Are the public interested in public interest news?

A global investigation and the largest leak of offshore data in history has produced the Pandora Papers. Journalists around the world have had front-page splashes on alleged corruption and money-laundering. Meanwhile in the US, a whistle-blowing former Facebook employee has appeared before Congress, accusing the company of harming democracy. And a piece in The New York Times seems to have brought down a wunderkind news organisation.

But how interested are the public in these public interest stories? Is there a trick to keeping stories of this size at the top of the bulletins? And can public interest journalism still have an impact on the world?

Guests: Juliette Garside, Deputy Business Editor at The Guardian; Margot Gibbs, Investigative Reporter at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; Ben Smith, Media Columnist at The New York Times, Alexandra Suich Bass, Senior Columnist at The Economist.

Studio engineer: Donald MacDonald

Producer: Hannah Sander

Presenter: Rajan Datar

(Picture credit: Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen speaks to the US Congress. Getty Images)