[Infowarrior] - Group Plans to Provide Investigative Journalism

[Richard Forno]

Group Plans to Provide Investigative Journalism
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/business/media/15publica.html?ei=5065&en=a
979b82d4af36b74&ex=1193112000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

As struggling newspapers across the country cut back on investigative
reporting, a new kind of journalism venture is hoping to fill the gap.

Paul E. Steiger, who was the top editor of The Wall Street Journal for 16
years, and a pair of wealthy Californians are assembling a group of
investigative journalists who will give away their work to media outlets.

The nonprofit group, called Pro Publica, will pitch each project to a
newspaper or magazine (and occasionally to other media) where the group
hopes the work will make the strongest impression. The plan is to do
long-term projects, uncovering misdeeds in government, business and
organizations.

Nothing quite like it has been attempted, and despite having a lot going for
it, Pro Publica will be something of an experiment, inventing its practices
by trial and error. It remains to be seen how well it can attract talent and
win the cooperation of the mainstream media.

³It is the deep-dive stuff and the aggressive follow-up that is most
challenged in the budget process,² said Mr. Steiger, who will be Pro
Publica¹s president and editor in chief. He gave up the title of managing
editor of The Journal in May, but is staying on through the end of the year
as editor at large; during his tenure, the newsroom won 16 Pulitzer Prizes.

Pro Publica is the creation of Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler, the former
chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation, based in
California, which was one of the nation¹s largest mortgage lenders and
savings and loans. They have committed $10 million a year to the project,
while various foundations have provided smaller amounts. Mr. Sandler will
serve as chairman of the group, which will begin operations early next year.

The Sandlers are also major Democratic political donors and critics of
President Bush. Last year, they sold Golden West to the Wachovia Corporation
for about $26 billion, a deal which valued their personal shares at about
$2.4 billion.

Pro Publica plans to establish a newsroom in New York City and have 24
journalists, one of the biggest investigative staffs in any medium, along
with about a dozen other employees. Mr. Steiger said he envisions a mix of
accomplished reporters and editors, including some hired from major
publications, and talented people with only a few years¹ experience, so that
the group will become a training ground for investigative reporters. He
would not say specifically where he is shopping for talent, but did not rule
out The Journal.

Richard J. Tofel, a former assistant publisher and assistant managing editor
of The Journal, has been hired as general manager. Board members will
include Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard scholar of African and
African-American studies; Alberto Ibarguen, a former publisher of The Miami
Herald, who is currently president and chief executive of the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation; James A. Leach, a former congressman from Iowa
who directs Harvard¹s Institute of Politics; and Rebecca Rimel, president
and chief executive of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The nearest parallels to Pro Publica may be the Center for Investigative
Reporting in San Francisco, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in
Washington, groups that support in-depth work and have had considerable
success getting it published or broadcast in mainstream media. But their
budgets are a fraction of Pro Publica¹s, and they do not actually employ
most of the journalists whose work they help finance.

Pro Publica will provide salaries and benefits comparable to the biggest
newspapers, Mr. Steiger said. ³I won¹t be offering somebody 50 grand or 100
grand more than they¹re making to jump ship, nor will I ask them to take a
pay cut,² he said.

Newspapers routinely publish articles from wire services, and many of them
also subscribe to the major papers¹ news services and reprint their
articles. But except for fairly routine news wire service articles, the
largest newspapers have generally been reluctant to use reporting from other
organizations.

But experts say that resistance is breaking down as the business is squeezed
financially, and newspapers make greater use of freelance journalists.

³They¹re looking for alternative means of paying for ambitious journalism,²
said Stephen B. Shepard, dean of the City University of New York¹s Graduate
School of Journalism and a former editor of BusinessWeek. ³Steiger has the
credibility and judgment to bring this off, and if they do good work, it
will get picked up.²

Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said The Times would be
open to using work from an outside source, ³assuming we were confident of
its quality,² but that ³we¹ll always have a preference for work we can vouch
for ourselves.²

Mr. Steiger said that relationships with publications could be tricky,
requiring the flexibility to make each comfortable.

In most cases, he said, Pro Publica will appeal to a newspaper or magazine
while a project is under way, to gauge interest and how much oversight the
publication wants. In others, he said, his group might present more or less
finished products to other outlets.

If Pro Publica and a publication cannot agree on how to approach a topic, or
what can be written about it, he said, his group will look for another
outlet, or publish its reporting on its own Web site.

Mr. Sandler said his interest in investigative journalism has been abetted
by friendships with reporters in the field.

³Both my father and my older brother always focused on the underdog,
justice, ethics, what¹s right,² Mr. Sandler said. ³All of my life I¹ve been
driven crazy whenever I encounter corruption, malfeasance, mendacity, but
particularly where those in power take advantage of those who have few
resources.²