Investigative Journalism
What is it?
- Isn’t all journalism meant involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us
- Hugo de Burgh – it is to discover the truste
- Lord Northcliffe – “what somebody somewhere wants to suppress, all the rest is just advertising”
Investigative
- Intelligent
o not just boring turn up and do story
o Well thought out, must know the context in which you are investigating
o Money, sex and power makes the world corrupt
- Informed
o Informes because you are going to inform other people so you need to know in the first place
- Intuitive
o Can either be born or develop it
o Having a knowing that something is just not right,
- Inside
o What’s the real story?
o Must get into the story that you are investigatins
- Intimate? Maybe?
o Sometimes have to get inside the person you are interviewing
- Invest
o You do have to invest a part of yourself
o Can call upon you emotional, spiritual self, You must know when to draw the line
Deeper definitions and Purpose
1. Critical and through journalism
2. Custodian of conscience
3. To proved a voice for those without one to hold
Critical and Thorough Journalism
- Critical = the journalist is an active participant
- “Active Intervention” – the key idea
- Thorough
o = Journalist makes a substantial effort
Custodian of Conscience
- Investigation takes society morals and norms and holds breaches up to public scrutiny; in other words they call ‘civic vice ‘ is exposed for society to repons
- “Exposure”- key idea
To provide a voice to those without on and to hold the powerful account
- Social justice – power to the powerless, voice to the voiceless
- “Public Interest” – key idea
o not about corporations
Fourth Estate/ Fourth branch of Governments/ “watchdog’
- Fourth Estate
o Journalist represent the interest of those without power to balance the power of government
- Fourth Branch of Govt.
o Journalist ensure free flows of information necessary for the functioning of democracy by interrogating the judiciary, executive and legislature
o One of the reasons we have had problem in Qld we had corruption in judiciary
- ‘Watchdog’
o Journalist make accountable public personalities and institution whose function impact social and political life
Summary
- Active Intervention
- Exposure
- Public Interest
- Fourth Estate/Watchdog
- Skeptical not Cynical
Cutting through the Agenda
- Hidden agenda of message and myths that surround its
- The abs cannot simply report must work in best traditions of investigative journalism
- Fitzgerald Report
Historical Investigations – Trailblazers
Number 2
- Started the Salvos (William Booth)
- Help the poor who had been affected by the industrial revolution
- Had huge agenda in social justice
- W.T. Stead heard about young girls 12 or younger being used for prostitution
- In his newspaper
Number 3
- Bob Woodward, Carl Bernsteing 1972-74
- ‘Watergate” about Nixon which led him to the get the flick
Number 4
- ‘The Moonlight State’
- Chris Masters, Phil Dickie, Shaun Hoyt
- Story about cops behaving badly and treating children violently
- For some reasons everyone just ignored because cops, politicians were involved but the Moonlight state changed everyhintg
Number 5
- Julian Assange from Cairns
- Sarah Palin says he should be hunted down like Osama
- May be shipped back to USA
- Is wikileaks Journalism?
o Its not because it just information you actually need journalist to go through the information
What do they have in Common?
- they all changed they world in their own different way
- Such as changing age of consent
Local Investigative Journalism
- Its all about telling their own stories
- Brooke Hardgraves – old journalism student
What do we investigate?
- If your mother says she loves you, check it out’
- Believe no one, assume nothing
- Expect whistleblowers to be crazy
- Types of Investigation Interaction
o Interviews
o Observations
o Documents
o Briefings
o Leaks
o Trespass
o Theft
- Investigating methods
o Interviewing
o Observing – investigation technical issues, scrutiny of government and business practices and their effect. Research into social and legal issue
o Analysing documents – law suits
Wikipedia/Google is not the on place to look
- Wikipedia is not reliable, anyone can change it
Threats to investigating Journalism
- Online news
o Less money = Less Journalism
Journalism Vs PR
- Propaganda by truth
o the selective use of ‘facts’ to present a persuasive case to the publis
- Journalism is verifying the facts to public interests
Growth in PR = shrinkage in Journalism
- PR
o Resistance to Exposure
o Dodging Questions
o Massaging ‘talent’
o Cleaning up stories
- Journalism
o No Intervention
o No shoe leather
o Lack of Depth
Future of Investigative Journalism
- YouTube is thinking of doing an investigating channel
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