List of investigative journalists

This is a list of investigative journalists. Only a small proportion of journalism consists of investigative journalism. However, the few who practice it can have a disproportionately large effect when their work brings attention to matters people care about but are unaware of.

This article contains dynamic lists that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Practicing investigative journalists

This is a partial list. As of 2024, the Global Investigative Journalism Network currently has 249 members (most or all of which are networks or outlets serving multiple journalists), and Investigative Reporters and Editors has over 4,500 members practicing in the US and around the world.

• Carl Bernstein (born 1944) – American journalist most famous for reporting on the Watergate scandal at the Washington Post
• Hopewell Chin'ono (born 1971) — Zimbabwean journalist whose reporting on corruption in Zimbabwe became internationally known when he was imprisoned for 45 days for it in 2020.
• Seymour Hersh (born 1937) – American investigative journalist and political writer
• Tessy Igomu – Nigerian journalist and head of Investigation at The Punch newspaper
• Bob Woodward (born 1943) – American journalist most famous for reporting on the Watergate scandal at the Washington Post, (where he is now associate editor)

Deceased or retired investigative journalists

• Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) – investigative journalist and reformer, noted for investigating lynching in the United States
• I.F. Stone (1907–1989) – also the publisher of I.F. Stone's Weekly
• Ida Tarbell
• Paul Y. Anderson (1893–1938) – winner of Pulitzer Prize 1929
• C. P. Connolly (1863–1935) – radical investigative journalist associated for many years with Collier's Weekly
• Julius Chambers (1850–1920) — most famous for getting himself committed to an insane asylum, to be able to report from within, which led to changes both organizational and legal changes
• Nellie Bly
• Upton Sinclair
• Bill Dedman