Into the journalist’s knapsack: special topics and tricks of the trade

Investigative Journalism is a handy reporter's manual, written by William C. Gaines as an instructional reference for the writing and willing.


First thing to remember: There is no such thing as an easy investigation!
Challenges will always present themselves and the most important skill a journalist can develop is the ability to rise to the occasion, whatever it may be. Remember these topics and they may prove quite helpful down the road.

On religion: past reporters have exposed corrupt religious organizations. Others have exposed fake or false advertising. Court battles were often necessary in order to pry into records. According to Gaines, “religion is an area that is not licensed, and officers of the church are not required to file information for either public or the IRS.” Therefore, the religious sect (no pun intended) of reporting usually requires laborious legal intervention but has many layers, deserving of investigation infused with new ideas and ingenuity to overcome obstacles.


On nepotism: defined by dictionary.com as “patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship, as in business or politics.” Another topic requiring a fair amount of pushes and pulls by the reporter. If a father hires only his sons, he may not only see it as fair, but do as much as possible to maintain these “rights.” Sometimes “unusual government structure” comes into play where although public records exist, they are being held privately. Pry. Be specific in requests and thoroughly errorless in filing all official documents to gain access.


On labor: according to Gaines, labor is the one are where “two sides—labor and management—square off, and investigative reporters will find they are caught in the middle.” To avoid accusations of favoritism or bias, the reporter must work extra hard to keep a fair game in mind. Gaines says that reporters often joke that they’ve done their job if both sides are displeased. Keep this idea in mind.

On money: There are always conflicts of interests when it comes to money. As an investigative journalist, one must always eye those with money and in power with suspicion. Even a government can be moving money into the wrong hands. Banking, investments and the general business of business are hot investigatory topics.


On schools: sometimes presenting a HUGE challenge, student records are private. The language of academia is also complicated and it would do a reporter well to study up on important terms and phrases. There are few kinds of schools as well. There are public, private and non-profit, and for-profit schools. Similar to government, schools have track records of occasionally misspending money. When investigating school keep in mind that students cannot legally be photographed. Also- track the schools spending to uncover possible scams or other stories of interest.


On postal service records: Give a box number to the postmaster and get the names of every person or company that has rented it. The postal code instructs this. Knowing box numbers are mail-order hoaxes and other scams.

On FCC filings: Remember the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Although it’s only for special use, the filing is important when a person has interest in another’s property possession. They sometimes reveal wrongdoing. Although the information may be limited, it often provides enough hints in one direction or another.


On lobbyists: If things ever get out of hand in the political ruling arena, a lobbyist can be an important source in exposing special circumstances. Often a lobbyist will attempt to sway a politician with gifts. Finding out who accepts these gifts and for what reasons are very important to investigative journalists. Find out what the lawmaker did in return.


Lastly, keep these tips from the author in mind:
1. If a tip does not pan out, throw it out.
2. A supervising editor must be kept informed
3. The requirement for a confirmation cannot be satisfied by a remark of a person who has only a passing knowledge of the subject
4. Required steps cannot be skipped to rush a story because of pressure of competition
5. A full retraction of any information learned to be incorrect must be made immediately
6. Informants should not be pain for information about a competitor
7. Reporters do not make derogatory comments about a person they are researching
8. Every possible effort must be made to ensure that he subject of an investigation is provided an opportunity to reply to negative allegations in a story
9. Pictures of people must have positive identification, preferably by the subjects pictured.


Now it's time to investigate and report! Thumbs up!