Every day digging: Inside Gravercentret’s battle to save local investigative journalism

“We help investigative journalists do research as an extra intern or an extra hand. We have to do a lot of things because they are getting poorer and have fewer resources, which is a sad story,” said Bruno Ingemann, investigative journalist and Director of Gravercentret.

Local journalism in Denmark is undergoing a marked decline. A 2024 study from the European University Institute reported a 24 percent reduction in local newsrooms in Denmark between 2010 and 2020, with the steepest losses in Central Jutland. Additionally, it noted a strong decrease in the number of local journalists.

The pressures on local journalism are reinforced by broader structural conditions in Denmark. Christoph Raetzsch, Associate Professor at the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University, goes on to explain how resource constraints in local journalism is a strong trend across Western democracies.

“The local market is quite difficult to serve because there is a strong dominance of national television stations that have kind of monopolized investigative work, because they have the resources”, said Christoph Raetzsch.

With media ownership being concentrated in large news outlets like DR and TV 2, decisions are often highly centralized, making it more challenging to tell investigative stories at the local level.

In the day-to-day work of local newsrooms, these structural pressures combined with the shift toward digital media create a fast-paced environment.

“It is more about processing a large number of small stories very fast,” said Bruno Ingemann, Director of Gravercentret.

Bruno Ingemann recalls talking with an editor who was responsible for a newsroom of 12 to 15 journalists. The editor explained that their staff simply did not have the time to dedicate a day or two to a single story. Instead, the newsroom was caught in a constant cycle of rapid, short-form reporting, making it extremely difficult to produce anything of substantial depth or quality.

This is precisely the gap Gravercentret was created to address, offering local journalists the guidance and support to take on a story that would otherwise be impossible within their daily constraints.

How Gravercentret was born

The investigative journalist Bruno Ingemann, who worked many years in local media, developed an early interest in “everyday digging,” the routine work of uncovering local stories. This led him and a colleague to organise ’Et Spadestik Dybere’, conferences that bring together Danish and international journalists to share practical examples of investigative work and inspire one another. 

In 2021, Bruno Ingemann met with political scientist Roger Buch from DMJX. While Roger Buch approached the issue from a local political perspective, Bruno Ingemann’s focus remained on journalism. They quickly agreed that small newsrooms were often unable to hold local powers accountable, because they lacked both resources and experience in investigative work. 

“We agreed that we could help them. We should help. Someone should help them,” Bruno Ingemann said.

From these discussions, Gravercentret was born: a centre dedicated to supporting investigative journalism in local Danish newsrooms. Inspired by initiatives abroad, particularly the Center for Investigative Journalism based in England and the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Norway, Bruno Ingemann set out on a clear mission: to follow that model, not on a global scale, but with a focus on empowering local journalism where it matters most.

“They are doing tremendous investigative reporting on a global level, so we took what we could to be inspired at the local level,” he said. 

Timing also played a crucial role. Bruno Ingemann explains that Danish politicians negotiate media support agreements every four years, deciding which local outlets will receive their funding. In 2021, concern over struggling newsrooms created an opportunity for funding. When Bruno Ingemann and his team pitched Gravercentret, politicians approved funding for the current four-year term, roughly 22.6 million kroner.

Inside Gravercentret: How small newsrooms get investigative support

”We remind journalists that it is a good idea to slowdown the process. Asking them to think carefully about what the story is about? Do we know enough already?” Bruno Ingemann explains.

These are some of the questions that are discussed in the opening meetings held by Gravercentret. One of the primary ideas behind Gravercentret is to get journalists and local newsrooms to contact them if they have a great idea or have started their research and have got stuck at some point. 

The initial meetings are focused on the building of the story, followed by critical analysis and reflections and finally in-depth fact checking. Bruno Ingemann explains how old-fashioned journalism has often been forgotten, making it essential for them to ask important reflective questions. 

Once journalists and newsrooms have begun with their stories, a second meeting is carried out in which experts from the center ask them ‘what they found?’, ‘Is it a good story?’

”If they want to continue working on it or need help with the next steps,” explains Bruno Ingemann.

Once their story has been carried out, the fact-checking and line-by-line process begins.

“If they found some great scandal about the local mayor, journalists could be nervous if they published the story. Would he be mad? Would there be any repercussions?” he said.

These are some of the worries journalists often face before publishing stories he explained.

This process attempts to strengthen local newsrooms’ skills that are not used to doing more investigative work, making sure that everything is 100 percent verified before publication.

“Allowing journalists to publish and sleep,” Bruno Ingemann said.

Collaboration that strengthens investigations 

Collaborative processes are also present within Gravercentret, bringing together different newsrooms to strengthen local investigations. For example, a recent investigation led by Gravercentret, concerning the efficiencies within the Danish healthcare system, had a strong collaborative focus at the center of its work.

Competition among different newsrooms often leads to the natural tendency to work alone, explained Anders Haubard Madsen, journalist at Videnskab.dk.

Anders Haubard Madsen, who worked on the healthcare investigation with Gravercentret, confidently explains how collaboration can strongly expand the impact and the depth of the work.

“Working together doesn’t weaken the work; it makes it stronger. It becomes clear that collaboration is important, not only for the quality of the investigation but also its reach,” he added.

With local newsrooms under intense pressure, collaboration has the potential to really strengthen the investigative capacity of Danish local media, continues Anders Haubard Madsen. Gravercentret allows for the opportunity for journalists to share resources and work together, permitting investigations which would otherwise be too demanding for single newsrooms. In a way this challenges the monopolization of larger national investigations.

An uncertain future for Gravercentret

Yet the future of Gravercentret, like the future of local media itself, is vague. Bruno Ingemann, who has spent decades working in local media, founded Gravercentret to help small newsrooms carry out the careful, in-depth reporting that is increasingly rare in the Danish local media landscape. But even this effort faces uncertainty. 

“We don’t get money from elsewhere. Only state money for four years. Next year we are starting to get nervous because that is the last year of the four years,” Bruno Ingemann noted.

Gravercenteret is dependent on a new agreement being made next year for another four-year period. 

“Because if they don’t, we will have to close down,” Bruno Ingemann said.