"When the business models of online (journalism) work themselves out, people will readjust their balance and will start investing in that kind of stuff, because it counts!"
- Wilf Dinnick, founder of OpenFile, on the eventual success of online journalism and the hope for Canadian models of non-profit investigative journalism.
"Investigative journalists, because of their dedication and the zealotry they bring to their work, persist in the worst of times; sometimes they seemingly flourish when the challenges are greatest.”
-Brant Houston, Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting, Illinois College of Media.
"The only way to save journalism is to develop a new model that finds profit in truth, vigilance, and social responsibility."
-Philip Meyer, author of "The Vanishing Newspaper" on the survival of journalism.
"In the States, if you watch the news, it's crap. And people know it and they don't pay for it. There's a feeling of the liberals on that side, or the progressives, that NBC or Nightline don't do the job. So people are willing to pay for (their news.)"
-Wilf Dinnick
"The volume or the amount of investigative reporting that gets done in a particular place has a very close relationship with the economy. If times are good and money is flowing it’s a better climate for investigative reporting. Many news outlets look at investigative journalism as “we’ll do this if we have the time and money.” It’s not the bread and butter, which is daily breaking news."
- Cecil Rosner, managing editor of CBC Manitoba and author of “Behind the Headlines: A History of Investigative Journalism in Canada” on the impact the economy has on investigative reporting.
"There is an appetite for this in Canada and a recognized need for investigative reporting, and we are just breaking through in a bigger way to the funding community."
- Bilbo Poynter, founder of the Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting, on his expectations for the future of non-profit investigative journalism in Canada.
"Most of the top investigative journalists in Canada happen to be working at their news organizations. How much effort can there be to create (a non-profit organization) when their primary effort and allegiance is to where they work?"
- Cecil Rosner in a discussion on how a good economy can stifle the growth of non-profit journalism organizations.
"People do important work for us but they’re vastly undercompensated."
- Graham Scott, editor-in-chief of This Magazine, on the realities of the foundation model in Canada.
"Unlike a lot of instances where Canada follows the US, we have actually led the US, for example when 60 Minutes first started they talked to a lot of people from This Hour Has Seven Days."
- Cecil Rosner on Canada’s strong history of investigative reporting.
