Investigative Journalism: Assume Nothing

The lecture in week 12 was all about investigative journalism, its processes and outcomes. Investigative journalism has had a long and chequered history, with many investigative stories changing the world and many journalists experiencing backlash as a result of their findings. There are a five ‘ins’ involved in producing an investigative piece: Intelligent, informed, intuitive, inside, invest. The main point driven through the lecture was that for a good investigative piece, a lot of time is needed to be invested, time in checking sources, gathering information, physically chasing the story. Also discussed was the key idea that investigative journalism should give a voice to those without one, and should hold public personalities and institutions responsible for their actions. It is also important that investigative journalists take nothing for granted in terms of information on sources, and remain sceptical, not cynical. The lecture gave examples of some ground breaking journos and their stories, such as Edward Hall Smith, who campaigned for convict rights, WT Stead, who exposed a people trafficking trade in the UK and Woodward and Bernstein, who were behind the Watergate affair resulting in the impeachment of president Nixon. Locally, there are the individuals behind the story that began the Fitzgerald inquiry and drew attention to police corruption in Queensland. These individuals and their stories have all changed the world, and have illustrated the power of investigative journalism. At the end of the day a good investigative journalist must do two things: Assume nothing and check everything.