Cuts Lead to New Interest in Indie Probes

By: Sam Chamberlain Lorie Hearn calls it her "big idea." On July 24, the veteran reporter and editor departed The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she worked for the last 25 years, to pursue The Watchdog Institute, a non-profit investigative reporting center, with the Union- Tribune as its lead media partner. The Institute ? which will consist of her, two reporters and a "data specialist" for tracking such matters of public record as municipal salaries and voter records ? will launch in the fall. "I'm looking forward to working with students, and learning from them, I think they have a lot to teach me," says Hearn. "Ultimately, I hope to prompt some community discussion."

Hearn isn't the first person to turn to the non-profit model to support investigative reporting. In fact, she's not even the first to do so in San Diego.

"If someone had told me last year at this time that the U-T would be spinning off a non-profit, I would have been shocked," says Scott Lewis, CEO of voiceofsandiego.org, a nonprofit independent online newspaper.

Since 1992, when the former San diego Union and the Evening Tribune merged, the Union-Tribune has been the go-to major newspaper in San Diego. It won a 2006 Pulitzer for its reporting on bribe-taking by California Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham. But widespread discontent among its reporters and the public over the U-T's perceived failure to adequately report a massive city pension fund scandal led in part to the founding of the Voice of San Diego.

The economics of the modern newspaper industry haven't helped the cause of costly investigative reporting, and the U-T is no exception. The paper has endured three rounds of buyouts and four rounds of layoffs since December 2006, most of those under previous owners Copley Press (the paper was sold to Platinum Equity in March 2009).

"Frankly, I was concerned that investigative reporting would be on the chopping block," Hearn observes. With Editor Karen Winner's support, Hearn proposed "a non-profit in conjunction with mentoring and teaching" to Platinum Equity. "I went to Platinum and said, 'I think I could save you some money,' and they made a formal commitment."

Though the U-T will be The Watchdog Institute's main partner, Hearn plans to offer syndicated versions of the Institute's stories to television and radio stations on an embargo basis.

The rest of the non-profit media world will be watching Hearn's experiment closely. "I believe its the first time we've had two non-profits covering the same area," says Chuck Lewis, former head of the Center for Public Integrity and now a journalist in residence at American University's School of Communications. But Hearn and Scott Lewis hesitate to call each other competitors. Says Hearn, "I want to move from competition to collaboration."

"There might be room in a community for several nonprofits pursuing different levels of news reporting or different sectors," adds Lewis.

Hearn, Scott Lewis and Charles Lewis all got to swap ideas at the Pocantico Conference in late June. Held in Tarrytown, N.Y., the gathering deemed itself "a conference on new models for watchdog journalism," and produced "The Pocantico Declaration," which called for the creation of an Investigative News Network.

"Its mission is very simple," the Declaration reads. "[T]o aid and abet, in every conceivable way ... the work and public reach of its member news organizations, including, to the fullest extent possible, their administrative, editorial and financial well-being. And, more broadly, to foster the highest quality investigative journalism ..."

Both Scott and Charles Lewis of American U. were placed on the organization's Steering Committee, which has been charged with fund-raising for a planning grant. "I think there's a growing awareness of civic and journalistic desperation," says Charles Lewis. "And, I think that a lot of people are taking a cue from A.J. Liebling, who said that the only free press is the one that you own."

News outlets ranging from MinnPost in Minnesota to the Huffington Post Investigative Fund are now active in this pursuit. Even The New York Times joined in last December when it collaborated with nonprofit ProPublica on a pair of stories, including an eventual Page One report related to Iraq.

The Pocantico Declaration comes during a renaissance for non-profits, especially in terms of funding. A survey by American University's J-Lab found that 180 foundations have contributed nearly $128 million to 115 news projects from 2005 through the middle of 2009. The only question is, can it last?

"This is a very experimental time in our industry," says Charles Lewis. "We don't know how things will evolve, what something like this Investigative News Network will look like one or three or five years from now. It's just an extremely fruitful, remarkable time in our industry."