ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
IN THREE METROPOLITAN PAPERS: 1980 AND 1995 COMPARED
Joseph Bernt and Marilyn Greenwald
Associate Professors of Journalism
E. W. Scripps School of Journalism
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701
614/593-2590
and
Mark Tatge
Reporter
Columbus Bureau
Cleveland Plain Dealer
614/228-8200
Presented to the Council of Affiliates and Investigative Reporters
and Editors, Inc., Association for Journalism and Mass Communication Annual
Meeting, Anaheim, California,
August 12, 1996
Abstract
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting in Three Metropolitan Papers:
1980 and 1995 Compared
This exploratory study measured how enterprise and investigative
reporting changed from 1980 to 1995. The study content analyzed 401
"enterprise" stories from 546 editions of the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia
Inquirer and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published during March, April and
November of 1980 and 1995. The number of enterprise stories actually rose from
199 in 1980 to 202 in 1995, but those enterprise stories coded as investigative
decreased from 69 in 1980 to 20 in 1995. Results suggested news managers may
still value in-depth stories, but investigative reporting may not carry the
prestige it held in the 1970s.
Joseph Bernt and Marilyn Greenwald
Associate Professors of Journalism
E. W. Scripps School of Journalism
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701
and
Mark Tatge
Reporter
Columbus Bureau
Cleveland Plain Dealer
614/228-8200
ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
IN THREE METROPOLITAN PAPERS: 1980 AND 1995 COMPARED
"Newspaper proprietors, a notoriously timid bunch, weighed their
various alternative strategies for the Nineties and came to the near-unanimous
conclusion: time to hunker down. Boat-rocking is definitely out. Pulling in your
journalistic horns is definitely in."1
-- Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan
Introduction
Despite emerging technologies, changes in ownership and other
factors affecting today's newspapers, it seems logical that one thing could
never change: the age-old, classic definition of "news." Textbooks and editors
alike have for the last century agreed that the conventions of timeliness,
proximity and prominence dominate when it comes to deciding what to play on page
one.
But today, with increasing attention to the bottom line and the
compressing of media organizations, defining "news" may not be as simple as it
once was. Doug Underwood, James Squires, John McManus and others have written at
length about the "corporatization" of America media in the last two decades and
how media outlets' increased links to business have affected news coverage.2
Simply put, the goals of business -- to maintain the status quo and increase
profits -- and the goals of journalism -- to monitor the establishment -- may be
incompatible. To many, one immediate casualty of this merger between business
and journalism has been a form of journalism
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 2
that was once held in the highest regard in newsrooms: investigative
reporting.
To some, modern investigative reporting obtained a certain cache
with both journalists and readers with the advent of what is now known simply as
Watergate: the downfall of a U.S. president due primarily to a series of stories
developed by two Washington Post reporters. Watergate certainly gave all
investigative reporting a shot in the arm in the mid- and late- 1970s, although
that type of reporting was not invented by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. It
began shortly after the turn of the century with muckrakers, such as Lincoln
Steffens, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell and others who focused their attention on
corruption in government and business, including powerful oil, railroad, banking
and insurance industries, and published them in such magazines as McClure's and
Collier's.3
Edwin Diamond, in his history of newspapers, believes there
was little or no sustained muckraking or investigative reporting between 1913
and 1960, and, despite dramatic changes in society, newspapers were complacent
and content to maintain the status quo.4 By the late-1960s and early-1970s,
however, younger, better-educated reporters began working in newsrooms and some
of the spirit of muckraking returned; and this spirit hit its peak with
Watergate and with the success and fame of Woodward and Bernstein.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 3
By the mid-1980s, however, some news managers began questioning the
value of investigative reporting. After all, it was expensive and
time-consuming; one or more reporters often took months to complete a single
series of stories. Others questioned whether readers were interested in such
serious journalism. In a 1990 speech to members of Investigative Reporters and
Editors, Wall Street Journal managing editor Norman Pearlstine said that
declining readership combined with reader disinterest in investigative pieces is
prompting many news managers to discourage investigative reporting.5 Without
question, however, the threat of libel lawsuits frightened news executives and
forced them to draw away from investigative reporting by the late-1980s,
according to many. And this fear of legal action extended beyond just financial
considerations. Even seasoned reporters who were simply questioned by attorneys
began to lose their nerve about pursuing future investigative projects.
Pearlstine predicted changes in legal theory regarding journalistic issues:
"There are going to be new theories of law developing over the next several
years that will increasingly challenge the freedom of reporters ... on issues of
trade secrets, proprietary information, embarrassment, shame, humiliation -- all
the things we specialize in," he said in 1990.6
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 4
To some, reports of the death of investigative reporting have been
greatly exaggerated. The majority of 550 journalists questioned in a 1986 survey
by Investigative Reporters and Editors said investigative reporting increased at
their news outlets in the 1980s. On 71 percent of newspapers, investigative
techniques were used more widely by newsroom beat reporters than they were
during the previous five years. Reporter and former IRE president Joe Rigert,
noted in 1986 that most reporters were getting more adept at investigative
reporting: "They're better at looking at records, dealing with law enforcement
officers, interviewing and handling sources."7 In 1990, former Chicago Tribune
editor and press critic James Squires told those at an IRE conference that
investigative reporting can thrive, if reporters can show how a story is of
value to readers or viewers and if reporters can illustrate to news managers
that it is lucrative.8 Even Pearlstine, who in 1990 painted a grim picture of
the future of investigative reporting, said newspapers "which do remain
committed to really telling it as it is can find a great deal of success."9
Have media outlets, particularly newspapers, cut back on
investigative reporting? And has the nature and even the definition of
investigative reporting changed from the early 1980s, the immediate aftermath of
Watergate, to the mid-1990s? In When MBAs Rule the Newsroom, Underwood blames
the new
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 5
corporate mentality at many newspapers for pandering to readers'
interests and going overboard in presenting them with what these corporate
executives think they want. This fixation on the reader has led to watered-down
news and a declining quality of newspapers overall, Underwood believes, and it
forces news executives to organize newsrooms around this corporate marketing
philosophy.10 James Fallows, on the other hand, believes that increasing greed
on the part of journalists detracts from their eagerness to report the news;
this greed often comes in the form of huge speaker fees. Further, he believes a
jaded attitude and elitism on the part of many reporters is replacing genuine
skepticism.11 Squires maintains that the press is no longer dedicated to
educating the public but, similar to television, is now dedicated to
entertaining its consumers for profit. Responsibility for the news has been
taken out of the hands of professional journalists and placed in the hands of
experienced business managers, he believes.12
These recent commentators are in many ways followers of Badikian's
indictment of media concentration and corporate ideology.13 They developed their
critiques of corporate newspapers and the loss of journalism's soul to the
bottom line from their own experience as reporters and newsroom managers. More
recently, David Pierce Demers has questioned the purported decline of newspaper
journalism by reviewing empirical and descriptive studies of the quality of
newspaper content and
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 6
newsroom working conditions. While he found some support for charges
that chain newspapers concentrate less on local news and place greater emphasis
on profits, Demers argues that newspapers and the working lives of journalists
have improved as chains and newspapers have adopted the principles and practices
of the modern corporation. Demers argues that, while newspapers have changed,
they have done so as part of the managerial revolution that has affected all
institutions in the twentieth century.14
Methodology
This exploratory study analyzed enterprise and investigative
reporting -- emblematic of difficult, time-consuming and public service
journalism -- in three major dailies. The intent was to use the amount, subject
matter or information-gathering techniques of enterprise, and particularly
investigative reporting, as indicators of newspaper quality and to determine if
this type of coverage had deteriorated from 1980 to 1995 or if the infusion of
corporate resources and techniques have improved metropolitan newspapers.
The definition of investigative reporting is subjective; reporters,
editors and readers have assigned varying definitions to it over the years. For
this study definitions provided by Ullmann, Gaines, Mollenhoff and Wicklein were
summarized.15 Gaines and Wicklein provide definitions that focus on reporting
that reveals something contrary to versions of evenys offered by
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 7
government, business, or other authority; or on reporting that aims
to ameliorate a social ill.
To operationalize the definition for coding purposes, this study
used a version of the definition provided by Ullmann and Mollenhoff and one used
for many years by the IRE: investigative reporting exposes wrongdoing or
violations of law, regulation, codes of standards or common understanding of
decency; is the work of the reporter and not others; is about a subject of
importance to readers; and results from the attempts of others to hide or keep
something secret.16 Additionally, in this study stories were defined as
investigative if they fit these characteristics but the information reported,
while not secret, was nevertheless previously unnoticed and was discovered
through a variety of standard investigative reporting techniques. These include
interviews, unidentified sources, published materials, leaked documents or
public documents and so forth. This allowed
substantially more of the enterprise stories found in the three
papers to be coded as examples of investigative reporting.
Although not all editors and reporters may agree with this
definition, one element of it has recently stirred debate among members of the
IRE. The organization's board of directors is reviewing the third stipulation:
whether investigative reporting should have in its definition the element of
secrecy. To investigative reporter and editor Bob Greene, this element of
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 8
uncovering secret information is what separates investigative
reporting from other types of in-depth or enterprise reporting. To Steve
Weinberg, former IRE executive director, including that stipulation disqualifies
what he considers classic and compelling investigative reporting.17 This debate
about the definition goes beyond semantics. It touches on the subject matter of
investigative reporting and how it may have changed over time. To Weinberg and
some others, the traditional definition favors organized crime and corruption
stories and focuses on bureaucrats concealing documents. A wider definition
would recognize efforts that go beyond unlocking closed files and into ferreting
out Congressional testimony, government records and other information that is
open and available but previously unreviewed.18
Although this study adheres to a slightly wider definition, it
specifically codes for secret or hidden information obtained by reporters. The
authors realized that this element of the definition, whether information is
secret, is pivotal in determining changes in the scope of investigative
reporting.
In this study, three months each of two years of the Chicago
Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the St. Louis Post Dispatch were
examined. The authors coded March, April and November issues for each newspaper
in 1980 and 1995. A total of 546 newspapers were searched for enterprise and
investigative
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 9
stories. Only stories appearing on page one and stories referenced
on page one were coded.
In designing this as an exploratory study with an eye to expanding
the number of newspapers included in a future study, the authors sought to code
large metropolitan dailies operating in different competitive environments. This
would indicate if competitive status affected the number and types of stories
published. The Tribune, with a circulation of 678,081, was and remains a
competitive newspaper. The Inquirer, with a circulation of 478,999, was and
remains in a joint-operating agreement with the Philadelphia Daily News. The
Post-Dispatch, with a circulation of 333,968, was in a competitive situation in
1980, but was the sole daily in the city in 1995.19 Geographical variety was
also sought.
The year 1980 was selected for comparison with investigative
reporting in 1995 because it was sufficiently distant from the frenzy of
Watergate-influenced reporting but prior to many of the corporate consolidations
and closures affecting the newspaper industry during the 1980s. Many major
cities were still served by two newspapers in 1980. The authors randomly
selected three months of each of the newspapers for 1980 and 1995 rather than
selecting a constructed sample for two reasons: so whole series of investigative
stories would be captured in their entirety and so the chance of missing
investigative stories would be reduced.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 10
Front pages only were selected out of the belief that major
investigative and enterprise pieces, requiring significant investment of staff
and budget, would be highlighted on page one. It was assumed that even if a
major story did not begin on page one, it would be mentioned there by a blurb or
"reefer" line. Investigative or enterprise pieces that were promoted on page one
but that appeared inside the newspaper thus were also coded. If a story was
deemed appropriate for coding, all of its sidebars and related pieces also were
coded, regardless of where they appeared.
The coding hinged on the definitions the authors used for
investigative and for enterprise, since only those types of stories were coded.
While the definition the authors used for investigative has already been
mentioned, some further elaboration is required. The coders followed the
definition used by Ullmann and Greene, as explained above, although the element
of secrecy was not required for this study. If the material consulted by
reporters was not secret, but was previously unnoticed by reporters or the
public, the story was considered investigative. If the story involved an
extensive examination of a topic, used several of the standard techniques of
investigative reporting, contained a variety of sources, and reported on illegal
or unethical actions or other offenses, it was considered investigative by the
coders. It should be noted
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 11
also that the coding sheet (Appendix A) makes a clear distinction
between an investigative story involving secret information and one involving
information that was available but unnoticed previously.
Once the determination was made that a story was investigative, it
was coded for one main focus (who or what was targeted), all investigative
techniques used and the type of art, if any, that accompanied the story. The
categories for focus included a variety of public and private individuals and
entities. Standard investigative reporting techniques, such as going undercover,
personal interview, surveillance, and so forth were coded. The art category was
divided into photographs, line art or illustrations and charts or tables or
infographics. Items such as story headline, date, page, and length in paragraphs
were also coded; the subject of story was noted qualitatively. Also coded in
this study were accomplishment stories, which the authors defined as those
stories referring to change or action brought about by an investigative piece.
All stories defined as enterprise but not investigative were also
identified and coded. Although the definition of enterprise varies, authors of
this study considered an enterprise story one that involved extensive work,
detail, use of a variety of sources and one that had a news focus. An enterprise
story or series may also have illuminated an issue or situation, may have
provided new information on an
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 12
issue, and may have been analytical or interpretive. Feature
stories, columns and opinion pieces, personality profiles, localization of
national or international news and political commentary were not coded. If a
story was deemed enterprise, it was coded only for its headline, date, and
length, and the subject again was noted. All coding was completed by the
authors. Only locally produced stories were coded. A total of 410 stories were
coded, including sidebars. Intercoder reliability, based on percentage of
agreement,20 was 94.8%, ranging from a low of 80% for type of story,
unidentified sources and documents leaked to 100% for newspaper, date, page,
personal interview, surveillance, documents provided on request, whistleblower
as source, library or published materials, going undercover, photographs, line
art and infographic. Level of significance was set at .05 for the study.
Results
This study found comparatively little investigative reporting was
done at all; investigative reporting accounted for about a fifth of the
enterprise work these newspapers published in March, April and November of 1980
and 1995. The number of enterprise stories for the issues coded was equivalent
for 1980 and 1995, but the number of investigative stories declined dramatically
between those years. The focus of investigative
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 13
stories in 1980 and 1995 was overwhelmingly on public officials,
employees and entities rather than private executives, employees or entities.
Some change was found in techniques employed in investigative
stories between 1980 and 1995, with personal interviews the primary source of
information in both years, documents provided willingly the second and
information from unnamed sources the fourth in 1980 and third in 1995 most
common source of information. Leaked documents, the third most common technique
in 1980, was noted only once in the stories coded from 1995.
At a statistically significant level, investigative reporting
constituted 22% of the four types of accomplishment and enterprise stories coded
from the three papers (Table 1). All three newspapers did considerable
enterprise reporting in each of the two years studied (Table 2). Of the 401
enterprise stories coded, 199 were coded for 1980 and 202 for 1995; but
individually the newspapers varied in the number of stories they published in
1980 and 1995, with the number declining substantially in the Chicago Tribune
and increasing substantially in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Of 109 enterprise
stories in the Chicago Tribune, 67 appeared in 1980 and only 37 in 1995; of the
194 stories in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 79 were published in 1980 and 114 in
1995; of the 106 stories in
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 14
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 53 were published in 1980 and an
equivalent 51 in 1995.
A similar pattern of distribution among the newspapers was found in
their production of investigative stories. Of the 401 enterprise stories coded,
only 89 -- about 22% -- were investigative. While the enterprise stories were
equally distributed between the two years examined, the investigative stories
were not. Of the 89 investigative stories found, 69 -- nearly 78% -- appeared in
1980. Only 20 appeared in 1995. In 1980, the Chicago Tribune published 30
investigative stories, or about 43% of the total number of investigative pieces
coded for that year. In 1995, however, no investigative stories appeared in the
Tribune in the months coded. This contrasts with the
Philadelphia Inquirer, which published 24 investigative stories,
nearly 35% of the total found for 1980. In 1995, the Inquirer published 14
investigative stories, or 70% of those found for 1995. The percentage increase
was less dramatic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fifteen -- nearly 22% -- of
the investigative stories coded for 1980 came from the Post-Dispatch, as
compared to six stories -- or 30% -- in 1995.
All three newspapers devoted substantial space to enterprise
reporting. Ranging from a minimum of four paragraphs in a sidebar to a maximum
of 200 paragraphs, the average length for the 410 stories was slightly more than
44 paragraphs.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 15
Overall, the length of the enterprise stories increased from 1980 to
1995. Only the St. Louis Post-Dispatch showed an increase in the percentage of
enterprise stories of 30 or fewer paragraphs and a decrease in the percentage of
stories of more than 30 paragraphs. In 1980, more than 39% of the enterprise
stories were 30 or fewer paragraphs in length; but, in 1995, this dropped to
less than 36%. Enterprise stories longer than 30 paragraphs accounted for under
61% of the stories published in 1980 but for more than 64% in 1995 (Table 3).
As already mentioned, primary techniques investigative reporters
used varied little over the fifteen-year period studied, with one exception. For
both years studied, the most common technique used to gather information was
personal interviews. Of 69 investigative stories coded for 1980, 63 employed
this technique. In 1995, 18 of the 20 investigative stories used personal
interviews. The second most common technique was use of requested documents that
were not leaked or secret. This source of information was used in 50 of the 69
stories in 1980 and 14 of the 20 stories in 1995. Unidentified sources was the
third most common technique used. These sources were used in 21 of 69 stories in
1980 and in 4 of 20 stories in 1995. From 1980 to 1995, there was a dramatic
decline in instances where leaked documents or surveillance were used. In 1980,
leaked documents were used in 20 of the 69 stories, but they were used in only
one of the 20 stories found in
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 16
1995. Surveillance, used in 3 of the 69 stories in 1980, was not
used in any stories coded for 1995. There was an increase between 1980 and 1995,
especially on a percentage basis, in the use of computer-aided information
gathering from no instances to three instances; and in expert analysis, from one
instance to four instances. The number of instances of reporters going
undercover (2) and the use of published materials (1) was the same for both
years (Table 4).
In both years studied, the focus in investigative reporting was on
public rather than private enterprise. Overall, 72 -- nearly 85% -- of the 89
investigative reports targeted public entities or public officials and
employees. Private companies or executives and employees were targeted in 13 of
the 89 investigative stories. (The remaining four investigative stories targeted
non-profit organizations or officials). Although the focus for both 1980 and
1995 was on public entities or officials, it should also be noted that as a
percentage, there was an increase in attention paid to private individuals or
companies from 1980 to 1995. Of the 69 investigative stories published in 1980,
57 -- more than 86% -- targeted public enterprise; nine -- nearly 14 percent --
targeted private enterprise. In 1995, 12 of the 20 investigative stories -- or
79% -- focused on public enterprise, and 4 -- or 21% -- on private enterprise.
It should be noted that one of the three newspapers coded appeared more willing
than the others to
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 17
investigate the actions of private enterprise. In 1980, 3 -- 21% --
of the 14 investigative stories published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
targeted private enterprise. For 1995, 4 -- 80% -- of the 5 investigative
stories in the Post-Dispatch targeted private enterprise.
This study also looked at whether the information uncovered in the
investigative stories was hidden, or whether it was available but unnoticed. Of
the 89 investigative stories coded, 54 -- nearly 61% -- revealed hidden or
secreted information. The number of reports that revealed hidden or secreted
information rose from 40 of 69 stories -- 58% -- in 1980 to 14 of 20 stories, or
70%, in those months of 1995.
Discussion
Although the number of investigative stories dropped from 1980 to
1995 in the three newspapers, these newspapers clearly made an effort to provide
their readers with informative, sophisticated and carefully researched stories.
That the number of enterprise stories and their length actually increased from
1980 to 1995 suggests that newspaper executives valued these more extensive and
detailed stories.
Still, that the number of investigative stories dropped so
dramatically from 1980 to 1995 may indicate that the value of this type of
reporting has declined in the eyes of news managers. Whether this is a result of
the consolidation
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 18
of media companies or fear of lawsuits is unclear. Interestingly,
though, in the reduced number of investigative pieces found in the 1995 issues,
the percentage of stories focusing on private enterprise -- those more likely to
attract litigation -- actually increased. This may indicate that these
newspapers remain willing to take on corporate targets in their investigations,
contrary to what Bagdikian, Underwood and other critics have suggested.
In addition, in 1995 some excellent and courageous investigative
reporting appeared in the two less competitive newspapers analyzed in this study
while the highly competitive Chicago Tribune published no investigative stories.
The competitive status of the newspaper may not affect the news content as much
as Bagdikian and some other critics of corporate newspapers seem to think. This
parallels results Lacy and Fico obtained in a large sample content analysis of
114 group-owned and independent newspaper.21 For instance, the Chicago Tribune,
which exists in a competitive market, published no investigative stories during
the three months of 1995 that were examined. The Philadelphia Inquirer, however,
which publishes under a joint operating agreement, printed in November of 1995
two five-part investigative series. One of these contained 718 paragraphs
devoted to political corruption and the possible bankruptcy of the Delaware
River Port Authority. The second series devoted 617
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 19
paragraphs to police corruption and misconduct and the failure of
the Philadelphia police department to discipline officers no matter how heinous
their activities.
But it is impossible to discount the theories of Underwood, Squires
and others. This study found that the focus and character of these newspapers,
at least in the issues sampled, has changed from 1980 to 1995. The nature of
enterprise stories, for instance, changed over the 15-year period examined. For
example, in 1980, the newspapers published long, detailed stories on such topics
as poor medical care at state prisons (Philadelphia Inquirer); the plight and
future of children who are victims of child molestation (St. Louis
Post-Dispatch); and an analysis of why Republicans lost a local race (Chicago
Tribune). In 1995, many of these enterprise stories had how-to angles or focused
more directly on how an issue or event affected the reader. Some of these
stories included a Chicago Tribune story on how to avoid being a victim of
crime; a Post-Dispatch story on how new tax laws affect consumers; and an
Inquirer story on the effect of a weakened dollar overseas. This may indicate
that news managers are seeking stories that they believe relate more directly to
the reader, or that news managers are catering to what they believe are the
interests of suburban or upscale readers who are less interested in the problems
of government and society and more interested in what directly affects their own
lives.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 20
The findings of this study, especially the anomaly of the highly
competitive Chicago Tribune publishing no investigative stories in 1995 after
leading in that category in 1980, suggest that researchers should consider the
possibility that news managers have redefined the concept of competition. A
competitive newspaper environment in the 1990s must produce researched
enterprise stories that appeal to wealthy, upscale, conservative, educated
readers living in the suburbs surrounding urban centers. Viewing competition
from this vantage point may explain why media critics reach such contrasting
conclusions about the quality of today's corporate newspaper. Critics, who hold
a more traditional concept of the metropolitan newspaper and find fewer
investigative stories, see deterioration. Those media analysts, who find an
overall increase in enterprise stories aimed at suburban readers, see corporate
ownership bringing little change and in many cases an improvement in newspaper
quality. No matter the definition or indicator of quality applied to today's
corporate newspaper, the apparent decline found in this study in one form of
public service journalism -- investigative reporting-- merits further analysis
based on a far larger sample that cuts across circulation size, geographic
region and competitive status.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 21
Notes
1David Nyhan, Boston Globecolumnist, as quoted in Doug Underwood,
When MBAs Rule the Newsroom (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), 129.
2See Underwood; James Fallows, Breaking the News (New York:
Pantheon, 1996); John McManus, Market-Driven Journalism (Thousand Oaks, Calif:
Sage, 1994); and James Squires, Read All About It: The Corporate Takeover of
America's Newspapers (New York: Times Books, 1993).
3For a brief of history of investigative reporting, see Underwood,
38-54, and Leonard Downey, Jr., The New Muckrakers (Washington, D.C.: New
Republic Book Co., 1976).
4Edwin Diamond, Good News, Bad News (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press,
1980), 232-240.
5For summaries of criticisms leveled by news managers, see, for
example, Mark Fitzgerald, "Finances seen behind the investigative slowdown,"
Editor & Publisher, 1 July 1989, 13; and M.L. Stein, "The chilling effect,"
Editor & Publisher, 4 July 1987, 10. Pearlstine is quoted in Staci D. Kramer,
"Investigative reporting in the '90s," Editor & Publisher, 21 July 1990, 17, 41.
6James Squires, former Chicago Tribune editor, speaking at a
regional Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in October 1990, said
many large media companies are led by people who care more about the bottom line
than about journalism. See Mark Fitzgerald, "Former editor touts investigative
journalism," Editor & Publisher, 27 October 1990, 26. See Stein's "A chilling
effect," for a discussion of reporters' self doubts.
7Stein, "Investigative reporting -- alive and well," Editor &
Publisher, 5 July 1986, 9, 31.
8Fitzgerald, "Former editor touts investigate reporting," 26.
9Kramer, "Investigative reporting in the '90s," 17, 41.
10Underwood, xiii, 131.
11See Fallows.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 22
12Squires, 211.
13Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, 4th ed.(Boston, Mass.:
Beacon Press, 1992.
14David Pearce Demers, The Menace of the Corporate Newspaper: Fact
or Fiction? (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996), 236-38.
15See Hiley H. Ward, Reporting in Depth (Mountain View, Calif.:
Mayfield Publishing, 1991), 2, and William Gaines, Investigative Reporting for
Print and Broadcast (Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1994), 1-3.
16John Ullman, Investigative Reporting: Advanced Methods and
Techniques (New York: St Martin's Press, 1995), 2-3; for an up-to-date
explanation of this IRE definition, see the IRE Journal, January-February 1996,
1-2.
17IRE Journal.
18Ibid.
19Circulation figures from Editor & Publisher 1995 International
Yearbook (New York: Editor & Publisher, 1995).
20Guido H. Stempel III and Bruce H. Westley, eds. Research in Mass
Communication, 2nd ed.(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989), 133.
21Stephen Lacy and Frederick Fico, "Newspaper Quality and
Ownership: Rating the Groups," Newspaper Research Journal,11,2 (Spring 1990),
51, found size and ownership status did not predict quality as defined by eight
aspects of content.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 23
Table 1
Type of Enterprise Story Published by the Chicago Tribune,
the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
in March, April, November of 1980 and 1995
1980 1995
Investigative (hidden info) 40 (19.4%) 4 (2.0%)
Investigative (available info) 29 (14.15) 16 (7.8%)
Accomplishment 7 (3.4%) 2 (1.0%)
Other Enterprise 130 (63.1%) 182 (89.2%)
TOTAL STORIES CODED 206 204
Chi-Square = 44.64585 df = 3 p > .0001
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 24
Table 2
Enterprise and Investigative Stories Published
by the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer,
and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in March, April, November
of 1980 and 1995
1980 1995
Chicago Tribune
Investigative 30 (44.8%) 0 (00.0%)
Other Enterprise 37 (55.2%) 37 (100.0%)
Total Enterprise 67 37
Philadelphia Inquirer
Investigative 24 (30.4%) 14 (12.3%)
Other Enterprise 55 (69.6%) 100 (87.7%)
Total Enterprise 79 114
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Investigative 15 (28.3%) 6 (11.8%)
Other Enterprise 38 (71.7%) 45 (88.2%)
Total Enterprise 53 51
TOTAL ENTERPRISE STORIES 199 202
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 25
Table 3
Paragraph Lengths of Enterprise Stories
(including Investigative) Published by the Chicago Tribune,
the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
in March, April, November of 1980 and 1995
1980* 1995**
Chicago Tribune
30 or fewer 29 (40.3%) 11 (29.7%)
31 to 60 23 (31.95) 20 (54.1%)
61 or more 20 (27.8%) 6 (16.2%)
Philadelphia Inquirer
30 or fewer 33 (41.3%) 31 (27.0%)
31 to 60 32 (40,0%) 56 (48.7%)
61 or more 15 (18.8%) 28 (24.35)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
30 or fewer 19 (35.2%) 31 (59.6%)
31 to 60 29 (53.7%) 17 (32.7%)
61 or more 6 (11.1%) 4 (7.7%)
TOTAL STORIES CODED 206 204
* Chi-square = 8.323557 df = 4 p < .08042 (ns)
** Chi-square = 19.33219 df = 4 p < .00068
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting - 26
Table 4
Investigative or Information-Gathering Techniques Employed in the
Investigative Stories Published by the Chicago Tribune,
the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
in March, April, November of 1980 and 1995
1980 1995
Personal Interviews 63 18
Documents Provided on Request 50 14
Unidentified Sources 21 4
Documents Leaked 20 1
Surveillance 3 0
Failure to Identify (Undercover) 2 2
Whistleblower as Source 1 0
Library or Published Materials 1 1
Expert Used for Analysis 1 4
Computer-Aided Reporting 0 0
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