€ 10.000 per project on average

Denmark considers funding for investigative journalism

BRUSSELS - 24 / 3 / 2010 - The governing Danish liberal party Venstre has suggested to grant five million Danish crowns or € 670.000 to a pilot project on support for investigative reporting.

"It is important for our society, that some journalists go behind the agenda that makes the fast news and requires a bit more thought," says Ellen Thrane Nørby, media spokesperson for Venstre.

Nørby follows a concrete suggestion by the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism, FUJ, who had suggested 50 million Danish crowns for the pool, but also recent analysis by Danish media researchers on the development in Danish media. Comparing media and business, Nørby equals investigative journalism with research and development in business - another field that receives public support.

Nørby expects stories about tendencies in society aswell as stories critical towards political or business structures. "But it may not be us, who define this. This must be daily newspapers and electronic media," she says in a recent radio broadcast.

Also Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium have allocated support for investigative journalism, and the European Parliament also has allocated funding for a pilot project.