Investigative Reporting

You may be wondering why we waited until the end of this chapter to discuss investigative reporting. It’s because much of what we have told you until this point has actually referred to investigative reporting and the techniques that investigative reporters use-such as Collecting Information from Documents; Developing Sources; and The Interview.

Also, we kept this topic to the end because of the debate about the use of the term investigative reporting. CBS’s Andy Rooney, for example, maintains that there has been a decline in reporting and “maybe it started when we began using the term investigative reporting.” Rooney said that until that time “all reporting had been investigative.” He claimed that the term is redundant because the very term reporter indicates someone who has sought out some information.

Rooney suggested that there is a “semantic problem” with the term investigative reporting and that we may need a new word for “the person who seeks out information and then writes it and presents it in an interesting and informative way.” He is probably right, but many journalists would say that Rooney has just pointed out why the term investigative reporting is legitimate.

Most of what is on TV does not resemble investigative reporting. Sure, reporters ask questions and some research is expected in just about every story, but there is little in the way of actual investigation and, in probably 90% of the stories we hear and watch, there is not much investigation required. It is not investigative reporting to ask a fire chief if the cause of a fire was arson. Likewise, it is not investigative reporting to ask a police detective if the double homicide was drug related. And, for good or bad, aren’t those two of the most frequently asked questions during the course of a day or week, at least in most large communities? We are not claiming this it the way it should be that’s another debate-but it is reality.

However, there is a great need for investigative reporters to deal with the 10% of the stories that most of us are not even aware of. You know what we are talking about, Mr. Rooney. Those stories come every Sunday evening, just before you do your little kicker. The only argument about the use of the term investigative reporting in reference to Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace, and the rest of the “60 Minutes” team is that most of the investigation is done by those other people whom we know about only from the credits at the end of the program. We call them producers. We probably should call them investigative producers.

As for investigative reporting, we have gone into great detail throughout the book, as we said, on how to prepare for that specialty. The most important things to remember: learn basic reporting, learn how to dig-out information, learn how to develop sources, and learn how to use the Sunshine laws.