Reasons to be cheerful

Paul Lashmar, a former investigative journalist and now acting head of journalism at Brunel University, sees reasons to be cheerful about the state of investigative journalism in Britain.

Speaking to Open Democracy about a growing concern that traditional media and serious investigative journalism is in decline he cited an investigation conducted by a team at Cardiff University. The study outlined that a large number of apparently self generated stories in the national mainstream news media were in fact taken directly from PR material or news agencies.

Lashmar laments the use of investigative salacious celebrity-based journalism but says there are reasons for optimism: the rise of donation and subscription base journalism outfits like the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a new generation of web savvy journalists using the latest investigative techniques and the work behind carried out by the campaigning sector – pressure groups, consumer groups, charities and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Read the full article at Open Democracy here and on the Guardian blog here.