The future of investigative journalism

Download or read book The future of investigative journalism written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on Communications and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-02-16 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Future of Investigative Journalism: Report (HL 256) concludes that news organizations, regulators and relevant legal bodies need to make important changes if the future of investigative journalism is to be assured. The Committee recommends that media organizations introduce an audit trail to track and record their decisions: firstly, to commence an investigation, and secondly to publish a story. Legal clarity and consistency is also required. Guidelines should be published by the prosecuting authorities to help media outlets decide whether conducting an investigation or publishing a story could lead to prosecution. The Committee further suggests that funding models need to be flexible and creative. Fines for breaches of regulatory codes could be allocated to a special fund reserved for the financing of investigative journalism or training. All Public Relations practitioners should abide by a clear code of behavior, potentially overseen by a t