Lecture 11: Fly on the wall

Maybe it is just me, but when I hear a word like investigative my mind suddenly goes all 007. While I don’t quite see myself decked out in a traditional Sherlock Holmes getup, I still see myself acting very ‘sleuthily’ (not a real word) and trying to be a fly on the wall. To my dismay I found out that investigative journalism isn’t quite as ‘spyish’ as I had imagined.

When thinking of the meaning of investigative journalism Ross Coulthart brings up a good point “Isn’t all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?” So I think the best way to answer that question is to do an investigation on what is investigative journalism.

Investigative journalism is made up of 5 ‘ins’:

·         Intelligent

·         Informed

·         Intuitive

·         Inside

·         Invest

‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out’

This old journalism saying is perhaps the key aspect of investigative journalism. No, it isn’t related to your mother’s love, it is all about checking your facts. Assume nothing!

How you go about getting your facts well that pretty much depends on you. From interviewing, observing or analysing documents there are heaps of ways investigative journos go about their business.

The important thing is that they are getting the facts right.

Till Next Time…