Investigative Journalism

This week’s discussion looks at the role of an investigative journalist. In particular we are discussing the research methods and ethical standards that are involved in writing an investigative journalism piece, with reference to 2 separate articles from Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie from The Age, and American writer Paige Williams.

Paige Williams’ article investigating the state of poverty in Atlanta relies on facts and figures taken over decades. Williams has researched information that would come mainly from census data to establish figures such as: homeless rates, minimum wages and annual salary averages. Williams also looks at personal stories of local people living in poverty for which she would have had to research herself to by seeking out the individuals to establish background information.

Richard Barker and Nick McKenzie’s article in relation to the dealings of businesswoman Helen Lui and Australian politician Joel Fitzgibbon relies on photos, bank accounts, and personal letters and documents obtained by the Age. Details are not given on how the information was obtained by The Age, however the reader may assume that research from the story had been occurring for many years and that sources were thoroughly checked before the story was printed.

In investigative journalism, the study and research put into the article plays a very pivotal part in telling its story. A reader will only be drawn to an investigative piece if there is sufficient evidence to support the facts. With both articles the evidence of a thorough investigation taking place gives the story a greater impact for the reader. 

I believe the article written by Paige Williams has been done in a very effective and interesting manner. In the body of the article the use of figures to start each paragraph reflecting a different fact regarding the state of poverty and homelessness in Atlanta gives the story a very strong and defining impact.

The Role of the Journalist

Journalists are said to have a social responsibility to report unbiased truth in the media. The following discussion will look at the role of a journalist in a social and political sense. Niall Lucy’s article titled ‘Tabloid Deconstruction’ has been used a point of discussion and explores the authority given to journalists. Journalists if they choose to do so have the power to manipulate a story using particular words or phrases that reflects a certain point of view, but it is the role of the journalist to report a story in an unbiased fashion.

Lucy equates journalism to photography in that as a photograph attempts to capture a moment or scene as a visual, journalism tries to do the same thing in a textual form. As he describes in the ‘Children Overboard’ affair, just as photographs can be cropped and edited to make a certain scenario seem real, so can a situation be manipulated by a journalist or writer through text. Journalists are seen to have a moral obligation to tell a story in an unbiased way, but as Lucy describes in different scenarios, this is not always the case. We as the public are lead to believe that what we read and see in the media is the absolute truth, in this way the authority of a journalist is political as they have an ethical duty to perform to the public.

The film ‘State of Play’ supports the idea that journalists have a social responsibility to report an unbiased truth. This can sometimes be seen to be under threat in different scenarios: 1) when journalists are not provided with all the facts related to a story, 2) when a journalist has a personal link to, or opinion of a story which could affect what is shown in the media. The film often portrays journalists as aggressive when it comes to reporting a story. It seems that the story comes first, and whatever can be done to retrieve facts should be, however unethical it may be. Russel Crowe’s character in particular in many cases breaks the rules in order to write his story. Not only that, he does so knowing that police officers and people who control evidence are observing him.

As a rule, journalists have the responsibility to report facts in an ethical and unbiased fashion. However the public sometimes needs to be careful in deciding if what they are viewing is the absolute truth, or the opinion of one individual.

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