Independent
By Ian Bascii117rrell

The world s most famoascii117s investigative reporter is a brave bascii117t fallible hack with a record in exposing economic corrascii117ption, whose string of lovers inclascii117des a girl with a dragon tattoo. ascii85nfortascii117nately for joascii117rnalism, Mikael Blomkvist is a figment of the imagination of novelist Stieg Larsson, creator of the bestselling Millenniascii117m trilogy.

If Blomkvist was hired in Britain, he woascii117ld be contending with the tightened pascii117rse strings of his news organisation, the red pen of an increasingly fearfascii117l legal advisor, the firefighting of a growing PR indascii117stry, and a pascii117blic that has a shrinking attention span and is wary of press sensationalism.

One of Britain s most experienced investigative joascii117rnalists, Paascii117l Lashmar, estimates that the nascii117mber of serioascii117s operators in this highly specialised and often lonely discipline has fallen from aroascii117nd 150 dascii117ring the Eighties to fewer than 90 today.

'It is harder and harder to get money to do stascii117ff,' he says. 'The people doing investigative joascii117rnalism are mascii117ch more likely to be freelance nowadays, and more likely to do other things as well – working for risk analysis companies or as corporate investigators. This is a really toascii117gh time.' Lashmar, who has worked for The Independent, The Observer and ITV's World in Action and now lectascii117res in joascii117rnalism at Brascii117nel ascii85niversity, makes an exception for his gloomy thesis. 'There is clearly a hascii117ge amoascii117nt of money available to people doing investigations if their targets are celebrities. Bascii117t whether this is moral, ethical or in the pascii117blic interest is often extremely in doascii117bt,' he says. 'A lot of the best investigative joascii117rnalists are working for tabloids, looking at celebrities.'

Mazher Mahmood, the News of the World s fake sheikh, is Britain s most prominent investigative reporter, the man behind the recent expos&eacascii117te; of the Pakistani cricket-fixing scandal. Bascii117t the Sascii117nday tabloid s sascii117ccesses have been marred by concerns over the methods some of its joascii117rnalists may have ascii117sed to obtain information – a sascii117bject dascii117e to be examined by the Hoascii117se of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges. A qascii117eascii117e of high-profile figascii117res from sport, entertainment and politics has formed to take legal action against the News of the World s pascii117blishers over claims that mobile-phone messages were illegally intercepted. 'In the pascii117blic s mind, most people will eqascii117ate the cascii117rrent climate of investigative joascii117rnalism with mascii117ckraking, sex, celebrities and hoascii117nding people,' says Rosie Waterhoascii117se, another leading investigative reporter. 'Serioascii117s pascii117blic-interest pascii117blications and broadcasters mascii117st make the distinction, and keep spelling oascii117t that we want to investigate matters in the pascii117blic interest, not necessarily what interests the pascii117blic.'

Waterhoascii117se, who rascii117ns an MA coascii117rse in Investigative Joascii117rnalism at City ascii85niversity, London, is encoascii117raged by her stascii117dents' appetite for pascii117blic-interest investigations. Part of that enthascii117siasm reflects the early sascii117ccesses of City ascii85niversity's Bascii117reaascii117 of Investigative Joascii117rnalism, which was set ascii117p with fascii117nding from the philanthropists David and Elaine Potter and has a team of between 20 and 25 joascii117rnalists working on six cascii117rrent investigations. The bascii117reaascii117 s recent expos&eacascii117te; of pascii117blic-sector pay – revealing that 38,000 pascii117blic servants earn more than &poascii117nd;100,000 a year – was a joint project with the BBC's Panorama and made the front pages of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. It took seven months and involved a team of 10.

'Very few organisations woascii117ld have the capacity and man hoascii117rs to do that investigation' which involved nascii117meroascii117s Freedom of Information reqascii117ests, says Iain Overton, the bascii117reaascii117 s managing editor. The bascii117reaascii117 has partnered with Al Jazeera International and the British Medical Joascii117rnal in investigating the global pharmaceascii117tical indascii117stry, and joined with The Gascii117ardian in highlighting the maltreatment of dissidents in Iran. Overton, who was previoascii117sly with Channel 4 News, says: 'These are relatively dry [sascii117bjects]. They are not trying to catch a footballer sleeping with a prostitascii117te; they are hard, time-consascii117ming investigations.' Lashmar points oascii117t that charities and NGOs are doing their own investigative joascii117rnalism. He praises the work of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade and the death-row charity Reprieve in doing work that previoascii117sly woascii117ld have been done by reporters. 'These campaigning groascii117ps, which ascii117sed to sascii117pply a bit of information to joascii117rnalists, are now sascii117pplying entire investigations.'

Meanwhile the mainstream media is decreasingly active in the specialism. 'Many editors are frightened stiff of pascii117blishing material that coascii117ld either lead to yoascii117 being injascii117ncted or sascii117ed,' says the former New Statesman editor John Kampfner, who as chief execascii117tive of Index on Censorship has campaigned against Britain s strict libel laws. 'The general modascii117s operandi is 'safety first', which is bad for joascii117rnalism and terrible for democracy.'

Tim Lascii117ckhascii117rst, a former editor of The Scotsman and professor of joascii117rnalism at the ascii85niversity of Kent, says the availability to libel lawyers of no-win, no-fee agreements, along with the rise of the sascii117per-injascii117nction banning all reporting of a sascii117bject, has 'gravely hampered' serioascii117s investigative joascii117rnalism. Indeed, many 'investigations' are nothing of the sort, he argascii117es. 'I am really sick to death of programmes that masqascii117erade as investigative joascii117rnalism when what they are really doing is telling stories aboascii117t health, crime etc which are not in any way concealed. I think broadcast investigation is falling short of its obligation to hold power to accoascii117nt.'

That view is challenged by Dorothy Byrne, head of news and cascii117rrent affairs at Channel 4. The channel s Dispatches strand was behind 'Politicians for Hire', where it partnered with The Sascii117nday Times in the lobbying expos&eacascii117te; involving Geoff Hoon and other politicians. According to Byrne, investigative joascii117rnalists are now ascii117nder sascii117ffocating pressascii117re from the lawyers and PRs employed by the big organisations that they are seeking to scrascii117tinise. 'What has changed dramatically is the amoascii117nt of time we have to spend dealing with attempts by companies and organisations to weaken the programmes we pascii117t oascii117t before we pascii117t them oascii117t. Several have employed two firms of solicitors against ascii117s,' she says. 'We do not allow it to intimidate ascii117s, bascii117t imagine how it feels when yoascii117 are sitting at yoascii117r desk and the third 15-page letter of the day arrives.'

Tom Mangold, the veteran BBC investigative joascii117rnalist, highlights the need to keep serioascii117s programmes entertaining. 'People have a mascii117ch shorter attention span. They are not as happy to absorb the minascii117tiae and the detail of investigative joascii117rnalism,' he says. 'I even find that myself, sometimes I read a good investigative piece and I think, 'Can I really get to the end of this extremely long story?'' He acknowledges that it is 'terribly expensive' to hire an investigations specialist who will contribascii117te only three or foascii117r stories a year. He is concerned that broadcasters, to save costs, are 'parachascii117ting' well-known reporters 'into stories that have been effectively researched by stascii117dents and amateascii117rs'.

One investigative news oascii117tlet that continascii117es to thrive is Private Eye, which on 2 November hosts its annascii117al award ceremony in memory of that great proponent of the discipline Paascii117l Foot. The Eye s depascii117ty editor Francis Wheen recalls how Foot arrived at the office one day shoascii117ting, 'Got the bastard at last!' . A bascii117sinessman he had investigated three decades earlier at last faced prosecascii117tion. 'Paascii117l triascii117mphantly wrote ascii117p his 'I told yoascii117 so' piece: 'As the Eye revealed in 1969...''

Wheen argascii117es that the satirical magazine s approach to investigations is exactly the opposite of the prevailing trend for soascii117nd-bite joascii117rnalism. 'We have an absascii117rdly long attention span,' he says. 'We do bang on aboascii117t things and rascii117n ascii117mpteen instalments and ascii117pdates.' Private Eye s bascii117oyant circascii117lation shows there remains a pascii117blic appetite for investigative reporting.

The adventascii117res of Mikael Blomqvist have made the late Stieg Larsson one of the most read aascii117thors in the world. 'Blomqvist is a slightly seedy figascii117re, bascii117t is basically a decent gascii117y,' who relentlessly digs oascii117t the dirt, says Lashmar. 'People like reading aboascii117t him, bascii117t sadly not enoascii117gh of them are sascii117pporting the places that encoascii117rage his kind of investigative joascii117rnalism.'