InvestigateWest

For a century, nearly all the original reporting in the U.S. happened at newspapers. Then starting in 2008, an estimated $4 billion disappeared from newsroom payrolls. Nationally, half the corps of news gatherers has disappeared -- including thousands of reporting, editing and writing jobs in the Pacific Northwest. Without public support, coverage of many consequential issues will not happen, the public is uninformed or misinformed and democracy itself is put at risk.

InvestigateWest engages in watchdog journalism that enriches our community, contributing original reporting — on public health, the environment, and government accountability — and producing powerful stories with a clear bearing on public policy. Partnering with commercial media and public broadcasters, it creates new opportunities for individuals and teams of journalists to take on ambitious reporting assignments. A mission-driven organization, it strengthens communities, engages people in civic life, and helps set the policy agenda in the Northwest by producing powerful, independent investigative and explanatory journalism.