Chapter 3 – Setting Up the Investigation

Investigative reporting is a process of discovery. But the more you already know when you talk to people, the more information you will likely get from your interviews. Thorough background research gives you a starting point for your investigation by showing you what has already been written on the topic and by suggesting people to interview and questions to ask. You can get background information by searching news databases, using Internet search engines, going through government and corporate records and by using social networking sites on the Web. Sometimes the investigation works best as team reporting, allowing multiple reporters to contribute their unique talents to the story. No matter what shape your story will take, it is crucial that you take the time to prepare for your investigation.

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Exercises

Practice using online resources to do research.

  1. Using LexisNexis, ProQuest Newstand, Factiva, News Bank Inc. or any news database that your college, university or public library gives you access to, answer the following questions:
    1. In 1991, the body of media mogul Ian Robert Maxwell was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean. He was thought to have fallen off his luxury yacht. What were some of the legal problems he faced prior to his death?
    2. In 1993, newspaper publisher Dean Lesher died, leaving the Contra Costa Times to his wife, Margaret Lesher. She sold it to Knight-Ridder, which later sold it to the MediaNews Group. What were the circumstances surrounding Margaret Lesher’s death?
    3. What were the circumstances that led newspaper publisher Jay T. Harris to resign from the San Jose Mercury News in 2001?
    4. What were the circumstances that led five editors and a long-time columnist to resign from the Santa Barbara News Press in 2006?
  2. Using Google Scholar, compile a list of people on one or more of the following topics, but only include those for whom you can find contact information:
    1. Racial profiling
    2. Discriminatory hiring practices at colleges and universities
    3. Unsafe building construction
    4. Predatory lending practices
    5. Financial mismanagement of charitable enterprises
    6. Ponzi schemes
  3. Do a background search on your local congressman or congresswoman using Google/unclesam.
    1. What bills has he or she sponsored?
    2. What committees and subcommittees does he or she serve on?
    3. When the local or regional papers mention your representative in news stories, what issues is he or she connected to?
    4. Who opposed him or her in the last three elections?

Big Story Steps

Continuing your preliminary research and organizing your findings

  1. 3.1 Continue your preliminary research. Consider various places you might find information to help you better understand the topic and that could lead you to the proof of your premise. If you are working on a team project, each team member should concentrate on a different type of research material: government Web sites, news databases, blogs and chat rooms, scholarly research and so on.
  2. 3.2 Out of your research, try to come up with the following:
    1. The government, industry or watchdog organization that regulates or monitors the problem you are investigating
    2. A list of names and contact information of people to interview
    3. The initial questions you need to ask these people in the interviews
    4. The basic information that you will need to understand the answers they give you
    5. Initial data and suggestions for data you might need to track down
  3. 3.3 Enter the information you collected through your preliminary research into a spreadsheet. (As team members conduct preliminary research, each should maintain his or her own spreadsheet with the information gathered and post it to the team spreadsheet.) Include the following columns:
    • Name: The team member who collected it
    • Source: The title of the news story or document or the name of the Web site found
    • Person to contact: The name of someone cited in the article or Web site who is worth interviewing
    • News angle: Anything the source mentions that could make your story timely or move it forward
    • Questions: The initial questions to ask in the interviews
  4. 3.4 If working as part of a team, decide what roles in the investigation each team member will play: interviewing, gathering and plowing through reports, data analysis, writing the stories, designing graphic elements or information organization.
  5. 3.5 Think of ways to break up your long story into smaller pieces. If you are working as a team, assign the tasks to the team members most capable of producing those story elements.
    1. Can you compile a chronology that you can turn into a timeline?
    2. Are there geographic elements that you can map?
    3. Do you anticipate collecting any documents that you could post online?
    4. Will you record or videorecord your interviews so that you can upload them on a Web site?
    5. Can you take your readers on a video or slide-show journey?
  6. Set up your initial interviews with people you found through your research.