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?