Beat & Desk Allocation
Staffing, Compensation & Field Travel
1.35x
Includes legal vetting, photo/copy editing, security, and fact-checking.
32
Deeper investigative journalism yields fewer, higher-leverage pieces.
The Aggregator vs. Reporting Divide
Economic reality behind information decayAggregation, summarization, and AI feeds rely on the capital-intensive primary work of shoe-leather journalists attending court hearings, cultivating confidential sources, and visiting conflict zones.
| Model | Field Reporters | Direct Cost / Story | Verification Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Newsroom | 100 | $5,389 | Primary field verification |
| Aggregation Operation | 0 - 2 | $15 - $45 | Secondary re-write / synthesis |
| AI Automated Summary | 0 | < $0.05 | Derived crawl (Zero primary source) |
Reporting Ledger Metrics
Real-time calculations
Operating Budget
$17,246,250
Annual total including verified overhead
Cost Per Original Story
$5,389.45
Fully loaded cost per vetted piece
Total Editorial Staff
100
Across all investigative beats
Original Output
3,200
Independent verified articles/year
Total Base Payroll
$9,850,000
Direct newsroom compensation
Field & Travel Budget
$2,925,000
On-the-ground reporting expenses
Annual Expenditure Distribution
By beat & institutional support
Publisher’s Note: The cost of investigative original reporting is non-fungible. While digital distribution costs trend toward zero, the hard labor of uncovering truths, cross-examining records, and sustaining bureaus requires durable, recurrent capital.
Reporters: 100
Payroll: $9,850,000
Travel: $2,925,000
Operating: $17,246,250
Per Story: $5,389.45