Democracy's Detectives

Reviews / Votes

Provides an extraordinarily precise and painstaking examination of the state of investigative journalism in the United States. Using a wide array of statistical measures and a case study of Pat Stith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The News and Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, Hamilton demonstrates that investigative reporting (involving original work about important issues that someone wants to keep secret) costing thousands of dollars can produce millions of dollars in benefits to society. And Hamilton issues an urgent warning that this essential public service is underprovided in the market. His book should command the attention of every citizen who is concerned about the implications for our democracy when sunlight, which is the best disinfectant against corruption and incompetence, is obscured and blocked. -- Glenn C. Altschuler * Huffington Post * A highly original look at exactly what the subtitle promises...Has this topic ever been more important than this year? -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution * Bracing. -- Rick Edmonds * Poynter * In riveting detail, Hamilton meticulously examines the storied history of investigative journalism in America, chronicles its current malaise, and makes a convincing case that pouring resources into gumshoe reporting makes economic sense for sclerotic news organizations. Why? Because readers hunger for more of it and are willing to pay to read it. -- Walter V. Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and Editor-at-Large at the <i>Boston Globe</i> This is an outstanding book, the product of careful thinking, of remarkable and painstaking gathering of data on investigative reporting-past and present-that no one in academia or in journalism has ever undertaken before. It is a moving, evidence-based affirmation of the value of journalism to democracy. -- Michael Schudson, Columbia University By bringing the economist's eye to the business of investigative journalism, Hamilton sharpens our appreciation of the craft as he explores its history, the motivations publishers have to fund the work, and the cash benefits investigations pay out. -- Jack Shafer * Reason * Hamilton provides what is likely the most comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the economics of investigative journalism yet conducted...Democracy's Detectives is essential reading for anyone interested in the economics of news, and it is a master class in methodological creativity and ingenuity in conducting social science research. -- Philip M. Napoli * Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly * [A] terrific new book. -- Sam Lebovic * Los Angeles Review of Books * Hamilton's book presents a thoughtful and detailed case for the indispensability of investigative journalism-and just at the time when we needed it. Now more than ever, reporters can play an essential role as society's watchdogs, working to expose corruption, greed, and injustice of the years to come. For this reason, Democracy's Detectives should be taken as both a call to arms and a bracing reminder, for readers and journalists alike, of the importance of the profession. -- Anya Schiffrin * The Nation *