JOUR1111 Lecture 11

Week 11’s lecture explored investigative journalism. The immediate thing that springs into my mind for this topic was the Watergate scandal, the investigation by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that ended in US President Nixon resigning in disgrace. I feel that investigative journalism is very much the same as regular reporting however, the journalist just has more time and resources to compile their story.

Investigative journalism is critical and thorough, as the journalist makes a substantial effort through observation, interviews and analysis of artefacts (documents, leaks, data etc.) and is an active participant. You may wonder why journalistic investigations always seem to involve some kind of corruption or wrongdoing. This is because one of its key purposes is to serve as the custodian of conscience whereby they hold breaches of society’s morals and norms up to public scrutiny. And possibly because those stories are more interesting (we do want people to read/watch/listen to the stories, after all)!

Journalistic investigations expose stories that are in the public interest, serving as a watchdog and a voice to the voiceless, holding the powerful to account. This brings us to the notion of the fourth estate (a term I had been pondering since it was mentioned in The Newsroom!). It refers to journalists balancing the power of the government by representing the interests of those without power.

All this is a very idealistic way of looking at investigative journalism. It certainly does paint a glorified picture of journalists doggedly pursuing a story, staked out in a van with tinted windows and secret rendezvouses with mysterious whistle blowers all in the name of the revealing the truth.  However, the lecture also outlined the threats to investigative journalism. The increase in online news means that the media outlets have less money, so therefore fewer journalists with less time and this domino effect results in less investigative journalism.

In addition, the growth of public relations is bringing about the shrinkage of journalism. PR uses selective facts to make a persuasive case to the public and so with PR dodging questions and resisting exposure, what do journalists have to report on? Bruce’s Star Wars analogy with regards to PR versus journalism is quite apt, both are so similar and yet they are ‘mortal enemies’, though which group is the Dark Side is all a matter of perspective.