1st Edition

Insights on Investigative Journalism

Edited By Neil Macfarlane, Barbara Longo-Flint, John Price Copyright 2026
250 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Offering a critical overview of the state of contemporary investigative journalism, this book considers ways in which investigative journalism can bring about meaningful change and what conditions need to be in place for it to do so. Combining theory and practice, each chapter introduces current issues and trends, including the impacts of Artificial Intelligence, evolving funding models,... Read more

List of Contributors

 

Introduction: Exploring dark corners that some wish to keep in shadow

Barbara Longo-Flint, Neil Macfarlane, and John Price

 

Part I: Historical background

1: Wandering crusaders: a short history of the investigative crime journalist

Bethany Usher

 

Part II: Tools and Specific Techniques of Investigative Journalism

 

2: Freedom of Information

Neil Macfarlane

 

3: Frontline strategies for land rights and environmental journalism: Methodologies for melding ground truth interviews and primary records in investigative reporting

Chris Arsenault

 

4: Investigating black box technologies, digital power and its invisibilities

Philip Di Salvo

 

Part III: Constraints on Investigative Journalism: And Ways to Challenge Them

 

5: The Impact of Legal Intimidation on Investigative Journalists

Barbara Longo-Flint

 

6: How Did Journalism Professions and the Public Respond to Challenges in Investigative Journalism? Introducing Nonprofit Newsrooms.

Michelle Park

 

7: In Conversation with David Conn: Award Winning Investigative Sports Journalist

Neil Farrington and John Price

 

Part IV: The Impact of AI on Investigative Journalism

 

8: Environment, Technology, and Journalism: Tackling environmental issues using data and AI in Latin America

Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos

 

9: Investigative Journalism and AI

Paul Bradshaw

 

Part V: Two Crucial Strands: Teaching and Collaborative Investigative Journalism

 

10: Cross-border Investigative Journalist Education – The Process towards Normalisation

Maria Konow-Lund, Lucia Mesquita, and Carolyne Lunga

 

11: Exploring the impact of non-journalists on the values and norms of journalism in an award-winning collaborative investigation

Carolyne M. Lunga

 

12: Teaching Investigative Journalism: The Centre for Investigative Journalism 

Tom Sanderson

 

Index

Biography

Neil Macfarlane is a senior lecturer in online journalism at The University of Sunderland, UK. He is a freelance investigative journalist and has written for titles including Private Eye, The Mirror, and HuffPost UK.

Barbara Longo-Flint is a PhD researcher at The University of Sunderland, UK. Previously, she worked as a journalist in Italy for 20 years.

John Price is a senior lecturer in journalism at The University of Sunderland, UK. He publishes research on topics including investigative journalism, sports, and discrimination and the media.