shoe-leather journalist

A person who investigates and writes news stories by traveling to different places and meeting with different people in order to investigate and obtain all relevant facts. She has always been an old-school shoe-leather journalist, spending weeks on her stories to make sure no stone is left unturned. Look, kid, I know you want to be some shoe-leather journalist, but our business model is all about churning out as many stories as possible, as quickly as possible.