Investigative Reporting

So this is why we all join this silly profession in the first place isn't it? Maybe we watched too many episodes of Superman and related with Lois Lane. I don't know what did it for me but every image of journalism I had as a child was of some muckraking son-of-a-gun reporter who wouldn't give in no matter what.

So why is that when faced with the idea of investigative reporting I get suddenly nervous and scared? As addressed in Chapter 18 this is one of the number one things that holds reporters back from doing a good job when investigating. And why is that, because I myself am guilty of that thinking also. I'm not saying that everyone feels this way but I'm sure some of us new baby journalists have to shudder a little at the thought of getting down and dirty.

Perhaps the reason is that when one is writing an investigative piece there is no room or margin for error. This is true no matter what type of story you are reporting on but the stakes are much higher when exposing someone or something like one does in an investigative piece. As pointed out in the chapter getting multiple sources to go on the record is one of the most concrete ways to avoid a libel charge. But come on, I've seen "All the President's Men," 800 times like the rest of you...what do we do with Deep Throat!?!

Ok -- I'm getting a little ahead of any journalistic possibility I might encounter coming out of school. But it has to be brought up. Sources. Hmm....such a tricky subject. The chapter gives a list of possible sources for a story one of which was the enemies of whoever you are writing about. That made me scratch my head. How do you know they aren't being completely biased? And even worse -- making everything up for fun? But to counter that the chapter also suggests speaking to the friends of your subject. So I guess that bias would balance out the other. But all so intimidating!

Another interesting thing I noted in the chapter was the mention of how investigative reporters feel like the writing in the chore they save for last. I found that oddly surprising. After all of that hard work wouldn't you be rushing to the good ole' typewriter to pound out the truth as you've found it to be. Call me a romantic but that's how I see it!

In the websites I thought it was a very interesting resource for reporters. One of the things that I thought about while perusing the sight was how did all these reporters come up with these ideas? Some of them including the one about the animal shelter throwing dead animals into a dumpster, must have been tip offs from citizens. But one that impressed me was the study of how athlete's weights may have an effect on them later on in life. The reporter was resourceful enough to use old rosters from the football line up from a span of 10 years to come up with an alarming growth. I thought that was pretty cool.

I was also impressed with the length of time some of these reporters were given to write the investigative pieces. On one story reporter Loretta Tofani was given 12 months to look into working conditions in China. To be committed to one story like that for so long doesn't even seem real to me. The patience and organizational skills one must have to conduct a controlled investigation is enormous.

Also to conclude I really liked the database of different story ideas and the links provided. Such things as agriculture, bus accidents, ferry accidents and Dam resources were on the large compiled list. Having those resources so easily organized and available makes you wonder what reporters ever did before the Internet!