MAC 227 INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING

Investigative reporting means reports in the media which expose corruption, vices, irregularities,
underhand dealings, mismanagement of public funds, absenteeism, and all manners of practices
which violate the tenets of an ideal system or society. It has to do with inefficiency in
government, political parties, companies, institutions, clubs, charity organizations, churches,
professional bodies and even the mass media etc.

Importance of investigative reporting in the society.

i. inspire changes through its contents, which can lead to policy changes, landmark
developments in the political, social, economic or other spheres of the society
ii. encourage transparency and accountability in the public office thus forcing public
office holders to be on their toes
iii. make the media more credible in the eyes of the society when they expose
injustice and the negative effects of government policies and actions on the
people
iv. help the media to play the watchdog role through its painstaking efforts at
investigating and exposing corruption in the society
v. increase competition among the media as the public tend to get more attracted to
news media that are noted for thorough investigative reporting
vi. bring about an increase in sales because investigative stories tend to increase
public patronage as they prefer to listen or read well investigated reports. This
interest will also attract advertisers
vii. widen the scope of journalistic freedom as the reporter has the ability to explore
various areas and places in search of facts
viii. encourage the journalist as well as the media house to improve upon their skills in
order to remain relevant in a contemporary society where media houses need to
go the extra mile to retain their audience and advertisers
ix. foster development in a society by ensuring that public funds are not embezzled,
public officers are dedicated to their work while bringing to the attention of the
government of the day the needs of the public.

kinds of investigative journalism

 Development Journalism
 Precision Journalism
 Civic Journalism
 Yellow Journalism
 Investigative Journalism
  Online Journalism
 Citizen Journalism

Traits of an investigative reporter

1. The ability to work under pressure, whether internal or external

2. Ability to work for long hours under stressful conditions

3. Nose for news: A reporter lives on news, he must have an instinct for news, and that is, he
should be able to identify a newsworthy event. He should be able to generate news from anyone
no matter how important or insignificant that person is.

4. Aggressiveness with caution. This is an emotional outburst against individuals who flout rules
or make the system unworkable.

5. Extraordinary patience: that is, persistence in your approach. As a reporter you need to
persevere and go the extra– mile while pursuing a story. Remember that there is a wide variety of
people, while some may have news to offer, others may have, but may not be willing to divulge
it. As such, if you are in undue haste, it may damage your investigation by causing you to miss
the vital part of the news.

6. High level of integrity. Those who go to equity must go with clean hands. If a reporter has no
moral character or integrity, he cannot probe into shady deals since he is a product of such
activities. Uprightness is a virtue the reporter must wear at all times.

7. Accuracy. It is the ability of the reporter to quote the facts, figures, names, time, and number
etc. the way they are without distortion.

Qualities of investigative reporter

i. Courage
ii. Incisive mind
iii. Persistence and perseverance
 iv. Single-mindedness
v. Incorruptibility
vi. Good inter-personal relationship (Good mixer)
vii. Open-mindedness
viii. Sense of Mission
Ix. Sense of Outrage

x. Love for reading

Difference between open mindedness and an incisive mind in relation to the investigative
reporter
Investigative Reporter’s mind must not be closed and set upon achieving a pre-
determined result. There should be no conclusion based on the inconclusive evidence,
which has not produced enough facts to prove the guilt conclusively. Investigative
reporter must be after facts not opinions, pre-conceived views and set minds must not
reflect in the report. While, inclusive mind talks about investigative reporter being a
quick wit and probing. Investigative is about digging deep beyond the surface, beyond
the obvious and to have a quick wit is to be on guard, so that the reporter will not be out
witted by the person investigated. Reporter must not be out of words and also let his
subject do most of the talking but with intelligent interjections and promptings.

Interpretative reporting
Interpretative reporting dig beyond the surface of news stories to explain the causes of
occurrences, the motives of the dramatis personae and the significance of the events in the story
to the reader. Interpretative Reports usually focus on stories that are controversial and may not be
easily understood by the undiscerning readers. Interpretative reporting also seeks to provide
pointers to the future by projecting, form the facts available to the reporter, the consequences of
today’s action; makes sense and meaning out of facts and outlines the importance of today’s
actions.
Interpretative reporting means that the writer seeks to find the meaning of event. That is not
editorial writing. Editorial writers tell readers or listeners that something is good or bad. That is,
they make judgments. The interpretative news writer puts the event in its context. By putting an
event in context, we mean that the interpretative writer’s job is to place the news event in the
stream of cause and effect. An event that is isolated for news story is plucked from a larger cycle
or stream of related events. The interpretative story puts the news back into this cycle or stream.
Interpretative reporting often come in the form of articles, sometimes in the form of columns
called news analyses, whichever the form these write ups give the causes and consequences of
events.

Differences between interpretative and investigative reporting.

 Interpretative journalism is where journalists dig deep and bring out facts, contents and
analysis to make a News report.
 Interpretative Reporting goes beyond the regular reporting to provide context and
analysis.
 Investigative journalism is about unearthing facts. It involves exposing to the public
matters that are concealed either deliberately by someone in a position of power, or
accidentally, behind a chaotic mass of facts and circumstances that obscure
understanding.
 In investigative journalism, journalist go deep to research an event or incident which is
normal a case crime, injustice, corruption to bring out the truth about it to the world, it
takes time to bring out an investigative report
 Investigative reporting is thorough and incisive. It takes curiosity, hard work, financial
resources, time and the ability to tell great stories.

Types of Interpretative reports

 The news review

 The news analysis
 The survey
 Comparisons
 Forecasts
Differences between investigative reporting and other news presentation formats

A major difference between investigative reporting and hard news reportage is that investigative
reporting is presented in an in-depth form rather than a feature or hard news form. This
characteristic demands that investigative reportage involves more research and thus more time to
write. This is unlike hard news, which is presented in a pyramid form whereby the most
important items are presented in the first few sentences. The basic difference between a feature
article and an in-depth article is that while in-depth articles involve in-depth interviews feature
articles do not. Nevertheless, both forms of journalistic reporting need research. Though
presented in an in-depth form, investigative reporting is unlike many other forms of feature and
even in-depth reportage found in print and presented through the broadcast media. The major
differences being the themes and aims behind the write-ups.

Limitations of investigative reporting in Nigeria.

i. Proprietorial interference
ii. Media gatekeepers
iii. Political interference
iv. Political interference
v. Technological limitations
vi. Limited skilled manpower
vii. Limited access to information
viii. Threats to life

Factors that affect the interpretative nature of a journalist?

Some factors that determine how effectively a journalist can interpret issues can be categorised
as follows:
Gender: This is an aspect of human nature which though many female liberalists may argue is
not a major determinant may affect and influence the way a news item is interpreted. Women
may see things from a softer lens when compared to their male
counterparts and this in effect may determine their story preference and the angle from which
they wish to report the news.
Age: This variable considers mainly the biological age of the reporter. As a social being the
reporter would most likely perceive life from the various experiences gained, social associations
and expectations. This in turn may affect the way and manner a news item is selected and
ultimately interpreted
Training: The level of training and area of specialisation often determines the angle from which
a reporter interprets and handles a news item. Reporters trained in health communication for
instances will always interpret news from the angle of the consequences of the event to the
overall health and well-being of members of the society to whom he reports the news to.
Socio-economic background: This variable considers the ability of the mass media house to
capture and interpret news from the various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds that make
up the society. If such representatives do not exist within the mass media house, news cannot be
told to reflect the needs and even fears of all the social groups that make up the society. It is
important for the journalist as well as the editors of mass media houses to be conscious of such
determinants as they may ultimately act as determinants for bias and misrepresentation of social
classes and people and misinterpretation of news worthy events.
Experience level

Differences between investigative reporting and other news presentation formats

Investigative journalism almost always involves something that is either illegal or deeply
unethical in which the parties involved make a fairly substantial effort to keep hidden.

Investigative journalism is almost always written in a fairly dry, just-the-facts sort of way. This
is to avoid as much as possible the possibility of libel suits by the parties involved. On the other
hand, in-depth journalism is almost always told in an almost novel-like style.

In investigative journalism most of your sources most of the time are out to get someone and in
so doing they are gladly willing, often eager, to lie or exaggerate to get that done. They almost
always are reluctant to speak openly and on the record because they fear physical, social,
economic or political repercussions.
In almost all investigative journalism, the writer almost always has a target going in and he
wants to see something happen to that target.

In in-depth reporting most of your sources are fairly eager to talk because they believe deeply in
something or someone and are eager to have other people see and understand what they are
interested in.

In-depth journalism almost always involves something which is known at least in a fairly general
way to at least to a segment of the public but which is not known in general.

In in-depth journalism, the journalist wants to explain what something is and how and why it
came to be

Limitations of investigative reporting in Nigeria.

 Poor record keeping culture

 Ethnic Bias

 Financial Constraints

 Legal Constraints

Qualities of an Interpretative reporter

 Experience: An important quality for the interpretative reporter is experience, the kind of
experience that comes in handy for the interpretative reporter especially is that gained
over the years as a specialist reporter, covering a particular beat. Experience will enable
the interpretative reporter to ask what happened; why or how did it happen; what does it
mean and what beneath the surface
 Accuracy: Accuracy is an important principle in journalism; its importance can never be
overemphasized. Ensuring accuracy in all aspects of the story; spellings- of names and
places- as well as the causes of the incident reported and its effects on the society.
 Meticulous: The above point on accuracy, leads to the need to be meticulous, you need to
take notes copiously, and record interviews on tape. Ask for correct spellings of names
and places.
  Develop contact: Journalism is about people, people and people. While you can write
stories from personal observations and documents, Interpretative reporter observations
are most likely to be about people and certainly whatever written will be read by people
that will lead to documents. Interpretative reporter need to develop and maintain wide
contacts
 A probing and inquisitive mind: since Interpretative reporting requires the reporter to dig
beyond the surface, this call for a probing and inquisitive mind. It is this kind of mindset
that pushes a reporter to keep asking questions until he gets to the bottom of a story. (10
marks)

Processes involved in interpretative reporting

i. Talk to eye witness

ii. Talk to experts
iii. Talk to other side
iv. Build file clippings