Investigative Journalism

This week we delved into the topic of investigative journalism which seems to be particularly contentious in light of the recent News of the World opprobrium and the subsequent parliamentary investigations into privacy laws.

We began by asserting that investigative journalism is intelligent, informed, intuitive, from the inside, sometimes intimate and has an invested interest in telling the story from an investigative stance. In this mode of journalism, the journalist is an active participant and makes a substantial effort to provide a voice for those without one and hold the powerful majorities to account. It is critical and thorough journalism that is a custodian of conscience in the media and acts as the fourth arm of government - a watchdog that reports and reviews.

Then Bruce gave us some examples of historical pieces of successful investigative journalism such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their expose of the Watergate scandal and the more contemporary uncovering of the corruption within the Queensland police force in the documentary "The Moonlight State," produced by Chris Master, Phil Dickie and Shaun Hoyt. We also discussed the investigative aspects of Julian Assange's Wikileaks site and whether it constitutes journalism or wether it is simply a database of information.

We then looked at the practicality of investigative journalism with Bruce explaining that it is vital in this field of journalism to check your facts, assume nothing and expect authorities to "go crazy" in relation to what you publish. The types of things that investigative journalists explore include interviews, observations, documents, briefing, leaks, trespass and theft which is done by interviewing, observing and analysing documents. It is important to consider the triangulation of whether what you saw, what you were told and what was recorded are congruent.

I found this lecture particularly interesting as last year one of my final pieces assessment included an essay on the quandary of of investigative journalism versus the the right to public privacy. Whilst I consider investigative journalism to be essential to the field in order to be a custodian of conscience and be a surrogate voice to the minority, it is interesting to note the current contentions surrounding Australian Privacy Laws and investigative journalism.

http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/training-resources/editorial-ethics/247-privacy-what-it-means-for-journalism