Last night Guardian senior reporter Ian Cobain took the 2009 Paul Foot Award for campaigning journalism for his investigation into Britain’s involvement in the torture of terror suspects detained overseas.

Speaking at the Private Eye and Guardian sponsored award, Eye editor Ian Hislop said investigative reporting had come under threat from both the recession and some key legal actions in the last year:

“[Investigative reporting] needs encouraging for obvious reasons, particularly in a recession: it’s difficult; it’s slow; it’s expensive; it’s risky. There’s no advertising. There are very few local newspapers. People are more interested in the death of the dinner party as a subject to fill a paper.”

Journalism.co.uk spoke to Cobain after the awards ceremony to find out his views on the future of investigative journalism:

And how he selects his subjects: