Investigative journalism changes lives and laws. But who pays for it?

Exposing corruption and abuse; pushing for changes to law and policy that protect everyday Australians: that’s the power of great investigative journalism. It’s work that takes a lot of time, investment and skill from journalists: three things that are under more pressure than ever in today’s media. A new culture is emerging, of collaborative projects and new funding sources to support this work. A brave new world of public interest journalism, where the bottom line is less about dollars and more about impact. In a conversation presented by the Walkley Foundation and RMIT, hear from special guest Robert J Rosenthal about how nonprofit newsrooms are working in the US. An award-winning journalist and editor of some of the US’ biggest newspapers, he went on to run the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, taking it from a staff of six and a budget of under a million dollars in 2008; to today’s award-winning, multimedia public service news organisation with a staff of 70 and a budget of over $10 million annually. Robert is joined by a panel of stellar Australian journalists: Sushi Das, journalist, RMIT/ABC Fact Check Stephen Drill, journalist, Herald Sun Robert J Rosenthal (US) Participating moderator: Michael Bachelard, investigations editor, The Age, (2018 Gold Walkley winner) This podcast was edited by Kevin Suarez at 2ser studios, Sydney. The discussion was recorded in Melbourne on September 4 2018. We were lucky to have the support of the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund to bring Robert to Australia. Thanks also to Private Media for their support on this event.