Investigative journalism and the moral order

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Abstract
In this essay, we examine the cultural consequences of a press that seeks to be both a detached observer of fact and a “custodian of conscience.” Drawing upon interviews with distinguished investigative journalists, we examine the diverse ways that these reporters have found to work within, but never resolve, the tension between objectivity and adversarialism. We also examine the particular contribution of investigative journalists to moral order within their communities (i.e., the “objectification” of standards by which the public can make moral judgments). In conclusion, we argue that this sort of journalism may oversee the reinforcement and relegitimation of enduring or dominant moral values but that it may also preside over the definition and development as well as the debasement and dissolution of those values.