You’d like to cover stories that make an impact but the boss won’t support you and besides, who has the time? If that sounds familiar, it doesn’t have to. Not everyone gets assigned to the investigative team (if your news organization even has one), but anyone can do investigate stories. How? “Become a hybrid,” says [...]
Filed under: 04. Reporting in Depth | 2 Comments »
If you’re looking for some good enterprise stories for the New Year, try digging through some open records. Joel Campbell is a member of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee and he’s put together a good list of story ideas and resources in Quill Magazine. Look for big salaries in non-profits. Request IRS Form 990 to [...]
Filed under: 04. Reporting in Depth | 1 Comment »
IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) is launching a new contest for students in the category of computer-assisted reporting. Entries will be judged based on “innovation, application of database and other computer-assisted skills to investigative work, the use of social science methods, and/or the applicability of the tool to investigative reporting.” Entries can include: • Investigative stories [...]
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In an age when almost any kind of story can be trumpeted as “investigative,” it’s worth asking what really distinguishes investigations from everyday reporting. Wally Dean, director of training for the Committee of Concerned Journalists, says investigations are a higher level of watchdog journalism. While watchdogs serve as independent monitors of power, he says, investigative [...]
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Critics of TV news often cite sensationalism, lack of substance and a preponderance of crime stories as characteristics of many nightly newscasts. Veteran news director Forrest Carr says, in some cases, the critics are right. “Local TV news in general is infamous for a condition similar to attention deficit disorder, characterized by stories that are reactive [...]
Filed under: 04. Reporting in Depth, 08. Producing for the Web | 1 Comment »
When we used to talk about the advantages of the Web, we often mentioned the “bottomless newshole” - the ability to post more and longer stories online. We’ve learned a lot since then, most notably that the quality of the content definitely matters. Still, the fact is, there’s more space for long-form video online than in most TV [...]
Filed under: 02. Finding the Story, 04. Reporting in Depth | 2 Comments »
by Alan Cohn, WFTS-TV, Tampa, Fla. It’s one thing to get a great tip. It was another thing to actually catch Angel Ocasio in full Marine Corps Uniform wearing the Navy Cross he didn’t earn. I learned the Tampa man was going around dressed as a Marine as the result of making calls to introduce [...]
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If a journalism school offers real world experience, should the students who participate be protected by reporters’ privilege? That’s a key question in a case involving a professor and students at Northwestern’s Medill J-school. David Protess runs the school’s “Innocence Project” in which students investigate old crimes looking for wrongful convictions. In the past decade, [...]
Filed under: 04. Reporting in Depth, 11. Multimedia Ethics | 1 Comment »
Be respectful, listen politely and stick up for the little guy. That doesn’t sound much like the advice of a hard-hitting investigative reporter, but Steve Andrews has been righting wrongs in the Tampa Bay area since 1985. The investigative reporter for WFLA has uncovered stories ranging from corruption at the courthouse to sub-standard bridge construction to [...]
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If you want to be an investigative reporter, you may need to look beyond traditional newsrooms for job opportunities. Many local television stations have trimmed or dropped their I-Teams. Local newspapers like the Oregonian and Toledo Blade have cut back, too. But investigative reporting is still being done, just not the old-fashioned way. Since we [...]
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