Week 12 Lecture

This week's lecture was about investigative journalism. I strongly agreed with the opening quote by investigative journalist Ross Coulthart...

"Isn't all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?"

For me, all journalism is investigative. Journalism is an investigation of events, people, issues and places.

Dr Redman outlined the four "in's" of investigative journalism:

• Intelligent
• Informed
• Intuitive
• Inside

Then he discussed the purpose of investigative journalism:

1. Critical and thorough journalism - the journalist is actively seeking out the story
2. Custodians of conscience - exposure
3. Giving a voice to the voiceless - an element of justice
4. Fourth estate / fourth branch of government / watchdog - those without power are represented, free flow of information, journalists make accountable public personalities

The main message I gathered from the lecture was 'ASSUME NOTHING'. Dr Redman stressed the importance of always checking your facts.

Investigative journalism is something that really interests me. Being able to uncover huge scandals and become a figure of social justice is something I aspire to do.