This is the site for ENLARGING THE SPACE FOR WATCHDOG JOURNALISM: COUNTERING THREATS, SUPPORTING INNOVATIONS, a conference at Columbia University co-sponsored by the Open Society Institute, the Fund for Independence in Journalism, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

The terrain of investigative journalism is shifting. In many countries, commercial and business pressures are resulting in diminishing resources for investigations. At the same time, investigative journalists are facing formidable legal and extra-legal challenges that threaten their ability to act as watchdogs of power.  In many parts of the world, investigative journalists face harassment lawsuits, they are subjected to surveillance, and on occasion, they have been compelled to reveal their sources. In some places, they are targets of violent attack and face severe psychological stress. In others, critical reporting has been quashed not by government restrictions but by market mechanisms such as the withdrawal of advertising and the takeover of the ownership of news organizations by more compliant proprietors.

This conference aims to provide a forum where leading journalists, media lawyers, donors funding media issues and press-freedom advocates from around the world can get together to talk about the new challenges and opportunities investigative journalists face. Participants will compare and assess legal and campaigning strategies as well as emerging innovations in the field of investigative reporting. While most of the participants will come from the United States, selected participants from various countries will ensure an exchange of experiences and a cross-fertilization of ideas on both the threats to – as well as the new spaces for – watchdog journalism.

The conference will take place at the Journalism School on March 12-13, 2009. Attendance is by invitation only.