The Jeremiad Over Journalism

acknowledged their inspiration from the United States in developing their Danish variant of
investigative journalism. 462
―During the preparation for this project we have studied what has been written in other
countries about the topic and have found that the United States – especially after Watergate –
has attained a quite rich literature about ‗investigative reporting,‘ which to a large extend
corresponds to what many Danish journalists seem to understand by ‗in-depth journalism.‘ In
Europe, however, there has not been much attention paid to the research problems of
journalists.‖ 463
As Meilby and Minke‘s quote indicates, the United States was in the case of investigative
journalism once again seen as a pioneer country in terms of innovation. The transnational influence
referred to by the authors is apparent in the book‘s bibliography as well. Out of 27 literature
references, 15 are Anglo-American with Woodward and Bernstein‘s book from 1974 being the
earliest reference to investigative journalism. The six Scandinavian, meaning Swedish and
Norwegian, references to the same topic were published between 1977 and 1981. 464
Meilby and Minke‘s book from 1983 on research journalism can be seen as a first example of
Danish appropriation, while the definitive embrace of American-inspired investigative journalism
came in 1989. Early in 1990 Journalisten published three articles about the establishment of ―The
Danish Association for Investigative Journalism‖ during a seminar in December 1989.
―The Association aims to further investigative, in-depth and critical journalism and will work
for better education in investigative journalism. (…) Over two days, the seminar introduced a
host of Danish and foreign guests, who related their personal experiences and visions for
investigative journalism. On Friday the Pulitzer Prize winner Ric Tulsky, executive director of
462
Mogens Meilby and Kim Minke, Når Sandheden Skal Frem [When the Truth Must Be Told] (Valby: Borgen, 1983).
Page 15.
463
Ibid. Page 9. My translation. Original text reads, ―Under forberedelserne til dette projekt har vi undersøgt, hvad der i
udlandet er skrevet om emnet, og vi har konstateret, at USA – især efter Watergate – har fået en ret righoldig litteratur
om ‘investigative reporting‘, som i vid ustrækning svarer til, hvad mange danske journalister synes at forstå ved
‘dybdeborende journalistik‘. I Europa derimod har man ikke ofret meget opmærksomhed på journalisternes
researchproblemer.‖
464
Ibid. Page 316-317. The remaining references provide historical context for Meilby and Minke‘s book or are linked
to other aspects of journalistic research and writing than investigative journalism. The ear
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