ABSTRACT
Investigative journalism is frequently time consuming and expensive, requiring the two commodities that mainstream media have in short supply at the moment. The presence of NGOs in the investigative journalism field continues to stir up debate about what journalism is and who a journalist is. This chapter looks at what current thinking is around what Gillmor once dubbed ‘almost journalism’ and how both sides are negotiating this boundary work. While the advent of NGOs as players in the investigative journalism field is not new, their incursions into this field may have been speeded up because of the collapse in funding of media organisations. The media are one means by which NGOs have traditionally tried to get their message across. They produce information, reports and press releases but also work closely with political players and communicate directly with the public, often through fundraising, to increase awareness of their particular causes.
