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Austria – (C9) Watchdog function and financial resources

Score in short:

Austrian newsrooms are positive and try to provide resources for investigative reporting to the extent possible, but funds are strictly limited.

Score in detail:

According to our respondents, and compared to the research results from 2009, more staff and financial resources were invested in investigations in 2019, although figures are not disclosed by the media (and probably do not exist).

All journalists and editors-in-chief confirmed that resources are made available for investigations. In some media, this happens once a month on average; other media have one person permanently positioned to follow investigative research. Overall, however, funds are strictly limited, and teams are established and financed on an ad hoc basis. One journalist pointed out that investigative journalism at the regional level can take place anyway, and does not necessarily require substantially more funding.