Journalists need to be highly committed and determined when pursuing an issue in an investigative way because they inevitably will be confronted with considerable pressures. These pressures include resistance from publishers and editors due to time and resource constraints, threats from those under scrutiny and legal and contractual complications after publication or broadcast. Investigative journalists, particularly in New Zealand and the Pacific, where investigative journalism is in decline, risk being isolated when attempting vigorous Fourth Estate-styled reportage.