What Investigative Reporting Entails

Investigative reporting is the act of gathering and analyzing information to expose wrongdoing and corruption by those in power. Investigative journalists spend their day speaking to confidential sources, following leads on a myriad of fascinating topics, and interviewing key figures to uncover the true story. Here are some tips for beginner investigative journalists who are interested in pursuing this passionate career.

What Investigative Reporting Entails:

-On-the-ground research: Travel to a place where local crimes have been committed or systemic injustice has occurred. Find out what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and present information in detail to show readers what they would have been shown had they witnessed these events themselves.

-Gather information from many sources, not just one. Sometimes a piece of information can be deemed useless, but when combined with other sources, it can prove to be a key piece of the puzzle.

-Follow leads wherever they may lead you. Many times an investigative journalist may find himself or herself in a new location unearthing new evidence and interviewing new sources to better the story.

-Interviewing key figures: Talk to people in charge of investigating the wrongdoing or corruption and ask them where they are at in the investigation and what their next steps are to uncover more information. Asking these questions shows that you are serious, and are trying to get the most accurate information possible to help your readers, as well as answer their questions.

-Finding out what drives the source of corruption. Reach out to them and ask them why and what they will do to fix the problem.

-Conduct off-the-record interviews or have someone who is a good friend or confidante conduct them on your behalf. You cannot guarantee that they will not turn against you at any point in time, so it is important that you have an outside person in your ear at all times so as not to jeopardize your relationship with any sources.

-Speak to experts or people with intimate knowledge of the issue: These people have invested their time and energy into this issue, and are great sources to get quotes from.

-Investigate privately owned companies: Education, health care, military contractors, and others are some private sector companies that need to be put into check because they go unchecked for too long.

-Use public records laws: These are laws that guarantee that a person can request government documents in order to find out how taxpayer dollars are being spent.

-Look at public court documents for information on people involved in a story. The most important thing is to make sure you verify all of your sources; do not report anything that you cannot verify yourself.

-Write up a press release and send it out to all the people you think would be interested in a story. It is important to stay in touch with your sources and let them know that you are following up with them so they do not think you have forgotten about them.

-Do not go into the field without a plan of action for how to follow up on your source after talking with them. If you cannot find an email address, leave a message on their voicemail if they have one.

-Always be aware of where your information may be found and make sure it is accurate before publishing it.

-Take notes on a recorded interview in case you forget to ask something, or do not remember something you were told.

-Let your editor know what you are working on. Dictate information into a computer or write down notes if the story is very sensitive. Do not tell anyone else about what you are working on because they may try to take credit for your story or tip off other sources that may be effected by the story before it is published. You want to make sure that you have gotten all of the information before letting other people in on what you are doing.

-If you find information on a story that does not make sense, or if you cannot verify a source's information, take it out. It is a waste of time and resources to do so if it is not going to be published.

-Make sure that what you are investigating makes sense. Sometimes investigative journalists uncover something that they do not know how to follow up on. If this is the case, then make sure you investigate through other avenues before just writing off the issue as "unsolved."

-If it is a new issue coming up in your area, check with your editor to see if he/she wants an exclusive on this issue. This will often be a good idea because of the amount of interest that most journalistic sources have in their area.

-Do not forget to use social media as a tool for gathering information. You can ask people on Facebook if they know of any corruption that has been going on in your area that your readers would be interested in hearing about and if they would like to post it online.

-If you are keeping records and notes, make sure they are easily accessible and searchable so that you can find them when necessary. This will help with the accuracy of your stories, and also help future investigative journalists find their way back to source information.

-Find out how other investigative journalists do their stories before writing yours. It is always good to see other people's takes on the same issue, and it can help you further develop your own style.

-Before writing your story, make a list of what you want to show in each of the main body paragraphs. This will help keep you on track while writing and show what information goes where in your story.

As a form of reportage, investigating journalism is not only used to expose corruption or obvious injustice; it can also be used as a form of advocacy journalism where stories are created around how various social issues affect people on an individual basis.

Investigative journalism is capable of identifying problems that are hidden - corruption, abuse or wastefulness - without becoming part of the situation being investigated. Many journalists have admitted, however, that they do not always use their investigative powers to ferret out such problems.

Since the inception of "real time" reporting in the 1960s, it has been argued that investigative journalism is at risk of losing its value and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to define what makes a good story.

Notable strong supporters of investigative journalism are: 

Emphasis on fact-finding over fact-telling (thorpythering vs. chronarchy) 

See also: Chronarchy as a method for telling stories (chronarchy as a technique for journalistic investigation)

See also: Journalism and PR: The tension grows between the two conflicting approaches.

Keter, J.W. (2009) Methods of journalistic investigation: a review of research and teaching methods. New York: St. Martin's Press. 

See also: Journalism, political debate and the law: An overview of related legal frameworks such as defamation and privacy law 

See also: "Newspaper journalism in the digital age" (Journalism online) 

In collaboration with David Hal Spooner, 15th KESJ 2019 23 May to 1 June 2019 at the National University of Singapore 

20-22 July 2018 at the National University of Singapore.

Conclusion of the course:

Investigative Journalism: The Art of Fact-Finding and Fact-Presenting, Part I - 11 June 2018, at the National University of Singapore.

18–21 June 2018 at the National University of Singapore.

19–20 May 2018 at the National University of Singapore. 

12–15 May 2018 in Berlin, Germany. 

5–8 May 2018 in Hannover and Brunswick, Germany. 

11 March - 9 April 2018 at the National University of Singapore (Changi). 

12 November 2017 - 12 February 2018 in Gliwice, Poland (affiliated course with study visit to Poznan and Warsaw).