Web sites doing investigative news

I get some of my news from the web- from blogs and websites that pull articles from newspapers and magazines all over the world. But I wasn't aware that there are web sites doing investigative reporting until I read a recent article in the New York Times. It actually made the front page! The article was in the November 18, 2008 paper and was titled: "Web Sites that Dig for News Rise as Community Watchdogs."

I've been worried about news reporting - the more I hear about newspaper staffs being slashed, the more sound bites and entertainment have been replacing news on television. That's why this article caught my eye.

These web site news organizations cost much less to run than newspapers for one thing. Right now, they are mostly non profits funded by wealthy individuals, grants, audience donations and, in some cases, advertising. They are springing up around the country and often cover local news that other media won't cover and then force that media to cover it. Many reporters for these sites come from the city newspapers that laid off reporters.

The article centers around VoiceofSanDeigo.org. It began with a disgruntled local businessman, Buzz Woolley, who watched fraud charges, criminal convictions, and a pension debacle going on in San Diego that were hardly covered by the local media. In 2004, he talked with a journalist Neil Morgan who had been fired by the Union Tribune. Together they hatched VoiceofSanDiego which has forced the news in San Diego, bringing to light conflicts of interest, hidden pay raises, misleading crime statistics, etc. Their reporting led to investigations, firings, and criminal charges - all with a staff of 11.

Similar investigative web sites exist now in other cities like New Haven, the Twin Cities, Seattle, and Chicago. This is a heartening development that might help counter the shrinking of investigative teams on city newspapers. This also may change the internet from being a sphere where people express their opinions, and where people read their newspapers on their websites, to a place where investigative reporters break their news stories directly on the web and not in any printed form. Hopeful news for us worried news junkies.