship” through government advertising in the Latin American media.

Moderator: Bill Grueskin, academic dean, Columbia Journalism School
Paul Steiger, editor in chief, president and chief executive of ProPublica
Gustavo Gorriti, columnist, Caretas magazine, Peru
Mark Horvit, executive director, Investigative Reporters and Editors
Cheryl Phillips, data enterprise editor, Seattle Times, and president of Investigative Reporters and Editors

Investigative journalists throughout the world face legal threats. This panel will look at how lawsuits have put a chill on watchdog journalism in the US and elsewhere. It will focus on the threats to national-security reporting, particularly the legal pressures on journalists to reveal their sources. Lucy Dalglish of the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press will provide a broad overview on the legal threats and challenges faced by US journalists. James Risen, who covers national security for The New York Times, has been put under surveillance and subpoenaed in court and being compelled to reveal the sources for his 2006 book on the CIA. He will speak on the pressures put on US journalists covering national-security issues. Roman Shleynov of Novaya Gazeta will address challenges faced by Russian journalists reporting on national security issues, and Harinder Baweja will discuss threats to journalists reporting on national security in India.

Moderator: John Dinges, professor, Columbia Journalism School
Lucy Dalglish, executive director, Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press: Legal threats and challenges faced by investigative reporters in the United States
James Risen, reporter for The New York Times and author of State of War, about the CIA: Protection of sources and threats on national security reporting.
Roman Shleynov, investigations editor, Novaya Gazeta (Russia): Challenges in covering national security issues for journalists in Russia.
Harinder Baweja, news and investigations editor, Tehelka: Threats to journalists reporting on national security in India.

OVERVIEW: The Changing Landscape of Watchdog Journalism: Threats and Opportunities

This overview panel will provide a broad sweep of the challenges and possibilities for doing watchdog journalism in the US and the rest of the world. Charles Lewis, founder of a nonprofit investigative reporting center that has done groundbreaking trends in US investigative reporting as well as the legal and other threats faced by investigative journalists in the US. Sheila Coronel, founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, will speak on global trends in investigative reporting.

Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity and president of the Fund for Independence in Journalism: U.S. Overview
Sheila Coronel, director, Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University: Global Overview

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