Journalism can stop
1 At making an allegation
2 At stating facts
3 At quoting people
4 Giving two sides to a story
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•Investigative journalism involves producing conclusive evidence and reporting it clearly and simply.
•It aims at establishing facts, one way or another.
•It is not impartially balanced between allegation and reply. It expresses JUDGEMENT based on the facts.
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•See the point?
General reporting
• If the Managing Director, CM, HOD, PM, employee, employer says it, it must be true.
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• I know, I have an insight into the situation, I am an expert so what I say holds value.
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• What is behind the obvious, public face?
• Let me scratch the image a bit!
• I want to know what people say about other people not what they say about themselves.
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• Unmask, expose.
• It should be time bound.
• It should be ETHICAL.
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QUALITIES OF AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
• Luck, without which one fails to see the most obvious.
• Incisive mind – is different from an inquisitive mind. The latter only asks questions. Any fool can do that and one sees that all the time on television. The incisive mind seeks answers.
• Persistence.
• Self motivation.
• Obsession with deadlines, facts and the truth.
• Say you were wrong, at fault if that is the case.
• Nerves, patience and presence of mind.
• Flexibility of mind.
• High, very high self esteem.
• Investigative journalism is all that journalism is all about. Journalism is meaningless without investigative journalism. It is about the voice not heard, those dark corners of our environment where nobody wants to throw any light, its about seeking answers, perspectives and constantly holding the mirror in the face of our world.
• Nobody ‘likes’ an investigative journalist. They only tolerate one.
• Without institutional support, backing from the management, editors, colleagues and society investigative journalism cannot work.
• If investigative journalism is failing, journalism is failing and a society’s ability to confront its own reality is failing.
• The failing could be an indication of a failed ‘state’, a failed ‘democracy’, a failure of political and social systems, a restriction of freedom.
• This is because investigative reporting is more about ‘getting it right’ rather than simply getting it on the front page.
• Stories do not grow on trees. They have to be wrenched out of a reluctant system.
• At the same time there is never a moment when ‘nothing’ is happening. On any given day ….
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IT IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE THAT THERE IS NO STORY HAPPENING.
• 300,000 people are traveling from one end of Mumbai to another to reach Mantralaya from their homes and back.
• 100,000 are traveling to reach the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters from home and back.
• There are 15 million people living in Greater Mumbai, jostling for money, power, position, jobs, education and what not.
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HOW TO GET A STORY?
• Contacts and tip offs.
• The best stories always come from people – angry, upset, sad, mischievous, public spirited. All kinds of people who want to talk and be heard.
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Who is a source?
• There is always a window open somewhere just as all walls have ears.
• There is the difference of just a palm between the ears and the mouth. All politics happens because ‘what’ is said or heard is not necessarily what is ‘said’ or ‘heard’. There is often more meat between lines than the matter in the lines themselves.
• You are your best reference point to remember names and dates. Keep finding connections and links. Everything there is, is part of a large, dynamic painting. Keep filling the details and look for any lack of consistency, that one little handkerchief which is absent, that insignificant glass of water that is present. Everybody and everything has a ‘past’ and one thing always leads to another.
• Always ask of the obvious –
• “Does it make sense?”
• “What kind of sense?”
• “Does it serve a purpose?”
It is the aim of investigative journalism to decide an issue one way or another…
SO
• You must get it right, every time.
• Bring in the lawyers.
• Keep all notes and recordings safe
• Collect paper, all kinds of paper. Ultimately it is only paper that proves your point otherwise its just your word against somebody else’s.
The investigative journalist is always walking a thin line between the right to privacy and the right to expression. So always ask yourself – is this in the interest of the public, society at large? Or am I holding a personal bias or prejudice?
ALWAYS ASK
• Is there a story here?
• Am I being fair?
• Will I be seen to be fair?
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QUALITIES OF AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
What does an investigative report need?
• Get everything, anywhere in the public domain about the subject at hand.
• Establish a chronology of events and try to fill the missing gaps. Admit the gaps in the first place else you will try to fit the facts into the theory.
• Look up everybody who has anything to do with the issue at hand and TALK to them all.
There is always another side to the story.
You miss that and you could have a defamation case against you or worse, you might find yourself being unfair and therefore unprofessional.
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Where does one look for facts?
• There is a constant flow of information into a newsroom. So often the tip is right at the end of your nose. Look closely.
• Internet – It’s a source of information provided you know its limitations.
• Public libraries.
• Directories, yearbooks, registers, visitors books, local societies, annual reports, Acts of Parliament….
• Local Self Government offices
• Organisations – non profit organisations
• Government organisations
• Regional offices
• Ministeries.
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Where does one find the people?
• Talk to everyone relevant.
• Find the experts
• Access by Internet
• Whistle blowers and axe-grinders
• Go and have a look at the scene.
• What is the history?
Documents
• Watch out for faxes and hoaxes
• Check authenticity
• Be wary responses and spoiling tactics
• Look at rebuttals carefully – they may not be rebutting anything
How to get people to talk?
1. Be nice, interesting. Most importantly listen well.
2. Don’t be sharp and smarmy.
3. Ask the simple question.
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Documents
• Watch out for faxes and hoaxes
• Check authenticity
• Be wary responses and spoiling tactics
• Look at rebuttals carefully – they may not be rebutting anything
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THE NINE
R’s
OF INTERVIEWING
• Receive, Relieve anxiety, Reflect, Regress, Reconstruct, Research, Review, Resolve and Retire.
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Reaction and Denial
• “Did you do it?”
The immediate response to that question from ‘little Johnny’ to the oldest among us has always been “No, Papa”.
Nobody will give you information for the asking, nobody will give a confirmation for the asking. That is the rule.
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