UK journalism has a longstanding reputation of producing in-depth investigative journalism and a commitment to international and conflict journalism. Both activities have been affected by economic pressures (in the commercial sector), particularly in the local and regional press. However, there is still a commitment to in-depth investigative journalism across the British news media.
A House of Lords Communications Committee inquiry in 2012 investigated the state of investigative journalism in the UK and the effects of economic pressures on the ability of news organizations to devote resources to journalism of that type. The report concluded that economic pressures were having a direct negative impact on the capacity of newspapers to devote resources to investigative journalism, especially at the local and regional news level, but noted that:
It is difficult to find reliable time-series data following the amount of investigative journalism in the printed press in order to be able to conduct a comprehensive analysis of whether the amount of investigative journalism has decline over the most recent decades. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that this is very much the case (House of Lords, 2012, p. 19).
Unfortunately, this remains the case, given the fact that investigative journalism often does not result in the publication of stories. The UK government-commissioned report into the sustainability of local public-interest journalism found much anecdotal evidence of pressures on the delivery of investigative journalism in UK non-broadcast media, but did not produce empirical data on the decline (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 2019a, pp.18-21).
UK national print and online journalism continues to produce high-profile investigative journalism stories, such as the Guardian’s 2016investigation into offshore tax havens in conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, or the Sunday Times Insight team of investigative journalists which has produced a series of high-profile investigations, including on corruption in sport. International reporting, however, has been in decline in print journalism for some time. A 2010 study monitored the decline at that stage of dedicated foreign coverage in the UK national press (Moore, 2010). Although digital convergence has made some aspects of foreign reporting more affordable, there is little evidence of increased spending in that area.
While economic pressures on the local press have been profound, the sector is still capable of conducting significant investigative journalism. Local newspapers have been shortlisted for the UK’s main investigative journalism award – the Paul Foot Award – in seven of the eight occasions in the last decade that the award has been made, including a reporter for independent paper The Hackney Gazette winning the award in 2017 (Private Eye, 2017).
There have also been new entrants since 2010, with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism launching in that year, focusing specifically on detailed investigative journalism on selected topics, such as government use of personal data and tobacco lobbying. The Bureau is not-for-profit and funded by charitable donations and grants (Bureau of Investigative Journalism, n.d.).
On investigative journalism by public service broadcasters, the House of Lords report did not identify any significant concerns about commitments to investigative reporting (House of Lords, 2012, p.21), and broadcast news organizations still have significant resources to devote to investigative journalism. BBC funding across all news and current affairs programming in 2018/19 was £355 million, and ITN’s revenue from news at the same time was £89 million (see Section E1); both news providers also offer a range of news and current affairs formats, including investigative journalism (Section E3). This combined expenditure is significantly higher than the £307 million allocated to news and current affairs programming by all public service broadcasters in 2010 (Ofcom, 2011, p.10). However, some former employees of the BBC have criticized the Corporation’s lack of clearly defined investigative news teams, as employed in certain national newspapers (Jones, 2016).
