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Bill Birnbauer Thesis Non-profit investigative reporting in American journalism, 2007–2015 By Bill Birnbauer A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Swinburne University of Technology Australia. 2017 Dedication For my parents, Mariola and Branko. Inspiring sources of determination and resilience. i Student declaration I, Bill Birnbauer, declare that this examinable outcome: Contains no material which has been accepted for the award to the candidate of any other degree or diploma, except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome; To the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome; And where the work is based on joint research or publications, discloses the relative contributions of the respective workers or authors. Signed: Date: October 22, 2016 ii Abstract This thesis explores the growth and sustainability of the non-profit model of investigative journalism in the United States. It identifies factors that stimulated a rapid expansion of the non-profit investigative sector between 2007 and 2015. More than 70 organisations were created during this period. This thesis argues that new non-profit organisations have had a transformative impact on mainstream journalistic practice. The motivations of the foundations that fund non-profit reporting centres also are explored, as are the ethical issues associated with philanthropic funding of journalism. Investigative journalism contributes to democratic processes by unearthing information that empowers the public and holds the powerful to account. It is important, therefore, to understand the factors that promote growth and sustain a significant generator of such content. This thesis is the first extensive study of the US non-profit investigative sector. Forty interviews were conducted with non-profit investigative reporting organisation leaders and reporters, foundation program directors, legacy journalists, fundraisers and media scholars. Three primary and six secondary factors behind the growth of the non-profit sector are identified and examined. These factors, together with the non-profit sector’s interactions with the economic and mainstream journalism fields, are considered in assessing the contribution, threats and long-term prospects of national, state, local and niche-topic non-profit journalistic organisations. iii Acknowledgements Many people assisted me with this thesis which was part of my journey from three decades as a professional print journalist to university journalism academic. I am indebted particularly to the guidance of my supervisors, Professor Julian Thomas and Dr Margaret Simons. They showed me how to think more critically and steered me through a process I knew little about. I am especially grateful to Associate Professor Tamara Kohn whose feedback helped me make sense of my research. I am indebted also to Dr Gillian Dite for her forensic fine- grain referencing and editing skills and humour. I also thank my colleagues at the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University who encouraged me along the journey. They include Associate Professor Philip Chubb, Professor Colleen Lewis, Professor Jenny Hocking, Associate Professor Mia Lindgren, Professor Chris Nash, and, in the early days, Dr Len Webster. Other academics including Professor Klaus Neumann, Associate Professor Andrew Dodd, Dr Diana Bossio, and Wendy Bacon provided invaluable comment and suggestions. This research would not have been possible without the many US-based journalists, foundation officials and media scholars who gave me their time without any reward other than assisting me with my research. I am particularly grateful to serial non-profit organisation founder and American University academic, Charles Lewis, for too many reasons to list here. I am also indebted to Robert Rosenthal, Dan Noyes, and Bill Buzenberg for their time and insights. The biggest debt I owe is to my wife, Deirdre. Working on this thesis interfered with an untold number of caravan trips and holidays and I can’t thank her enough for her understanding, support and patience. Thanks also my grown-up daughters for their love and encouragement and my grandchildren for keeping me grounded. iv Table of contents Dedication ............................................................................................................... i Student declaration ............................................................................................... ii Abstract ................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... iv List of figures ........................................................................................................ ix List of tables ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: Introduction ................................................................................... 1 Expansion of non-profit investigative journalism .................................................... 4 Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory .................................................................................. 5 Literature review and the contribution of this thesis ................................................ 7 Methods and approach ........................................................................................... 13 Overview of findings.............................................................................................. 18 Structure ................................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 2: The financial crisis and investigative journalism ..................... 23 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 23 The financial crisis, 2007–2009 ............................................................................. 27 The crisis argument ................................................................................................ 30 The state of investigative reporting ........................................................................ 35 Entries to the Pulitzer Prize .................................................................................... 36 Other perspectives on investigative reporting ........................................................ 42 Retention of investigative reporting ....................................................................... 50 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 52 CHAPTER 3: Collaborations and journalistic networks ................................. 55 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 55 Former legacy editors in the non-profit sector ....................................................... 58 v Journalistic and economic capital .......................................................................... 65 Journalistic capital, values and funding ................................................................. 68 Foundations, impact and independence ................................................................. 72 Collaborations between legacy and non-profit media ............................................ 74 Collaborations and journalistic practice ................................................................. 75 Models of collaboration ......................................................................................... 79 Collaborations and outsourcing.............................................................................. 83 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 84 CHAPTER 4: Foundations and non-profit investigative journalism .............. 87 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 87 Foundations in the United States ........................................................................... 88 Foundation funding of non-profit investigative news centres................................ 91 Quantifying foundation support ............................................................................. 92 Funding of 15 non-profit investigative news organisations ................................... 98 Democracy and the decline of mainstream media ............................................... 101 Scholarly differences over journalism’s role in democracy ................................. 104 Foundations and advocacy agendas ..................................................................... 108 Obtaining grants from foundations ...................................................................... 111 General and specific foundation funding ............................................................. 113 Measuring the impact of foundation funding ....................................................... 115 The impact that foundations want ........................................................................ 118 Alternative approaches to measuring impact ......................................................
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