Today’s lecture was
all about investigative journalism. I
find investigative journalism very interesting and inspiring, as it is so
powerful and has the potential to really change the world, and how people perceive
certain things. A perfect example of a recent piece of
investigative journalism that really changed Australia was the episode by Four Corners
about Australia’s cattle exports to Indonesia.
It was only a matter of hours after this episode aired that there was a
national debate about Australia’s cattle export to Indonesia. Then not long after the episode was shown our
national policies on exporting cattle was completely changed.
Today Dr Redman discussed
in detail a piece of investigative journalism that he worked on, The Moonlight
State. The Moonlight State was also
produced by Four Corners; it exposed the corruption that existed in the
Queensland police force. Dr Redman emphasised how much work and
research is put into investigative journalism.
Two years of extensive research was put into The Moonlight State, which
ended up being a 30 minute episode. Once
this episode did go to air, it brought down members of government and a lot of
police.
Although there is
much debate about whether Julian Assange can be considered a journalist, there
is no denying that the WikiLeaks publisher has exposed information that changed
the world. In some way his work can be categorised
as investigative journalism, as is has revealed inside information, but just
not in an ethical way.
Investigative
journalism is extremely serious stuff, it is very critical and thorough
journalism, and is all about questioning the facts, and what has been presented
to us. The following are some important
aspects to consider when working on investigative journalism:
Intelligent – well
thought out and know what you are trying to find before you go after it
Informed – know
the major facts and people involved
Intuitive – is
this dangerous to me or other people
Inside – get the
inside information
Intimate – know
what is going on from the inside view, you need to be trusted
Invest – you need
to invest a lot of yourself, money, time, and mental health, as it is very
serious
Investigative
journalists bring power to the powerless, and voices to the voiceless. They represent the interests of those who do
not have the power to speak out, and are able to balance the power of the government.
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