Excerpt:

“AMANPOUR:  And what about the effect on investigative journalism in

today’s world, not just in the new media world, the digital world that

you’re in now and pioneering, but also in the world where you see

resources slashed and certainly not enough rein given to investigations?

EVANS:  Well, I’m sure Tina will agree with this.  We both

constantly talk about this.  And the fact is that, as soon as you stop

investigating and — that means finding things out which somebody wants

to conceal, you are going to face disasters.

Now, do you want some examples?  The financial meltdown, not

discovered, not detected, not reported in the newspapers.  The war in

Iraq, the real reasons for going into Iraq not investigated, not –

Katrina, to a lesser extent.  So maybe Afghanistan, which you know a lot

about.  So we’re actually living a life of what it’s like to be without

the press.

AMANPOUR:  So, Tina, can the digital media actually take the place

of traditional media and all its resources and all its time and all its

original reporting?

BROWN:  Well, let me, first of all, say, I think there is a bad rap,

in a sense, that digital media has ruined, as it were, journalism for

the mainstream media.  I would say the mainstream media, so called, has

been ruined by the greed of management, because actually the greed of

management was what has disemboweled newspapers and, frankly, killed off

investigative reporting long before the digital world.  I mean…

AMANPOUR:  But now that we’re in the digital world — and you’re

absolutely right about the resources and the profit motive — what can

your media do to fill in if we’re not going to have traditional

investigative reporting, which is so vital in local and national…

EVANS:  Let me say this.  She did a marvelous piece on the Beast

which showed — which no newspaper did, an investigative piece of how

members of Congress were bribed by Fannie and Freddie, the housing

behemoths who led us into this terrible crisis, 126 (inaudible) and on

the Web site, the Daily Beast, they showed which congressmen got how

much money.

AMANPOUR:  But do you think it can have the same effect, Tina, when

you look down the line?

BROWN:  Well, I do.  You see, I actually do think it can.  I think

unfortunately we’re in this very scary transition right now from one

kind of media climate to another.  It’s kind of like the industrial

revolution applied to media, so there’s a kind of scary sort of hiatus

right now, when the money isn’t — seem to be in either place.

I actually think that we will be able to protect investigative

journalism.  I think financial models will be found to make Web sites

profitable enough, which will simply mean allocating resources.  And

actually, I think there’s so much journalistic excitement amongst the

young now, so much desire, in fact, to cover stuff, and so much ease of

starting up things that I actually do think ultimately investigative

journalism can prosper.”

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