Investigative Journalism

Investigative journalism is crucial for democratic accountability and transparency. This paper surveys nearly 6,000 participants from the US, UK, and Norway to show that investigative journalism is a public good likely to be underprovided. I analyze solutions to this market failure. A majority is willing to pay higher taxes for more journalism via public broadcasters. However, in countries with established public broadcasters, subsidies to private media are preferred due to perceived political biases. Public broadcasters can attract broader support by restricting journalism to non-political contexts. A Coasian solution is ineffective, as willingness to pay increases with wider output sharing.