ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 looks at different funding methods for investigative journalism in developed economies. Among the models investigated are digital paywalls, native advertising, crowd sourcing funds, philanthropy, micropayments, and ‘white knight’ proprietors. The chapter concludes that there is no single solution for funding news or investigative journalism this century. Rather, what is evident, is the role of experimentation, adaptation and flexibility to find effective ways to fund journalism and, by extension, investigative reporting. Erecting paywalls is the most common adaptive mechanism that print mastheads have employed this century to get online readers to pay for their digital offerings. However, this chapter finds that this option is largely shunned by digital-only newsrooms and smaller media outlets. Digital-only media tend to rely on a hybrid business model that brings together a number of revenue-raising methods. The role of philanthropy for funding investigative reporting is also important and has contributed to a big rise in non-profit newsrooms, particularly in the United States.
