One investigative journalist, the Guardian's Nick Davies, digging away over two years, has almost brought the Murdoch empire crashing to its knees. His reports of phone hacking at the News of the World unveiled some very unethical practices. The Guardian was also responsible for many of the biggest scoops of recent years: for instance, investigating the killing of mews vendor Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demonstration in London in April 2009 and collaborating with WikiLeaks in 2010. Andrew Jennings, again working almost alone with the BBC's Panorama over several years, brought down FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and brought that organisation into disrepute. Maybe reports of the death of investigative journalism are premature.

This text brings together the writings of top international journalists and academics. They include: Bob (Watergate) Woodward, Donal (Undercover) MacIntyre, Mark (Secret Policeman) Daly, Paul Kenyon and John Ware of the BBC's Panorama, Pulitzer Prize-Winner David Cay Johnston, Paul Bradshaw, Philip Knightley, Adrian Quinn, Kevin Marsh, Eamonn O'Neill and John Tulloch. Sher Baz Khan looks at the troubled state of investigative journalism in Pakistan, Homson Shaw and Hugo de Burgh focus on China, Daniel Ruiz on Guinea-Bissau while Neil Fowler examines the local UK press. Students Sean Carson, Shane Croucher, Tom Farmery and Sean McGrath add to the mix.