Journalism-Lecture 11- Investigative Journalism

Hello again! This week's journalism lecture was about investigative journalism and all things surrounding it!

To start off, what is investigative journalism?

Well according to Wikipedia, it states, "Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing". This definition is pretty self-explanatory.

 One we were shown in the lecture which I liked was it was defined as, "“what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is just advertising". Bruce also said that all good journalism should to some extent, be investigative journalism- to discover the truth and identify any lapses in it.  

We then talked about what Bruce called the In’s of investigative journalism.

They are 

-  intelligent- it has to be well thought out before you go into somebody life and you must know what you are looking for, money, sex and power comes up in investigative journalism, weigh all the facts intelligently

-  informed- know the facts to the story, know which people are involved and who you suspect is pulling the strings. If you don't you will miss out on the real story. 

-  intuitive- become more experienced, be able to rely on your gut,  be able to ask yourself- is this an unsafe situation, does this story have some legs, is it dangerous to me or other people? After some experience you will be able to go with your gut.

 - inside- get inside info, get the inside story, what a journalist needs most from participants is your trust because they are bearing their lives to you and telling you information that could destroy them. You must know what is going on

- invest- this refers to investing a lot of yourself, it is difficult and it costs money and time, sometimes your mental health is at stake, it can be very tricky and serious, put something of yourself in there, in some situations people don’t talk to you again when you have broken the story 

Now onto some deeper definitions & purpose of investigative journalism. 

-  critical and thorough journalism

  critical=the journalist is an active participant,

 “active intervention”- the key idea,

thorough=journalist makes a substantial effort

-  Custodians of conscious= “exposure” is the key idea, 

“investigation takes society’s morals and norms and holds breaches up to pubic scrutiny" E.g. Fitzgerald inquiry

- To provide a voice to those without one and to hold the powerful to account

= social justice-power to the powerless, voice to the voiceless e.g. KONY 2012

" public interest is key idea", great responsibility

-  fourth estate/fourth branch of government/watchdog

- fourth estate= “journalists represent the interests of those without power to balance the power of government” 

fourth branch of government= journalists ensure free flows of information necessary for the functioning of democracy by interrogating the judiciary executive, and legislature= agenda setting
 

 watchdog= journalists make accountable public personalities, and institution whose functions impact social and political life

Some common sayings in the industry

-  ‘shoe leather’ –USA= find out what’s going on, talk to people

-  standing back (BIG PIC)- not involves the little things but how does this to relate

-  skeptical not cynical- is the attitude to have!
 

 Cutting through the agenda-  

John Pilger “It is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and the myths that surround it.”   

Some historical trailblazers in investigative journalism are 

-  “the Sydney monitor” (1826) Edward Hall Smith. This case shows how long the history of investigative journalism is in Australia. 

-  “the maiden tribute of modern Babylon” campaign (1885) W.T Stead & the Salvos (William Booth)

 – created a sting- age of consent raised from 12 to 16 – big effect

-  Bob Woodward-Carl Bernstein 1972-74 “Watergate”- Nixon resigned

- Chris Masters, Phil Dickie, Shaun Hoyt, “The Moonlight State”- 2 years researching for 1 hour of television

- Julian Assange (and others) “WikiLEAKS”



Following this, a question was posed to us. Is Wikileaks journalism?

To which the answer is no!

 It is just a bunch of information and data and it needs journalists to sort through it.
 

 Investigative trailblazers 

What do all these investigations have in common? 

=making information available that other people don’t want known and they are changing the world, for example bringing down presidents or governments

Some examples of local investigate journalism are the  

 - the global mail 

-  crikey

- Australian story
  

What do we investigate? 

Old journalism saying:
  “if your mother says she loves you, check it out” 

This quote means that you should always check your facts, assume nothing, expect whistleblowers to be/go crazy 

Types of investigative interaction

-  Interviews- whistleblowers, people concerned,


-  observations- see what’s going on, don’t get it second hand

-  documents- important, online or annual reports

-  briefings- by officials

-  leaks- whistleblowers,


-  trespass- up to your morals, depends on your boss

-  theft
 

 investigate methods

-  interviewing- numerous interviews

-  observing- technical issues, scrutiny of government


-  analysing documents- law suits, law docs, tax records

  Threats to investigative journalism

-Online news, less money less time and therefore less investigative work. 


Also the great debate between Journalism and PR provides a threat towards journalism. 

Mostly for these reasons.. 

A very interesting book I found when searching through the internet was this one on the history of investigative journalism and how it has differed through cultures. 


http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JMhmwt6h6G0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=investigative+journalism&ots=OXEquZ_gRj&sig=vziHUUgG6W_K4TBT8hKk8nuI3Vo#v=onepage&q=investigative%20journalism&f=false

Overall, I enjoyed this lecture because I thought we could relate it more practically to the industry itself and it is easier to see examples of investigative journalism happening every day. I really enjoyed learning about what it takes and the different facets of it.