Friend in the Press

The Friend In The Press is a journalist who is a close ally if not a personal friend of the detective (regardless of whether they happen to be a police detective, an Amateur Sleuth or a Private Detective).

Said friend is of the greatest benefit to the detectives' investigations, as journalists often have access to or can gain information not privy to the public (and which gaining by going through the official channels would take too long) and are likely to have contacts with individuals who have their ears to the streets but who are unwilling to talk to the authorities. Likewise, journalists often have access to vast archives of information about previous cases or know of sources likely to hold information relevant to the present investigation.

Another benefit is journalists are often incredibly good at blowing the whistle on cases of crime and corruption where even the authorities might be hampered to bring charges. After all, a crusading journalist who has access to all their dirty laundry is often the greatest fear of a crooked politician or a corrupt businessman. Likewise, having a level of control over the information that leaks out from the investigation is also often very useful to the detective, especially if they want to set a trap.

The usefulness of this relationship is usually mutually beneficial, with the journalist often expecting to get all the juicy details of the mystery (though a decent Friend will normally wait until the case is concluded to publish anything too juicy first so as not to tip off the crooks) and thus be able to exclusively publish the story.

Generally, stories will hold friction between the press and the police, with the press often wanting to publish information the detectives would prefer to keep out the public view, and the police often desiring the names of the reporter's sources, despite them promising anonymity. Usually for this trope the two will have a good enough working relationship to avoid these sorts of pitfalls, but may still hit conflicts along those lines (especially if the case is particularly high stakes).

Whilst often presented in a positive light, there is a darker take on this relationship, as more immoral and glory-hungry detectives might seek this sort of relationship to boost their careers or abuse the press's influence to go after their rivals. It may potentially overlap with Immoral Journalist.

Traditionally the journalist would work for a newspaper; however, with mainstream reporting media evolving it is now more common for them to either be a TV reporter, a documentary creator, an online journalist or even potentially a podcast host (although print journalists are still far from unheard-of and are still going strong in period pieces).

It can also overlap with Tagalong Reporter.

To qualify for this trope, the friend must know whom they are helping and what they're going to do with said help. In cases where the hero also works in the press, picking up information on the job only qualifies if their co-worker is aware of what they're going to do with this information.

Compare Strawman News Media and Immoral Journalist, which are usually presented as an opponent of the detective. Compare and Contrast Friend on the Force and Friend in the Black Market, for the respective types of helping hands.

---

Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Hello! Sandybell: Alec Peterson is a reporter for Longwood's newspaper company. He has associates in the drug scene of Europe and writes articles exposing them. He likewise regularly uses these connections and skills to assist Sandybell Christie.
• Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective: Chicory Monki is a crime journalist for the in-universe Lime Weekly who has a great respect for police detectives after one rescued her from a kidnapping when she was a child. She occasionally provides intel to Toto and Ron for their investigations.

Comic Books

• In the mid-2000s, Aquaman met science journalist Esther Maris, who reported on the Sub Diego crisis and investigated a company she felt was responsible for the sinking.
• Batman has the photojournalist Vicki Vale, who sometimes shares scoops when not trying to figure out his secret identity.
• Blacksad: In "Arctic Nation", Blacksad is introduced to Weekly; a reporter from “What’s News”. Despite his initial dislike for him, the two quickly become friends whilst working together on a child abduction case. Afterwards, Weekly becomes a recurring assistant, frequently acting as Blacksad’s eyes and ears, and providing him with whatever information he can.
• Marvel Comics: Ben Urich is a crime journalist for the Daily Bugle whose integrity and willingness to get to the bottom of a story has made him a staunch ally of Spider-Man and Daredevil over the years, despite his boss' well-known hatred of the former and has even been entrusted by the latter with his identity as Matt Murdock.
• Preacher: Darkly subverted. Cassidy meets up with his old friend Simon "Si" Coltrane, now working as a freelance journalist to help him investigate a Serial Killer dubbed the "Hacker-Slasher" and the "Reaver-Cleaver" by the press. But when Cassidy goes into the apartment, he learns not only said friend is the Hacker-Slasher, he set up Cassidy to take the fall. Cassidy only escapes the cops by stabbing himself in the neck with a scalpel and feigning death until he breaks out of the body bag.
• Spider-Man: Poor Peter Parker is often mistaken for Spider Man's friend in the press because of his apparently uncanny ability to photograph the titular hero. Nobody in a million years would believe he actually is Spider Man, and instead often assume the two are in cahoots. More than a few times, this has led to criminals targeting Peter's friends and family, and even Peter directly, to either provoke a response from Spider Man or send him a message.
• Superman: While Superman's Secret Identity is reporter Clark Kent, he is good friends in his heroic identity with several members of the news media at the Daily Planet. In particular, reporter Lois Lane and photographer Jimmy Olsen are always willing to give Superman information on stories they are investigating.

Fan Works

• I, Panacea: Before springing the trap she knows is waiting for her, Taylor borrows Amy's phone and leaves a call running to a friend of her father who runs a radio station. He records the Trio's harsh words, which include admitting all their guilt, and even the point where Sophia punches Taylor and cracks her ribs, and he's able to both clean up the sound quality and provide Principal Blackwell with an implicit threat that if she doesn't take action, it will become public.

Literature

• Amos Walker: Loren D. Estleman's novels have Barry Stackpole, an old Vietnam squadmate of the titular P.I., whose fearless reporting on Detroit's underworld has left him with a fibreglass leg among other prosthetics. Their friendship eventually ends in the sixth book, when Barry fakes his disappearance/death, forcing Amos on a long and painful wild-goose chase, solely to drum up publicity for his new book.
• The Dresden Files: In the early books, Harry Dresden, a wizard Private Detective, is in a romantic relationship with Susan Rodriguez, a reporter for a tabloid, the Midwestern Arcane. Being one of the few people to know that the supernatural is real, Susan has become committed to exposing it, believing the general public deserves to know the potential dangers that exist (to the point of working for a trashy local tabloid well below her skill level, as they are the only one's willing to publish her articles on magic and monsters). Thus she assists Harry with his cases, always hoping they will produce the proof she needs, meanwhile the two fall in love. This carries on until Grave Peril when Susan falls victim to the Red Court Vampires who infect her, though she manages to resist the urge to feed and thus complete the transformation through sheer willpower. Thus she's forced to abandon her life and Harry to join The Fellowship of St. Giles in their crusade against the Red Court's tyranny.
• Harry Hole: The series features a darker take on this trope, where despite being utterly corrupt Mikael Bellmann keeps his crimes unknown to the public, escapes punishment and steadily rises through the ranks, thanks in large part to him having several close contacts in the press (and knowing how to charm journalists in general), ensuring they will always present him favourably to the public.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: When the mainstream wizarding press refuses to print Harry's side of the story, Hermione turns to Luna Lovegood, whose father owns The Quibbler, the Wizarding World's equivalent to the Weekly World News, to get Harry's story printed. This is highly successful for both Harry and Luna, as it gets Harry's interview widely circulated and is the highest-selling issue of The Quibbler ever.
• In Death: Nadine Furst was a TV crime reporter whose life was saved by Detective Eve Dallas in the second book in the series. Subsequently, the two became good friends and try to help each other professionally whenever they can without compromising her professional ethics.
• One of the recurring characters in the long-running mystery novel series about private detective Michael Shayne was Shayne's friend Tim Rourke, a newspaper reporter. Rourke was often furnishing Shayne with information in return for a scoop. Sometimes Rourke was more directly involved in Shayne's shenanigans, like in Bodies Are Where You Find Them, in which Rourke helps Shayne transport and dump the freshly-killed corpse of a young woman—as usual, for the scoop.
• Nero Wolfe: Archie is good friends with Lon Cohen, an influential and well-connected senior news reporter for the New York Gazette, whom Archie and Wolfe often use to gain information in exchange for promising an exclusive for his paper. Lon is also one of Archie's poker buddies and defines himself as a man who strongly believes the public has the right to know, as long as they read it in the Gazette.
• Nikki Heat: Jameson Rook, an award-winning magazine journalist and investigative reporter ends up becoming a Friend in the Press to the titular Detective. The two are paired together by the commissioner in "Heat Wave", so that Jameson can shadow their investigations and do a report on the NYPD. Despite Nikki's initial reluctance and frustration, she comes to value his skills as a reporter and outside-the-box thinking. This leads to Jameson becoming a valuable ally to her squad and her on-again-off-again lover.
• Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai: Sakuta has a press contact, Fumika Nanjou, who is researching Adolescence Syndrome and came into contact with him after the incidents involving himself and his sister Kaede. While he stonewalls on giving her any specifics (she's especially interested in the scar on his chest), he does use her as a source of information, first in volume 1 on Mai's hiatus from acting, then in volume 3 on why his friend Futaba might have posted erotic selfies on the Internet (in each case seemingly the inciting incident for the girls' Adolescence Syndrome).
• The Shadow: One of the Shadow's agents is Clyde Burke, an ace reporter with the New York Classic. His job and connections allow him to keep Shadow abreast of leads in his cases, as well as provide Clyde with the bonus of being able to report on the events.
• Wisting: Line Wisting is the protagonist, detective William Wisting's daughter. Having been unable to also join the police due to a minor possession arrest, she instead became a journalist for the Lavik media (going between writing articles and making documentaries). Likewise, despite Wisting's reluctance to involve her, she always tries to help her father with his cases. Notably in "The Hunting Dogs" when William is facing allegations of planting evidence and a smear campaign by the media, Line goes out of her way to try to take the heat off him.

Live-Action TV

• Blindspot: Played With. Megan Butani is a highly dedicated investigative journalist who works for the New York Post, as well as being FBI agent Edgar Reade's fiancé throughout season three, but whilst close to him and civil with his team and they often express interest in each other's investigations, for the most part, the two keep their professional lives separate from their relationship. It's played straight in season 5, when the team contact Megan and use her connections to finally expose Madeline Burke's numerous crimes to the public, leading to her swift downfall.
• Boomtown (2002): In Season 1, despite being married, district attorney David McNorris is sleeping with Andrea, a reporter, who often asks for inside scoops and (sometimes) gives him more positive press because of it.
• The Capture: Khadija Khan is a highly dedicated and inquisitive reporter for BBC Newsnight, who, upon being exposed to the existence of correction (the practice of substituting supposedly live footage with computer-generated fakes, regularly used to incriminate targets), agrees to form a partnership with DCI Rachel Carey who is secretly working to expose it, with her using her press links to provide Isaac Turner with miniature cameras. In the final, they succeed with Khan exposing the existence of corruption live on air, by broadcasting a completely faked interview with Turner.
• Dempsey and Makepeace: “Wheelman” reveals Makepeace happens to have one in an Old Flame of her Tom Clyde who is considered the “Ace crime reporter” for the London Evening Mail. It's implied that he happily tips Harry off to anything he learns in exchange for getting the best stories, in the episode he even helps Harry sell her own story of being a fellow journalist to infiltrate Morrocco Jack’s gang.
• Endeavour: Dorothea Frazil is the editor of the Oxford Mail and a highly dedicated Journalist (having previously reported on the Korean War from pretty much right on the battlefield). Whilst Morse is initially weary about forming close relationships with the press for fear of it being corrupting, the two quickly become friends and she serves as a valuable asset to Morse and Inspector Thursday's investigations. Many times through the series Dorothea's access to the Oxford Mail archives provides essential information to the case, and she is likewise very good at digging up information about figures who deliberately attempt to stay off the police's radar. Notably unlike most examples, whilst her paper does report on the events, she never attempts to use this relationship to gain any particular advantage in reporting the stories over her rivals and is not afraid to put herself in the firing line. (The most extreme example being in "Game" when her attempts to catch a Serial Killer who murdered one of her journalists leads to her being abducted by them, only to break free and be instrumental to their arrest.)
• FBI: Most Wanted:
  • "Wanted: America" features Em McAdoo, an ambitious and highly dedicated former reporter who now works for a true crime documentary series and is an old flame of Remy's. The two had an agent/press-friend sort of relationship back when Remy was in Las Vegas, however, things soured when, to get the story out first, Em released details before the FBI had arrested the criminal which lead to them successfully going on the run. Nevertheless, despite his reluctance, Remy agrees to let her assist with the Manhunt for Mavis Kennedy, knowing she won't give up and seeing the value of having her contacts in their assistance, in exchange for exclusive footage and interviews. Following being trapped in a cabin overnight together, the two manage to patch up their relationship with Em apologising for abusing his trust and Remy admitting the crook would probably have escaped them even without her breaking the story.
  • In "Hollow" the team is assisting Akwesana Reservation police with the disappearance and murders of several Mohawk women by a Serial Killer dubbed the Hollow Man. When the topic of the indigenous murder rate comes up, Sherriff Whitehawk openly admits that the only reason that these particular indigenous murders are known and the FBI is assisting his department is that he happens to have an old college friend who now works at the Washington Post, and was thus able to break the story.
• Hannibal: The pilot finds Freddie Lounds sleeping with a cop to get a scoop on the ongoing case. He gets fired as a result, and then immediately killed. Freddie offers him a job, but he gets shot and killed in front of her. She then tries to repeat this dynamic (non-sexually) with Will and Hannibal, who are not police officers but work with the police in criminal psychology. Her method of doing this is to insult Will and describe him as insane, so she ends up in a more Enemy Mine position.
• Happy Valley: Sergeant Catherine Cawood's ex-husband Richard is a local newspaper journalist who transitions to writing online articles when his paper shifts away from print. Whilst their marriage is long over, the two maintain a friendly relationship, with Richard always happy to tip Catherine off to anything his sources uncover that he thinks might be useful to her.
• Homicide: Life on the Street: Lieutenant Giardello is close friends with Sam Thorne, a community activist who runs his own newspaper, the "Black Voice," despite Sam being a fierce critic of the police. When Sam is murdered (for attempting to expose a Columbium Drug Cartel's expansion into the city of Baltimore), Giardello pulls out all the stops to find the killer — and is devastated when the drug dealer responsible gets off scot-free by making a deal with the DEA in exchange for immunity.
• Il Commissario Montalbano: Nicolò Zito is a TV journalist for Vigàta's local TV station, Rete Libera, and a very close friend of Montalbano. In several cases, his connections have allowed him to alert Montalbano to events occurring off the police's radar or provide valuable context to explain the crimes Montalbano is investigating. He is also always willing to make use of his influence on the public to assist Montalbano in exposing criminals through his cunning gambits.
• Killer and Healer: Chu Ran is a reporter at Jing City's local newspaper who has been a great ally to Police Chief Jiang Yuelou and Dr. Chen Yuzhi. Her role as a journalist has helped Jiang Yuelou clear his name when he's falsely accused of being a violent man and her investigations contribute to his mission of bringing down the drug syndicate and uncovering the conspiracy about a warlord family who plans to take over the city.
• Prodigal Son: Malcolm Bright's younger sister Ainsley is an ambitious TV reporter for a local news station and often attempts to use her connections to Malcolm to get inside information on the cases he works in exchange for assisting. Whilst Malcolm is often weary of letting her in and concerned with the lengths that Ainsley is willing to go (including several times putting herself or others in danger), he nevertheless does accept her help from time to time. On occasion, Ainsley even treats investigating the cases as a game to see which sibling can find the solution first.
• SS-GB: Barbara Barga is an charismatic and driven American reporter stationed in Nazi-occupied Britain, who quickly forms a relationship with Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer. Archer in turn quickly sees the advantage of Barbara's support, as well as the fact that she is a citizen of a neutral power the Nazis are hoping to keep favourable relationships with.
• Son of a Critch: Local radio host Mike Critch, Sr. starts off as a friend to Officer Butt, an incompetent local officer who feeds him tips about local crimes, often in the hopes of getting the public to call into Mike's radio show to provide information that Butt is too incompetent to find on his own. This relationship is severed after the events of "Details are Scanty", in which Butt wants Mike to report heavily on the arrest of a local criminal as a distraction from the far more damning story of Butt losing his gun. As the criminal happens to be the father of Fox, Mike's son's best friend, and as his crime had been motivated by a desperation to provide for his family, Mike can't bring himself to ruin the man's life and thus reports on Butt's lost gun instead to take attention off of the man.
• A Touch of Frost: Zigzagged with Sandy Longford, a reporter for Denton Evening News. He and Inspector Frost have a strong Love-Hate relationship, with them regularly going from viewing each other as an asset or a nuisance depending on the situation. As such, whilst they have a long-standing working agreement, with Frost regularly using Longford's local knowledge and contacts to find and solve cases, in exchange for exclusive information about the cases and interviews, with Longford generally more than happy to help, it is made very clear that they are not friends and Longford will happy turn on Jack the moment its more advantageous for him to do so. Though he does have the decency of giving him a heads up about which way the wind is blowing before the situation gets to the stage and makes it clear it's Nothing Personal.
• Vienna Blood: In season three, following two failed engagements, Clara Weiss decides to underline her past and carve a new life and career for herself as a journalist. Unfulfilled by the dull, minor social events her paper sends her to report on, she uses her connections to her former fiancé Max Liebermann and his friend Inspector Oscar Reinhardt to get details of the cases they are working on, allowing her to print the story first and thus get a chance to have a serious career. In return she attempts to aid them, offering the full support of the press, although they are both initially reluctant to take her up on the offer they manage to work out a functioning relationship.
• Whiz Kids: If Richie Adler didn't have Lou Farley as his contact in The Gazette, all the hacking in the world wouldn't help him solve the things he usually finds. It helps that Farley trusts Richie's instincts and technical knowledge even if he's "just" a teenager... and that the journalist is usually able to convince his brother in law, Lieutenant Quinn, to investigate Richie's findings.

Multiple Media

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Many renditions cast April O'Neil, their contact with the human world, as a reporter for a local television news program. She usually gives them information on stories she's following while also getting exclusive scoops on the Turtles' exploits.

Video Games

• Batman: Arkham Origins: When Ricky "Loose Lips" Leblanc is being interrogated by a cop at the GCPD Station, he warns the officer that he has a cousin in the "Gotham Gazette" who could easily expose their deals with the Penguin if he doesn't back off. ^note It's implied Ricky doesn't actually have such a connection, or if this cousin is real, he isn't a reporter.
• Criminal Case: Mysteries of the Past: This Facebook and mobile game has Katherine Woolf, a reporter for the "Concordia Gazette" who occasionally works with the Flying Squad police force. She ends up in a romantic relationship with the team's archivist Evie.
• Fallout 4: Implied. If the Sole Survivor goes into Publick Occurrences instead of the Agency after killing Kellogg, Diamond City reporter Piper Wright and detective Nick Valentine start a conversation where Nick alludes to he and Piper already having a working relationship. The two's interactions throughout the game do overall suggest a level of friendship (with Piper even affectionately calling him "Nicky"), fitting with their status of being the only proper and capable investigators within Diamond City (if not the whole commonwealth).

Nick: What can I say, Piper? You, me, and hard luck all seem to run together like acid rain down an old sewer.

• JumpStart Adventures 5th Grade: Jo Hammet, Kid Detective: At the Squishy Juice Bar, Jo meets up with a fellow reporter named Bernie who is undercover as a bartender. He gives her objects she needs to defuse Dr. X's bombs in return for mixing drinks for him.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure has Grace Lynn of the Crossbell Times who takes an interest in the Special Support Section, your team of playable characters. Initially, they mainly just consider her an annoyance because she writes an unflattering article about them after they are upstaged by the bracer Arios during a mission. However, she quickly proves willing to provide the group with helpful information when it comes to cases and covers their major successes for the Times. She later reveals that she personally knew and was friends with Guy Bannings, the deceased older brother of the SSS's leader, Lloyd.
• Persona 5: To improve the Phantom Thieves' public image, Joker can contact the reporter Ichiko Ohya, who offers him good PR and her investigative talents in return for any exclusive inside information on the Thieves he can share without endangering the group.

Visual Novel

• Spirit Hunter: NG: Naomasa Ban, an infamously unscrupulous journalist, becomes one of Akira Kijima's companions after initially trying to tail him and his best friend Seiji Amanome for their Yakuza ties. He moonlights as an Occult Detective and uses his information-gathering skills to find out things about the spirits they fight, proving a very valuable ally and becoming somewhat of a friend to Akira.

Western Animation

• Batman: The Animated Series: Deconstructed in "A Bullet for Bullock", when Bullock exploits his old friendship (and possibly more) with newscaster Summer Gleeson in hopes of finding clues on who's trying to kill him. However, Bullock's heavy-handed nature and lack of respect for boundaries leads to him getting impatient and breaking in to start rifling through her confidential files by himself (rather than wait till she finished work to go through them together as she promised), upon Summer returning and discovering the mess he's caused, she furiously throws him out and refuses to help him.
• The Mask: Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask has a press helper in Peggy Brandt, a local newspaper reporter. Having become friends with Stanley since the film, Peggy acts as his sensible confidant (although she occasionally proves she can be just as immature and irresponsible) being the only one who knows that Stanley and the Mask are one and the same, as well as regularly trying to exploit the Mask so she can report on the story.

---