Transcript investigative reporting

INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTING
Dig a little deeper for a reason...
THE HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
How long have people been nosy?
Ok, that’s not the question…. But investigative reporting is one of those things
that drives most people interested in journalism to be interested in journalism
 Compelling stories
 High impact
 Shock factor
 High engagement factor for reader
 It’s the job of the press to discover and reveal in a responsible manner
HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Ida Tarbell
 One of the first investigative journalists
 Exposed Standard Oil’s monopolistic practices
 Helped dissolve Standard Oil’s monopoly
HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
David Halberstam
 Exposed the truth about the lack of success against North
Vietnam
 Won a Pulitzer in 1964 for Vietnam coverage
 “The job of the reporters in Vietnam was to report the news,
whether or not the news was good for America.”
HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
 Broke the Watergate story
 Led to the indictment of 40 administration officials
 Led to the resignation of President Nixon
HOW-TO’S:
 It’s not deadline driven - scandal or wrongdoing is always timely
Take your time
“Vet” your sources - make sure they are credible
 Keep it simple
Investigative is not necessarily hard news that is written like hard news
No “featurey” flair
 Write to the reader with the least knowledge
Don’t over complicate
 Keep track of your sources and make sure there are copies and backups of everything
WHERE TO GET IDEAS:
 Hunch or hypothesis
Those reporter instincts kick in
“Something just seems… WRONG.”
 A tip
Someone gives you a heads up
Make sure you can validate and verify EVERYTHING
 Mining Data
MINING DATA
 Look through information that already exists and look for anomalies
 BE CAREFUL - sometimes what looks corrupt may just be a fluke
 That would be why you INVESTIGATE!
 Data gathered by the government is open and citizens have a right to
see and obtain it
DATA AND DEALING WITH IT
Data can be very revealing but also very confusing
 Consult real people to put it into context and perspective
 If you don’t understand the data, ask someone who does understand it to help you
understand
 Talk to sources who are in a position to explain the data
 Don’t rely on your own reading of the data
 Remember - you are interpreting information to INFORM other people
 Accuracy is absolutely required in investigative journalism and should be your MAIN
CONCERN
INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTING
Dig a little deeper for a reason...