This paper deals with the topic of research journalism in a modern democratic society. Research journalism has had an impact on creating a society we know today. This paper tries to outline the positive features of investigative journalism and how it contributes to today's democracy. Research journalism existed already in the era of Charles Dickens, whom we now consider to be the author of fiction novels while he was working on the problems of the English society. His work can already be marked as the beginning of investigative journalism. Journalism continues to develop until today, and it can be said that it played a major role in the creation of a democratic society, because in certain situations, investigative journalism was a major tool in the fight against the restriction and enforcement of the law by the authorities. Evidence of how journalist increase search can have a good impact on society as a whole is the Watergate affair, which today is considered one of the most famous and most successful cases of investigative journalism. This paper tries to answer the question why research journalism is so important in today's world and why is research journalism so reare in Croatia.