Journalism

1. Read the following information about investigative journalism.
2. Continue/finish watching the frontline investigative story from yesterday:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/collegeinc/
3. Complete the Google Form: https://goo.gl/forms/CBWXBn1WwbdkDbKv1

Journalists, media academics and commentators all agree about certain aspects of investigative journalism:

It’s about digging deeply into an issue or topic

As the word ‘investigative’ implies, simply relaying a simple ‘bite’ of information – “A cattle fair will be held in X village next month” – cannot count as investigative journalism.

The issue or topic has to be of public interest

‘Public interest’ means that either a community will be disadvantaged by not knowing this information, or will benefit (either materially or through informed decision-making) by knowing it. Sometimes what benefits one community may disadvantage another. Forest-dwellers can demand better prices if they know the world market value of trees that logging companies want to fell. But the logging industry may not want this information spread, as logging will then cost it more. Reporters need a clear sense of what their mission is and whom they serve, and this can involve heated newsroom debates. ‘Public interest’ means the interest of the community affected. It does not have to be the whole country, and, indeed ‘public interest’ may be different from ‘national interest’. That term is sometimes used by governments to justify illegal, dangerous or unethical acts on the excuse of ‘my country, right or wrong,’ – or, indeed, to discourage journalists from reporting on a real problem.

It’s a process, not an event

Investigative journalism never provides an instant story. It goes through recognized stages of planning and reporting, and has to work to accepted standards of accuracy and evidence.

It’s original and proactive

Investigative stories have to be based on the work of the journalist and (where resources permit) his or her team. Although an investigative story can start with a tip, simply reporting the tip, or printing the secret document that is anonymously faxed through to you, is not investigative journalism. In fact, doing such a thing may be both lazy and careless. It carries huge risks, since you have not investigated the identity, bona fides or motives of your source or the authenticity of the evidence. You may end up defaming someone, printing lies or being framed by somebody’s agents. Instead, you must develop hypotheses about what the tip means and plan additional research, decide on the relevant questions, and go out to ask them. You must see evidence, and hear and analyze answers for yourself, and go beyond simply verifying the tip.

Implementation of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

• Ethos – credibility of source (speakers and sources who have an established reputation in a field).
• Pathos – appeal to emotion (personal stories that identify a single person’s struggles with a problem, for example).
• Logos – facts, logical arguments, numbers, data, etc.

Intro to Journalism

1. Go back into your edublog.
2. Play with the layout a bit and set it up to your liking.
3. For your first post, decide what you think is the most pressing news story going on right now (locally, nationally, or globally). If you do not at all follow the news you might consider visiting one of these news sources to get your feet wet: http://www.reuters.com/, https://www.nytimes.com/, https://www.wsj.com/
4. Label the post with the date and the topic you are examining. As articulately as possible, elaborate on your personal feelings regarding this topic. Keep in mind these posts will be visible to others in this class.
5. Complete survey: https://goo.gl/forms/o7GeKkC7Z5Q3fg7n2

Advanced

You have much uploading and editing to do – the website needs work!