e v i t a g i t s e v n i s i t a Wh journalism?

Learning objectives
By the time you have read this chapter and worked through the exercises and reading, you will know how to:
zz Define the practice of investigative journalism zz Discuss the mission of investigative journalists and some of the ground rules they

need to observe
zz Discuss the skills and personal qualities investigative journalists need zz Identify topics and approaches appropriate for investigative stories and zz Discuss, critique, and derive pointers from examples of African and other

investigative journalism. This first chapter will also provide a map of the chapters that follow, and provide you with some tools and terminology that well be using throughout the book.

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Defining investigative journalism

Congolese Eric Mwamba is a freelance journalist. He and colleagues, some of whom worked on Le Rebond newspaper, were distressed by what they saw as the hypocrisy of their government, which came to power denouncing the corruption of the previous regime, but rapidly became embroiled in scandals of its own. Here, he tells the story of his papers efforts to reveal what was going on.
Why did you do this investigation? The need to do this article arose from our wish to clarify the duplicity in the political discourse of our countrys leaders actually of all politicians, whether in opposition or in power. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said it already: Politics is neither religion nor morality. We saw a need to enable the people, often illiterate and naive, to understand the vast difference between electoral promises and the actual exercise of power. We are now led by an elite who for 30 years took great pains to denounce corruption, fraud, bad governance, political assassinations and the force-feeding of an official ideology, with the objective of achieving a democratic alternative. In opposition, these people claimed that if they were elected they would lead the way towards the collective well-being that people craved. But only seven years after these socialists obtained supreme power, they are at the centre of financial scandals and with personal wealth estimated in billions, whilst the peoples misery has become intolerable. How did you tackle the story? In order to get to the bottom of the rumours, colleague Paul Arnaud Digbeu investigated the bank accounts of the men and women in power. He compiled a list of 38 names and published the list in an article titled The FPIs 38 billionnaires. (Le Rebond no. 203 of 12/09/2007) The FPI is the Front Populaire Ivoirien, the party of President Laurent Gbagbo. What happened after you published? The amounts found were so high that everybody was asking if it was really possible for these individuals to have amassed such riches in such a short space of time, and many even doubted the veracity of (Digbeus) report on that basis. After the publication, Le Rebond was charged with insult to the Head of State by chief prosecutor Raymond Tchimou, and was also hit with a civilian charge for defamation by a parliamentarian close to the presidential couple, joined for the occasion by the first lady herself. Did you do any follow-up investigations? We had to continue the investigation in order to establish that our figures were correct. Our follow-up was published in the pan-African paper Africa News, in its 1 December issue. During the investigation, we sought to understand the system put in place by the predators, the techniques, methods and state, parastatal and private structures used as sources of enrichment. We also sought to understand the consequences of this for the state and the people. We assembled newspaper articles, NGO reports, and expert sources: an economics professor, a political author, civil servants at the Departments of Economy and Finance and Environment, a banker, customs officials. How long did the work take you, what difficulties did you encounter, and how did you overcome them? We worked for two months. The published article is only a partial reflection of this work, because we are still faced with massive difficulties. We deal with mistrust from those who possess information, no access to official documents, lack of financial means, death threats and intimidation. The majority of those who hold important documents and first hand information have advised us to remember our obligation to treat information in a particular way in times of war. Another difficulty is that doing this type of investigation requires a lot of money. One may have to buy documents and also pay for expenses for transport and communication. In front of the wall separating the press and official sources, one may have to resort to leaks, private detectives and others, all in need of finance. Until the next episode.

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rics account reveals many of the difficulties encountered by investigative journalists in Africa, and also some of the dilemmas and contradictions involved. For example, he talks of buying documents, and of being forced to resort to money-hungry sources. These are issues well discuss in our chapters on sources, interviewing and ethics, later in the book. But Erics story provides us with an example of an investigative project that fits most peoples idea of what investigative reporting is all about: Investigative reporting reveals scandals, and shames corrupt individuals. It uncovers secrets somebody wants to keep hidden. For others, however, Eric and his colleagues were simply doing what any good journalist would do. For them, Investigative reporting is simply good reporting.

But are these the only ways to define the field? There are probably as many definitions of investigative reporting as there are journalists working in the field. One reason for this is that investigative journalism as a specialism within the profession is relatively new, and we are still developing appropriate models. And all journalism belongs to one community and field of endeavour. So there is no wall between community journalist, environmental journalist and investigative journalist: any journalist becomes an investigative journalist when their story grows in scope and depth beyond a routine report.

Investigative journalism in Australia, America and Europe

Good journalists have always been investigators, and still are. Journalist John Pilger has written in the Sydney Monitor about his fellow Australian Edward Hall Smith who, as far back as 1826, when Australia was still a colony, began campaigning against official corruption and the ill-treatment of convict labourers and went to jail for his efforts. But it was only a century or more later, when news media had grown much more established, larger, and more diversified, that specialised investigative desks began to emerge, often to work on longer stories that needed more resources and skills. And for many readers, it wasnt until the 1960s and 1970s and, most prominently, the worldwide publicity given to the Watergate investigation in the USA and journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, that the idea of the investigative journalist took root. Woodward and Bernstein followed up a tip to uncover and painstakingly prove large-scale illegal activities by then US President Richard Nixon and his agents. Nixon was forced to step down, and the book and later a film All The Presidents Men, made Woodward and Bernstein, what they did, and how they did it, the foundation for much popular discussion and imaging of investigative press work. But other investigative stories have made a similar impact in America. Seymour M Hersh helped uncover the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War, and has recently contributed to the debate over the US occupation of Iraq by exposing the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib detention centre. Stephen Grey has revealed the story of extraordinary renditions whereby terror suspects are secretly relocated by the US from prisons in countries that do not allow torture to prisons in countries that do. In recent years, journalism students at Northwestern University near Chicago worked in a team with their law professor and some local reporters to investigate death-row prisoners. They discovered that around 60 percent of those convictions were unsafe; the prisoners were released and the governor of the state resigned. The devastating failure to provide adequate relief to the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was revealed by local reporters refusing to take official statements at face value. Perhaps some of the most courageous investigative reporting has taken place in the countries of the former Soviet Union where, for example, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated for digging too deeply into the abuses that accompanied Russias military campaign against Chechen separatists. But because the term is relatively new, one of the most regularly recurring images of the investigative journalist at work comes from a film. The movie All The Presidents Men left the legacy of a particular image of investigative reporting: brave and quite individualistic reporters, alerted by tip-offs, bringing down a powerful and corrupt figure. This image has shaped many of the definitions of investigative reporting we encounter. But as well see, while it is important, it doesnt present the whole picture of investigative journalists and their work worldwide. Many news organisations in Africa, for example are not yet large and diversified enough to afford a specialised investigative unit. Many journalists lack access to formal skills training. Many African countries and especially their rural areas have poor communications infrastructure and limited access to official archives and records. Sometimes official archives are incomplete, poorly-maintained and subject to tough official secrets or privacy laws, often left over from the colonial era. So trying to follow the Woodward and Bernstein model may not always be practical, and African journalists may have to be far more creative and flexible to find alternative routes to the evidence they need. But there are also debates about whether the Woodward and Bernstein model is the only possible model. As well as being built on the practice of a country where infrastructures and resources are far more readily available, it also tends to suggest investigative reporters should focus only on the very biggest stories: presidents taking multimillion bribes from oil companies, or rigging elections, for example.

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While such stories definitely must be investigated, they are only one part of a broad range of issues that are worth media scrutiny. There are very complicated relationships between the media, civil society, ideas of democracy and power, and processes of social change. Taking this model at face value may stop us from thinking more deeply about those relationships, and especially about how they work in our own countries. While this is a practical handbook, not a thesis on media and democracy, reporters do need to consider these issues to develop an ethical approach to their work, and well look at some of them in Chapter 8. A good definition has to include all the relevant aspects and rule out what investigative journalism isnt, so we can distinguish it from other areas of media activity.

Which of these is real investigative journalism?

Read the following short descriptions of reporting projects. Which would you say qualify as investigative reporting, and which dont? Why/why not? Take 5-10 minutes to think about this before you read on. Your newspaper receives an anonymous fax of pages from an as-yet-unreleased commission of enquiry report, confirming that a senior cabinet minister under investigation for corruption had indeed received bribes and awarded contracts corruptly. You check as best you can that the pages look authentic, and publish the contents, under the headline He did it, says report.

A man comes into your newspaper office with his hand heavily bandaged. He shows you his injuries and describes how his boss forced him to use unguarded machinery and would not supply protective gloves. You phone the employer, who denies everything. You take pictures of the mans mangled hand and run a front-page story demanding that the factory be inspected.

You are a TV reporter. You go out on assignment in a local police patrol car, and record on a hidden camera everything that happens, including the violent arrest of two men police tell you are notorious drug-dealers. When you return, you edit your recording into a half-hour programme to show the reality of police work.

A reporter comes back from an event at a casino resort with photographs that show a well-known, married, industrialist kissing and cuddling with a woman who is not his wife. You check carefully, and establish from the hotel front desk and room staff that he and the woman were booked in as Mr & Mrs and spent three nights together. You manage to identify the woman, and discover that she too is married to someone else: another highly-placed tycoon. You are certain that your sources are reliable, and publish a story about the scandalous misbehaviour of public figures.

You notice that what looks and smells like untreated sewage is running down the gutter beside the spot where you catch your taxi to work. You take a sample of the stuff in an old jar, and take it to a friend who works in a lab, for analysis. You walk up the road and see that the sewage is flowing from a hole in the pavement. You check with the council and discover from interviews that two different departments are involved in getting such problems fixed, and that there is poor communication between them. You run a story that starts with your leak and its risks, but focuses mainly on the lack of coordination in local government.

The way we define investigative reporting will determine our answers to these questions. Lets look, first, at what everybody agrees on.

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

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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. Well look at finding such story ideas in Chapter 2. Its a process, not an event Investigative journalism never provides an instant story. It goes through recognised stages of planning and reporting, and has to work to accepted standards of accuracy and evidence. Its 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 somebodys 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 analyse answers for yourself, and go beyond simply verifying the tip.

Thabogate (South Africa)

On 3 August 2008, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times published a story alleging that the German arms company MAN Ferrostaal had paid (then) South African President Thabo Mbeki R30 million (approximately US $4 million) to win its contract in the notorious South African arms deal. The story was based on a confidential report compiled by the UK-based risk consultancy firm Kroll (which was not named in the original article), which had previously assisted the South African prosecutorial authority, the NPA, in investigating some aspects of the same arms deal. MAN Ferrostaal and Thabo Mbeki have consistently denied the accusations. The Sunday Times labelled the story an investigation. But was it? Was obtaining an (explosive) report and verifying its authenticity and origins, as the authors clearly had done, enough to qualify as an investigation? It should produce new information or put together previously available information in a new way to reveal its significance If the information, or the understanding of its importance, isnt new, what exactly are you investigating? It should be multi-sourced A single source can provide fascinating revelations and (depending on who the source is) access to insights and information that would otherwise be hidden. But until the story from that source is cross-checked against other sources experiential, documentary and human and its meaning is explored, no real investigation has happened. Well look at the research tools youll need in Chapter 6. Because of its in-depth nature, it calls for greater resources, teamworking and time than a routine news report Youll see that many of the case studies we use in the book are the result of team investigations. But this poses problems for small local and community publications with small staffs and limited time, money or specialised skills. A journalist may need to seek grants to support an investigation, and learn to tap the skills of others outside the newsroom to help with specialist expertise.

Is teamworking always a good idea?

DRC journalist Sage-Fidle Gayala puts forward the arguments for and against teamworking:
It can be productive to work in a small team, where you have established that each participant has a useful specialism one can do the investigation on the ground, another can specialise in research and compiling documentation, and the third in writing up the story. A team has a good chance of working quickly and breaking a story in a timely fashion. Also, a journalist working alone can easily be snuffed out without anybody knowing what he was working on or why he was killed, as was the case with Guy-Andr Kieffer (see the Introduction to this handbook). But we must also recognize that many newsrooms in the countries where we work are not clean. Newsroom players can be drawn in many ways into the traps laid by industry, business or policy-makers, whether these involve threats or buying journalists. Even many of our newspapers themselves have dubious origins, having been given start-up funding by one interest group or another. Editors are primary targets, and sometimes the main offenders, and when working in such a context a young journalist will have great difficulty in completing an investigative project. Drafts may be monitored or rewritten by an editor. So in many cases, despite the slowness and the risks, a one-person investigation has a better chance of succeeding.

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Some other definitions, however, such as the ones we began with, are more debatable.

Four myths about investigative reporting

Edem Djokotoe revisits the mythology inspired by All The Presidents Men
Its glamorous and can be career defining to the point where it creates stars Perhaps this is why on the cover of my copy of the book on which the film was based, the people on the cover are NOT the authors but the actors who played them: Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. But as this handbook shows, investigative journalism is more often hard, humdrum and sometimes dangerous work.

Myth 1

Journalists can indeed be bigger than the stories they report Investigative journalism is a public service, not an ego trip, and being an investigative journalist gives you no right to flout professional ethical standards.

Myth 2

The investigative journalist is a kind of Lone Ranger From the point of view of film-making, it is practical to have one hero because the action can revolve around him. It helps if the star is as handsome as Denzel Washington in The Pelican Brief, based on the novel by John Grisham. In reality however, investigative journalism is not sustainable unless it is a team effort. Bernstein and Woodward express this in the acknowledgements of the book: Like the Washington Posts coverage of Watergate, this book is the result of a collaborative effort with our colleaguesexecutives, editors, reporters, librarians, telephone operators, news aides.

Myth 3

Investigative journalism is the preserve of the private media Not entirely true. It is mainly driven by the private media but there are well-known examples where governmentowned media have undertaken ground-breaking investigations against government. See the account of the Willowgate investigation in the Introduction to this handbook.

Myth 4

Investigative reporting is simply good reporting. This definition comes out of the traditional view of journalists as watchdogs, whose mission is to sniff out wrongs, point fingers at those to blame, and report in a way that brings about change. And that is certainly part of our role. When reporters are successful in their efforts, life may genuinely get better, and public appreciation of the importance of a free press is strengthened. But reporters are not the only watchdogs today; they function alongside a range of civil society organisations, some (such as Transparency International) explicitly tasked with keeping an eye on power and sniffing out wrongs. And reporters do many things besides being watchdogs: in the words of the old slogan, the media inform, educate and entertain. So while investigative journalists must draw on all the skills of good reporting observation, research and the determined pursuit of answers at a very high level, that doesnt completely sum up their work nor make it distinct from the work of others. Investigative reporting uncovers secrets somebody wants to keep hidden. This is the kind of investigative reporting that hits the headlines not only in the newspaper that did the investigation, but sometimes across the world. Those headlines often trumpet the word Revealed! The Watergate investigation was one of these. So is the current work of the UK Guardian newspaper (and several South African journalists, most notably at the Johannesburg-based Mail & Guardian) to discover and detail under-the-counter payments made by British arms manufacturer BAE in securing international contracts. And when Sierra Leonean journalist Sorious Samura made his 2000 TV documentary Cry Freetown about the atrocities of his countrys civil war, he was revealing horrors he felt nobody wanted to highlight: To attempt to explain what really happened in Sierra Leone to anyone who has never seen or tasted a war of our magnitude is a real uphill task, especially after the refusal of international media to send journalists to cover the worlds worst crimes against humanity at the end of the 20th century. People will just not believe you - theyll simply think youre inventing things. People will only believe that things like mass killings, rapings, amputations, maimings and so on are stories of the past, () when people like Jesus Christ were beaten and nailed on crosses. I know you will say such things dont happen now - these are modern times - we are civilised people living in a modern world. Well, all these atrocities were committed here on earth, in Sierra Leone, a small West African state just as we approached the turn of a new century - the 21st century. But as Samura implies, its not just about investigating secrets that are locked up through laws and concealment. Sage Gayala from the DRC talks about the role of journalists in uncovering social, economic or cultural developments too recent to have been identified by experts, hidden by received wisdom and masked by media sensationalism. For example: the relationships between

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farmers and the urban community; the true lives of workers in our country; the reappearance of the kind of poverty that social benefits were supposed to cure. It is important that investigative reporters focus on these; our first job is to inform, educate and so help transform society for the better. UK journalist and novelist George Orwell, who worked in Europe around the time of the Second World War, talked about unpopular ideas and inconvenient facts: ideas that are buried simply because it is thought unacceptable, impolite or even unpatriotic to talk about them. Sometimes conventional thinking in a society, rather than the deliberate actions of individuals, creates a blanket of secrecy that journalists have to tear apart. Many journalists working on issues around gender violence or sexuality have faced this kind of secrecy. Activist Elinor Sisulu, who has worked to document the post-independence Gukurahundi massacre in Zimbabwe and current government abuses of power there, has said of Africa: Ours is a continent of silences. Perhaps the job of the investigative journalist is to identify those silences and make them speak.

African silences
Edem Djokotoe suggests some examples of areas IJs might look at:
Investigating powerful institutions like the Catholic Church is one example. In Zambia, where I live and work, the voice of the bishops in the politics of the country is loud. And given that more than 60 percent of Zambian Christians are Catholic (according to the Central Statistical Office), you can imagine what kind of power they wield. Interestingly, while they are very vocal about democracy and power sharing, the Church to which they belong is most autocratic. It took a Zambian cleric, Archbishop Milingos much-publicised wedding to a Moonie to show that there was indeed a movement that wanted the Catholic Church to revisit its doctrine on celibacy. That and the growing number of children in Catholic-run orphanages allegedly fathered by Catholic priests and the growing number of nuns and fathers said to be contracting HIV. Of course, the Church is not keen to face up to these realities for reasons I cannot explain, but such issues invite media investigation. Powerful institutions bring to mind the Freemasons which have for centuries operated behind a thick cloak of secrecy. Books like Martin Shorts Inside the Brotherhood and Stephen Knights expos The Brotherhood open a whole range of possibilities about what painstaking research and investigation can reveal. But the Freemasons do not hold the monopoly on secrecy. All across the African continent, there are secret societies where all kinds of rituals are performed. There are veils of secrecy surrounding the institutions of chieftaincy. Among many ethnic groups in Africa, when a chief dies, the fact is not announced. Sometimes, the death is kept secret for months. In times past, this was to facilitate the smooth transition to new leadership so that there was no power vacuum. There is speculation that the secrecy was to enable the royal executioners to kill people to accompany the dead ruler to the next world. Among other groups, those who were buried with the king were said to be still living. Again, it is difficult to know where myths end and fact begins, but I think our sense of curiosity about our own ethnic groups should inspire us to find out what we think we need to know about ourselves. The possibilities are infinite. What are the unpopular ideas and inconvenient facts the silences in your community? Take a few moments to identify and note down the issues nobody really wants to talk about. There may be investigative stories here although, as well see in Chapter 2, theres work to be done before you can move from an idea to a story plan.

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Investigative reporting reveals scandals, and shames the individuals involved. Investigative journalism isnt always popular. Obviously, people caught out in wrongdoing never like it. But sometimes readers have their doubts too. And very often it is this type of investigative journalism muck-raking, its sometimes called that makes the public unhappy. Simple scandal-mongering may have no purpose beyond appealing to peoples nosiness about the private lives of others. To be worth investigating, a scandal must go beyond personal misbehaviour into the kind of wrongdoing that affects the public interest and where there is a lot at stake.

From the Constitution of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR):
[Our work] moves beyond a simplistic focus on corrupt individuals in favour of a more systematic and contextualised exposure of corruption. It is important that corrupt individuals are stopped. But if an investigative report doesnt look beyond the criminals to the faulty system that allows them to get away with it, it has simply cleared the ground for a new bunch of crooks to do exactly the same thing (and has probably taught them how to do it better). An investigative story needs to alert those who can close the loophole that has been exposed. If those in power dont do this, a further investigative story is needed to find out why. However, the rich, famous and powerful are not our only targets. Journalism professor Anton Harber, a former editor of the Johannesburg-based Mail & Guardian, addressing a gathering of pan-African investigative journalists, noted: We normally talk about investigative journalism in terms of big, dramatic, ground-breaking, earth-shattering stories that bring down governments. Of course, we all love those once-in-a-lifetime stories But on a more regular, day-to-day level, it is also about bringing the techniques and attitudes of that kind of story and that kind of reporting to everyday, fairly ordinary reporting: probing, testing whether the words of the authority are true, exposing them when they are not, finding out what it is they do not want you to report, as opposed to reporting what they tell you to report. It is also about gathering the evidence to be able to report it. And it is an attitude that belongs not just in political reporting, but in business reporting, culture reporting, health reporting, even sports reporting. So investigative journalism:
zz employs the toolkit of any good reporter, but at a very high level of skill; zz uncovers both facts formally defined as secret and issues nobody wants to talk about; and zz looks beyond individuals to faulty systems and processes.

All of that, though, raises further questions. It sounds as though the investigative journalist looks only at failures, breakdowns, corruption and the abuse of power, and as though he or she is largely the media equivalent of a police detective. Is this accurate?

Does investigative journalism focus only on bad news? The answer is A lot of the time. The priority for communities and the media that serve them is to discover and correct harm and wrongs as quickly as possible. So this, particularly in situations of limited newsroom resources, is where the investigative reporter will most often focus. But investigative journalism sometimes has a role in uncovering the positive too. Counteracting unbalanced, negative images of people or communities, for example, could form the basis of real and good investigative stories. However, such stories would have to be deeply and skillfully researched and bring to light important new information. Shallow sunshine journalism or praise songs would not qualify. And investigative journalists can also apply their skills to ideas: a story that unpacks in detail the theory and practice of a political partys policies would not have to be a knocking story to be a solid, useful investigative piece. Are investigative journalists detectives? If were talking about the skills they employ, the answer is Yes. An investigative story starts with a question. The journalist researches to formulate a hypothesis (a best guess) about the answer and its social meaning. He or she then does more research: following paper trails, doing interviews that may sometimes feel more like interrogations, putting together a mass of evidence, some of it extremely detailed or technical. The journalist applies recognised standards (related to those that would be used in a court of law) to both what counts as valid evidence and whether it adds up to conclusive proof. Because laws of defamation (libel and slander) exist, the standard of the journalists investigation and fact-checking should not be lower than those of a detective putting together a prosecution case. (Youll find more about all these processes in Chapters 3-7.) Sometimes, though, this question means something else. Whats really being asked is: Because investigative journalists are uncovering wrongs, is it OK for them to behave like detectives, including working undercover and using techniques such as hidden microphones and cameras?

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The answer here is more complicated. Investigative journalists including some of the best do use these techniques. But it is worth remembering that the scope of a detectives undercover work, and the rights of citizens being investigated by the police, are usually governed by some kind of legal framework. Journalists rely on their own ethics, and are not exempt from privacy laws. So both in order to ensure ethical journalism, and to avoid prosecution, investigative journalists need to ask themselves searching questions before they act in this way (see Chapter 8). Its not automatically the right, best or only technique for gathering information. Remember that hidden cameras and recorders only add to your store of raw evidence, and do not substitute for the work of analysing, checking and contextualising this evidence and constructing a meaningful story. A huge amount of evidence is available in publicly-available documents, if you simply know where to look and how to put it together, and this will be the subject of Chapter 6. And investigative journalists also do different work from that of detectives. Sometimes the purpose of their investigation is not to prove guilt, but simply to bear witness: to tell it in carefully checked detail like it is. Drum journalist Henry Nxumalos undercover account of his stints in jail and as a forced labourer (see case study) were these kinds of investigations. So were parts of Cry Freetown. Detectives stop when they have discovered and can prove who committed the crime. Investigative reporting goes further than simply finding an answer. It gathers the right facts, gets the facts right, and by doing so reveals the meaning of the story; showing a pattern in events, actions or evidence that answers the question: Why? It explains the context and subtleties of an issue, rather than simply pointing an accusing finger. Its by reaching this degree of depth in their work that investigative journalists deal with questions about their objectivity. Certainly, investigative reporting, which has been called the journalism of outrage, does not seek to produce an artificially balanced account of two sides of a story. If a process permits customs officers to take bribes, and some do, that is the story that will be presented. There will be no equivocating about We might be wrong or We might be misinterpreting. If such doubts still exist, the investigation has not gone deep enough and the story is not ready to be published. But there are never only two sides to a story. And balance in an investigative story comes from explaining this many-sided situation and telling the public not only what happens but why. Are the customs officers wages too low to survive on? Is morale weak? Do they operate within a culture of corruption that extends to the very top? A detective leaves the explanation of what might be mitigating circumstances to defence lawyers. The good investigative journalist explains the full context. Theres also a sense in which an investigative journalist is actually a scientist. Our working methods require that we keep an open mind until we have amassed enough evidence to support our story idea, that we do not ignore evidence that contradicts it, and that we change our findings if the evidence points in a different direction. In all those ways, our work resembles science, where researchers will put forward a hypothesis (for example: polluted water causes cholera) and test it until they know whether it is correct or not. We are also managers. Particularly on a big, long-run project where we are involved in deep research, putting documents together and working with other newsroom and non-newsroom role players, we need the ability to keep the work flowing smoothly and to plan, and the ability to communicate clearly and keep the team together.

So which is real investigative journalism?

Now lets look again at those examples of reporting in the exercise.

The anonymous fax No, this isnt investigation. Youve had a windfall of anonymous, unverified information that you have made only the barest attempts to verify. What youve done is lazy, risky and may be defamatory. Well look at how to handle tip-offs and sources whose main trading good is spin, in Chapter 4. The mangled hand No, this isnt investigation either. A phone call to achieve tokenistic balance is not an adequate way of checking this out. You have not even visited the factory: your front-page call for factory inspectors to do so is a cheap way of ducking your own responsibility to verify information before you print. In 2005, the majority of complaints to South Africas Press Ombudsman concerned stories like this, which attacked institutions without fully investigating the allegations made against them. Supposing the man had actually damaged his hand while fixing his car after work? How would you know? On patrol with the local police Whether this counts as investigation depends on how it is framed and presented. If you introduce this footage as simply bearing witness to the tough and stressful lives of the police one truth out of many it may qualify. You cant claim more for the programme unless you do more investigation of the situations portrayed, or even make follow-up programmes from different viewpoints. What you currently have was handed to you on a plate by the police, and interpreted through their words to you. You must treat the footage of the two arrested men very carefully and within your countrys court and crime reporting guidelines. You have done no investigation and have only the polices word that they are criminals.

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Adultery in high places At first glance, this LOOKS like investigative reporting. You have checked all the details carefully, have both photographic and interview confirmation, and have accurately identified the people involved. But why are you doing it? Theres no public interest here. The only people concerned are the two lovers and their spouses. This isnt investigative reporting, just a way to try and sell papers using scandal about well-known names. Gossip, even if meticulously researched, is still only gossip. Sewage in the gutter This may be a small, local story, but it is real investigative journalism. Youve verified information, consulted role players and experts, identified the meaning of what you noticed and broadened it out into a story of genuine public interest.

Why do investigative reporting?

Investigative journalism, weve seen, can be time-consuming, expensive and risky. And often African investigative journalists find their editors need convincing that it is worth taking those kinds of risks when they can produce a perfectly satisfactory newspaper by simply reporting on day-to-day events. So lets look at some of the objections, and at the reasons why investigative projects are worthwhile.

As weve seen, the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid media in the past, and campaigning independent newspapers today have long proved that this is not true. But its also worth pointing out that there is no one style of IJ, and no one national model. Thats even true in Europe. A study in 2005 by the Dutch-Flemish Association for investigative Journalists (VVOJ) found that there was no distinct European culture of investigative journalism, and that practices varied enormously from country to country. For example 90 percent of journalists in the UK and Finland thought that it was most important for journalists to be watchdogs of government, but only 30-40 percent of journalists in France and Germany felt the same way.

1 Investigative journalism is a European or American thing; it wont work in a developing country.

The VVOJ study found there was no correlation between whether a medium was in good financial shape and whether it undertook investigative projects. In fact, they often found a more substantial commitment to IJ in small, poor independent media. Professor Harber points out that in South Africa: It doesnt always have to take a lot of time and money and when we look at some of the great investigations in South Africas history a number of them were not based on huge time and resources, they were based on determination and commitment. Small publications, of course, are usually free of corporate strings that often set a conservative policy. There are now funds that support such media in important projects. But their commitment to investigation also rests on another key argument.

2 Its too expensive!

Gavin Macfadyen, Director of the UK-based Centre for Investigative Journalism made the point cogently in his address to the 2007 Taco Kuiper Awards ceremony for investigative journalists in Johannesburg: When serious investigations appear, people talk about it. Many know, driven by word of mouth. Sales rise, viewing figures climb, programmes acquire real credibility and more importantly still they achieve a loyal following. When news really affects people, they talk about it and they will follow it. This seems to be true in most countries. It also affects the culture of the press. Editors and producers become more sophisticated practitioners, or more combative, knowing how to use media law to enable rather than put the brakes on exposure, building viewers and readers by more aggressive reporting. And finally 4 Investigative journalism helps build democracy. Reporting that never seeks to move beyond the event or the official release allows those in power to set the agenda. News is made from the top down. The principles that create democracy, popular participation, accountability and the transparent operation of government, remain paper concepts if nobody is asking questions and providing information and analysis, looking beyond the claims and counter-claims of contending factions. In the final analysis, investigative journalism is the right thing to do.

3 Investigative journalism wins readers and grows publications.

What is investigative journalism? The value of investigative journalism

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Mark Hunter and Luuk Sengers made the following points about the value of IJ at the 2007 Investigative Journalism Workshop in Johannesburg: What value do you have to others? zz You help consumers to make better choices. zz You help investors make better decisions. zz You identify promising or threatening products, policies etc. zz You find sense in confusing information. zz You denounce false information.

What qualities does an investigative reporter need?

From what you have read so far, stop for ten minutes and try to make your own list here of the personal qualities you think an investigative reporter might need.

What is investigative journalism?

You may have included some or all of these:

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Says South Africa-based Evelyn Groenink: Lets face it, most investigative journalists will never be played by Robert Redford or Cate Blanchett in a Hollywood movie, no matter how brave and important the work they did or do! Most investigative journalism is a thankless endeavour, time- and energy-consuming, that will get your editor impatient and powerful people annoyed with you. If you like a stable income with regular promotions; if your deepest wish is a management position with matching salary and if you enjoy being invited to dinners and parties given by VIPs in your country or community, then investigative journalism is probably not for you. But if you enjoy challenges, have a passion for truth and justice, and want to serve your readership or audience with stories that matter, no matter how much time and energy it costs you and even if some powerful people will end up with maybe less-thanfriendly feelings towards you then, by all means, go for it!

1 Passion

Asking questions is where investigative journalism starts. The questions can be about events in the news, or about things you see or hear about in your day-to-day life.

2 Curiosity

Asking questions is where it starts

In 2004, Kenyan journalist Joyce Mulama heard from both women she met and health workers that it was becoming much harder to obtain or dispense contraception and abortion advice. She investigated, and discovered this was happening in health programmes funded from US aid, and was a consequence of morality rulings embedded in the latest American aid regulations. She also discovered that journalists in both America and other aid-receiving countries were also investigating this problem, and that it was a significant problem affecting womens lives worldwide.

As weve noted, many newsrooms operate on limited resources and all run on tight deadlines. So an investigative idea you mention at a news conference wont always be instantly adopted, particularly if it is un-formed and vague. You need to take the initiative, do your own preliminary checking and shape the idea into a solid story plan. If your newsroom still isnt interested, you may need to take further initiative in identifying support (such as an investigative grant) for the work needed. (See Chapters 2-3.)

3 Initiative

Investigative reporting takes time and, because of the legal risks it often carries, must be verified down to the smallest detail. So you need to become a careful planner to make the best use of your time, and obsessive about checking and re-checking everything you discover, and making sure your story fits together.

4 Logical thinking, organisation and self-discipline

An investigation can take unexpected turns. Sometimes the question you began by asking turns out to be a dead-end, or opens the door on another, far more interesting but less obvious question. You need to be prepared to rethink and redesign your research when this happens, and not stay wedded to your first ideas.

5 Flexibility

The Jacob Zuma corruption investigations: South Africa

For years, political debate in South Africa was dominated by investigations into whether African National Congress President Jacob Zuma received bribes from European arms companies. The media seemed wedded to their view of the investigative focus here as arms deal corruption. FAIR co-ordinator Evelyn Groenink criticised this focus. Any arms deal investigator will tell you that if Zuma got anything at all, it is very little. The question arises why the suspicion of a small slice for Zuma was more important to virtually all journalists in the country than the issue of the arms deal in its totality. The main, most expensive contracts, had nothing to do with Zuma. In the end, the spotlight did indeed shift to the main contracts. The charges against Zuma were dropped (in 2009) because of evidence of manipulation at the level of the prosecuting authority.

Movies often portray the investigative reporter as a lone wolf. Sometimes, there are situations where secrecy is so important that a story cannot be shared with others until certain safeguards are in place. But very often the best stories come out of a cooperative effort that uses all the available skills in (and even outside) the newsroom. An investigative story may call upon knowledge of anything from science and health to economics and sociology, and no one journalist, however strong their general knowledge, can be an expert in all these. For example, if you are following a paper trail through company audits and no-one in the newsroom

6 Teamworking and communication skills

What is investigative journalism?

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has a sophisticated grasp of accounting, youll need to identify an expert who can help you. So good contacts and networking form part of your teamwork. And youll need to be a good enough communicator to ensure that the team understands the purpose of the story and the standards (accuracy, honesty, confidentiality) expected of everybody on it.

Were Woodward and Bernstein actually lone wolves who brought down a president?
Many journalists only know about the famous Watergate expos from the movie. But the movie version, and therefore the prevalent view of Woodward and Bernstein as lone wolves, is incomplete and simplistic. Alicia C. Shepherd, in her book Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate, points out that other media (including CBS, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times) added their own deep reporting, that there was solid teamwork at their own newspaper, The Washington Post, and that bringing down the President also involved institutional role players within the US system such as courts, grand juries and congressional committees. The two journalists have always pointed out that nothing happens in a vacuum, and recognizing this takes nothing away from their brave, determined and extensive efforts.

This doesnt mean you have to have a degree in journalism. But you need enough of either training or experience, or both, to know how to identify sources, plan story research, conduct good interviews (and sense when an answer doesnt ring true), and write accurately and informatively. You also need to know when you are out of your depth, and have the humility to ask for advice or help. If you are relatively inexperienced, good teamworking (again) will help you to tap into the skills of others when this happens. Sometimes, people who dont have a reporting background do have these skills. Researchers and community workers have often also been trained to interview and identify and sift facts, although they may need the help of newsroom workers to package a story attractively and accessibly for readers, listeners or viewers. Well look at effective writing and storytelling techniques in Chapter 7.

7 Well-developed reporting skills

Understanding the context of your investigation can help you avoid dead-ends and spot relevant facts and questions. But if your investigation takes you into an unfamiliar area, you must be able to familiarise yourself with at least the background, conventions, terminology, role-players and issues of that area quickly. The ability to have a searching, informative conversation with an expert, use computer search engines, or locate and skim-read useful books are all vital here. Above all, you must read everything, whenever you have the time. You never know when a bit of background will prove useful for your work.

8 Broad general knowledge and good research skills

Investigative reporting will bring you up against all kinds of obstacles, from sources who disappear and records that dont exist, to editors who want to can the story because it is taking too long or costing too much. Only your own motivation and belief that it is a worthwhile story will carry you through what is often a slow process of discovery.

9 Determination and patience

Investigative stories may put the security, jobs or even lives of sources at risk. They also risk putting their subjects at similar risk if reckless accusations are made. So an investigative reporter needs to have a strong, explicitly thought-out set of personal ethics, to ensure that sources and subjects are treated respectfully and as far as possible protected from harm. In addition, newsrooms that support investigative stories need to be guided by ethical codes and have a process in place for discussing and resolving ethical dilemmas. Sometimes public trust is your best protection, and you lose this if you behave unethically. More on this in Chapter 8.

10 Fairness and strong ethics

Gossips do not make good investigative reporters. As weve seen, loose talk can put the investigation and lives at risk. But in addition, it can tip off commercial rivals who will then scoop your story, or alert interviewees before you get a chance to talk to them. In a whole range of ways, talking too much can sabotage the story.

11 Discretion

IJs are often attacked as unpatriotic, but we do not see our role like that. We believe that what we investigate and discover is driven by concern for the public interest and what will make our community better. Zambia-based Edem Djokotoe warns: You might have the best research and writing skills in the world, but if you arent driven by personal convictions to contribute your skills to your society as a citizen, your story will lack purpose and heart.

12 Citizenship

It isnt only subjects and sources that are at risk. Reporters may be threatened with legal action or violence, jailed, or even assassinated for their investigations. In the face of these risks, you may succumb to pressure and censor yourself. You need to believe in what youre doing, have the courage to carry on, and if possible have personal and professional support structures (for example, family or partner, religious community, counsellor, legal advisor, supportive editor and team) in place for when times get tough.

13 Courage

What is investigative journalism? What are the rewards?

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Mark Hunter and Luuk Sengers point out that while IJ is tough, sometimes dangerous, and distinctly un-glamorous, its also one of the most rewarding areas of journalism to become involved in.
zz Youre the one person who knows the most about one thing thats priceless! zz You develop skills that set you apart from the masses of scribes, and which are marketable (75 percent of zz zz zz zz zz

journalism is news- and PR-based reporting) You gain independence and a certain amount of power over the environment you live in You make money, more so if you identify niches specialist reporting areas and occupy those You enjoy the constant challenges You [may] win awards! You have served your community, increased public knowledge or prevented harm

Case studies
T
his book will contain many case studies: in-depth looks at how reporters around Africa have found, planned and carried out investigative projects. Some of these are exciting accounts of adventurous and risky journalism; others are more sober stories of amassing paper and meticulously cross-checking facts. Some produced nation-shaking results, some simply won a small community justice or a much-needed resource and some got stalled by problems and still need completing. Case studies arent just exciting war stories, however. To get the most out of reading case studies, you need a framework for analysing them. We suggest that you use the following process to get the most out of the investigative case studies you read. Take time to read the case study and let it sink in. First impressions can be misleading. Its easy to assume you can simply borrow a topic or approach wholesale and apply it to your own work or that circumstances are so different that theres nothing you can learn. Instead, ask the following questions: What kind of reporter, publication or broadcast did the investigation? How did that reporters situation resemble or differ from your own? How did they encounter the topic or issue? Is it a topic or issue that has parallels in your community/society? If theres a similar issue in your community, are there differences in context or circumstances? How did they formulate the investigative question or hypothesis? What resources did they need/use? What snags did they hit, and how did they deal with them? Which of their strategies were effective and did any fail? Why? What did those reporters achieve (impact), and what did they learn? If youd been in their shoes, what might you have changed about the investigative approach? If you were going to tackle a topic like this in your community tomorrow, how would you approach it?

Our first case study is a classic. It illustrates once more that investigative reporting is not something new or foreign to Africa, but has its own well-established history and traditions here. Its The Story of Bethal: a March 1952 investigation by Henry Nxumalo of the South African magazine Drum (his nickname was Mr Drum) under apartheid, into the conditions of contract labourers on farms.

What is investigative journalism?

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Context Drum was a legal publication, with a white owner and editor but serving a large black readership, and prepared to take some risks in reporting on topics of public concern. However, censorship was in force, and the security police kept a close eye on Drum journalists. They had to be careful and, indeed, Henry Nxumalo was mysteriously killed some years later while investigating an abortion racket. Budgets were limited and access to official records beyond published documents such as laws and statutes was not a right. Editors also had to make sure that the way stories were written did not appear to attack the apartheid government directly. How did the story get started? The story was picked up from talk among ordinary people on the streets: that the contract labour system was corrupt; that workers did not have full information and were trapped into contracts on farms where they were starved, abused and ill-treated. This general outrage was focused for Nxumalo when one of his colleagues on Drum, Arthur Maimane, told the story of his cousins ill-treatment on a Bethal farm. Drum was looking for a big investigative story to mark its first anniversary as a publication. Nxumalo said: Id better go and have another look. What process did Nxumalo follow and what did he find out? To find out what happened on the potato farms, he went to the Bethal district and interviewed more than 50 labourers on eight farms. He used his powers of observation to take graphic descriptive notes: he painted word-pictures of what he observed. He was accompanied by a white Drum photographer who had recently arrived from Germany, Jrgen Schadeberg. With his heavy German accent, Schadeberg was easily able to pose as a tourist and take scenic photographs of farms and labourers. Nxumalo then back-tracked the process to the recruitment stage in Johannesburg, posing as a job-seeker, and was picked up by a recruiter who took him to a labour agency compound. There, he obtained and examined a contract, observed the signing process, and asked questions to see if he would receive truthful answers. Unlike many real labourers, his English was fluent, and he could analyse and memorise documents. He compared his experience with what the relevant legislation set out, and noted the failures in compliance. When he got back to Johannesburg, Nxumalo also tracked previous reports of attempts by political organisations to get government action, and incorporated that information into his final story too. Results The white, right-wing Die Transvaaler newspaper denounced Drums story as written to stir up trouble and cause ill-feeling. But questions were asked in parliament and a parliamentary commission of enquiry was appointed, although its findings were never published. Drum was flooded with letters praising this wonderful Mr Drum. There was so much popular outrage at the conditions the story exposed that black political organisations organised a potato boycott among consumers. Even today, some older black South Africans remember and talk about the horrors of the potato farms that they read about in Drum.

Extracts from The Story of Bethal At the recruiting office:

all (Native Labour Registration Act of 1911 as amended 1949).

When the contract came to be signed the interpreter read out a small part of the contract to a number of recruits together, while the attesting officer held a pencil over the contract. No-one asked the age of any of the recruits (they should have the consent of parents if under eighteen) and Mr Drum was told nothing about whether his pay would be monthly or deferred, what food he would be entitled to, or what length of shift he would work[The clerk called a roll of everyone on the contract sheet, read extracts from the contract and then said]: Have you got that? Mr Drum and the other recruits: Yes. Clerk: You will now proceed to touch the pencil. As a result of holding a pencil for a second, (50 recruits were attested in a few minutes) the recruits were considered to be bound to a contract. But in fact the contract had not been signed and had not been fully understood. So it seems that none of the recruits signed in this way are valid at

On the farms:

Out of over 50 labourers interviewed in eight farms stretching from Witbank to Kinross, not a single labourer said that he was satisfied with the conditions. Those who did not express this view refused to comment altogether, for fear that they might be victimized. Two-thirds of those consulted said they were sent to Bethal under false pretences: they were either promised soft jobs in Johannesburg or on dairies in the Springs district, but they subsequently found themselves being made to alight at Bethal station and told they were going to work there The pay on the farms is between 2 and 3 a month, and the food consists mainly of porridge, with meat sometimes once a week, if that. Months are calculated on the basis of 30 full working shifts, excluding non-working

What is investigative journalism? Extracts from The Story of Bethal (cont)

days such as Sundays and public holidays, and the wages for the first month are spent in repaying train fares and money advanced to the labourers as a loan on recruitment. For example RF(60) employed on the farm of Mr B, was recruited by Zs agency of Johannesburg. He earns 3 a month and has a wife and four children to support at home. His fare to Johannesburg was 1 6s 11d., and his whole wages for the first month repaid this sum. He will have 15 3s 1d to his credit at the end of his six months contract. But if he decides to return home he will be minus another 2 16s 11d when he reaches Louis Trichardt, which means that he will be left with 2 6s 2d in cash, or even less should he ask for tobacco or clothes on credit from his employer before that time, to say nothing of what he will spend on his journey home. And that for half a years workOlder men prefer to wear sacks in which holes have been cut for head and arms, and sleep on sacks instead of blankets rather than incur more debt A unique feature of [one farm] is that it has its own private hospital, a crowded, dirty small brick building with iron beds and sick labourers lying on mattresses without blankets and vice-versa. They sleep in their dirty working clothes and I was told by the man in charge PTthat the men are sent to Bethal Hospital if they do not improve after receiving treatment from a local doctor. Phas been working on the farm for 32 years and is better known by the name of doctor. He is probably the best-paid African farm labourer: he earns 8 plus a bag of mealie meal a month and has his family living with him on the farm. He told me that his treatment for sick farm labourers consists mainly of regular doses of Epsom Salts. Next to the hospital is the compound and the kitchenThe cook was the only other person wearing boots on the premises, the others being bare-footed. But the cooks clothes were as filthy with grease as those of an enginefitter who has not changed his overalls for many months. The filth shone at a distance. The men ate out of improvised zinc containers which they made themselves. One labourer told me he could not afford to buy himself a proper dish at this stage in his contract; but this was an improvement on what I saw at some farms at lunchtime, where the labourers not only wore sacks but ate on them.

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Difficulties in doing this investigation Nxumalo and Schadeberg overcame the secrecy and refusal of labour agents and farmers to deal with journalists by using subterfuge with those in authority. There was really no other way to do the story, Schadeberg recalled. Henry had to discard his suit, dress in tattered clothes like a farm labourer and go and find work on the farm Then he escaped at night Then the two of us went back and we drove around the district interviewing people and taking photographs. He was my boy whenever farmers stopped us, which they often did Not that there was much risk of Henry being recognised because for one thing he had a suit on now. At the labour agents office, fortunately we found an open window into the room where the pencil-touching procedure was taking place. I think I stood on some bricks to see in, or maybe I was jumping up and down, anyway I clicked off a few shots and ran. Nobody chased us, but we could hear them shouting in the room. It didnt always work I met the European in charge of the farm on my second visit but he refused to allow Mr Drum to take pictures of the compound and stated that I had erred by asking his men about working conditions on the farm on my first visit there without his permission. Nxumalo did tell the farm labourers he talked to who he was. But because of the strict laws of the time, he had to be careful not to be arrested for being an agitator (a union organiser or someone stirring up revolt). So he made sure to include in his story the line: Mr Drum was very careful not to cause any trouble or enmity on the farms and never tried to influence what people said. He also protected his sources from being fired or worse, by not using their full names or other identifying details (such as which recruitment agency they came from) in the story. Summing up the case study Consider how Nxumalo used a combination of human sources, his own experience and observations, and paper sources (the relevant laws and contract papers) to build up his story. His descriptive writing was vivid (think of the cooks greasy clothes shining at a distance!) and his explanations were meticulously detailed: for example, the breakdown of one labourers earnings and expenditure to the last penny. And he managed to tell a great deal of hard-hitting truth without compromising his sources or throwing wild accusations that could have put the survival of his magazine at risk. He balanced human accounts of individual suffering with broader analysis of how the contract system broke laws and amounted to abuse. There was even humour, for example in the way he describes the crowd in the agency office chorusing Yes and touching the pencil. Despite the restrictions on what could be written, the story made an impact on popular consciousness that still survives today among old people who read it in their youth.

What is investigative journalism? Avoiding the wrath of government

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The magazine also had to take care to avoid being closed down for publishing an anti-government story. So this is how it dealt with suggestions that the government did not care about or colluded in the mistreatment of labourers.
Last December, the Bethal branch of the African National Congress invited Dr H F Vervoerd, Minister of Native Affairs, to visit the area in connection with the deteriorating position of the African farm labourers. The Minister replied through his private secretary that he was unable to do that before the present parliamentary session; at any rate he was kept fully informed on matters in the Bethal area, and the information at his disposal was the same as that given by the chiefs who recently visited the area, namely, that the workers were generally very well treated by their employers and had no real grievances. But Congress officials deny all knowledge of these chiefs and their visit to Bethal, and hardly anyone at Bethal knew anything about them It is obvious that care has been taken by the authorities to protect these people and equally plain that they have failed.

Do you think the subterfuge and undercover work was justified? Are there areas of labour hardship and abuse in your community that might be worth this type of detailed investigation?

South African prisons are still a potent source of investigative stories, as reporters Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis of Beeld and Die Burger newspapers found. However, their investigation focused on the fact that prison contracts are now big business, and thus fertile ground for cronyism and corruption. Their series of stories was published between 31 March 2006 and 1 December 2006. The Prisongate series was awarded the prestigious Taco Kuiper prize for investigative journalism in 2007. It was described as the stuff of powerful, thorough and ground-breaking reporting. Here, Basson describes the stories and the work they involved. How did the stories get started? The Prisongate series of investigative articles has its roots in a meeting of Parliaments portfolio committee on correctional services, which questioned the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) about a multi-million rand tender awarded to install new televisions in all the countrys prisons. At the same time, Du Plessis, who was then Die Burgers political correspondent in Parliament, got a tip-off about this and other huge contracts being awarded by the DCS to the Bosasa group of companies. Bosasa was an unknown player in the security industry and serious questions were asked about the enormous successes of this inexperienced rookie. How did you go about the investigation? Beeld and its sister newspaper, Die Burger, cooperated in an unique project to uncover the political connections that bound the different players and the blatantly fraudulent way in which Bosasa was allowed to influence an official state process. The investigation was conducted over a period of nine months and we are still busy uncovering the shady business dealings of Bosasa and its entities (Basson now works as an investigative reporter on the Mail & Guardian and Du Plessis is based in Die Burgers Port Elizabeth office). Information was sourced mainly from a wide range of role players in the state and private sector, as well as from public documents and other documentation provided to us by sources in the know. What sources did you consult? Some of the most important documentary evidence was sourced from the following public resources: zz State tender bulletin zz Departmental tender documents zz Registrar of companies (Cipro) zz Share registers zz Newspaper archives zz Internet, and zz University libraries.

What is investigative journalism?

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How did the story develop? The first breakthrough came when we uncovered a link between the National Commissioner of Correctional Services Linda Mti and Bosasa, to whom contracts of more than R1 billion were awarded by the DCS in less than a year. Mti subsequently resigned. After months of work to get even closer to tangible evidence of criminal activity, we made a further breakthrough towards the end of 2006 when we proved, by ways of a forensic computer investigation, that Bosasa themselves wrote parts of a tender document which was awarded to them. This was a contract for the supply, installation and maintenance of security systems at 66 prisons, awarded to Bosasa affiliate Sondolo IT for R237 million. The contract was later dubiously extended to include the staffing of control rooms at prisons at an additional R257 million. An inside source provided us with an electronic document, thought to be an early version of the official state tender advertised in the states tender bulletin. It was alleged that a Bosasa employee created this documented months before the contract was advertised and we contracted a computer forensic expert to analyse the file. The results showed that the document, which formed the backbone of the final contract eventually advertised by the state, was indeed written on Bosasa computers by a Bosasa employee months before the official process started. The question remained: who were the faces behind Bosasa and its affiliates, particularly the little-known Sondolo IT? By using the access granted under the Companies Act we inspected the different companies share registers and discovered more crucial information: Sondolo IT was owned by a number of prominent South Africans, including President Thabo Mbekis then political advisor Titus Mafolo. In the last story of the series, we exposed the lack of qualifications of the departments financial chief, who was intimately involved with the awarding of the Bosasa tenders. Were there follow-ups? Most of our stories were followed up by colleagues in the rest of the media and it also led to a number of questions being asked by opposition parties in Parliament. What challenges did you meet and how did you deal with them? One of the challenges we faced was constant threats of legal action. However, none of the parties ever took us to court. Other challenges included convincing insiders, often scared and intimidated, to speak; understanding intricate paper trails and specialised subject language; and consistent denials and a lack of co-operation by the DCS. We eventually succeeded in getting the stories by convincing people that it is in the public interest to speak out, by following the paper trail and learning how the tender processes work, and by persistently looking for more proof, even when you are accused of being liars, agenda pushers or even racists (as happened) by the subjects of your investigation. What impact did the story make? Some of the most important results were: zz Mtis resignation months before his contract with the DCS ended; zz An investigation by the Public Service Commission (PSC) into Mtis private business interests (still ongoing); zz Investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Auditor General (AG) into the tenders awarded by the DCS to Bosasa (still ongoing) zz The appointment of a new, highly qualified chief financial officer at the DCS, and zz The story won the Taco Kuiper Award. Note how, in the very different climate of post-apartheid South Africa, Basson and du Plessis were able to access documents in the public domain, and confront role-players openly in a way that Nxumalo would not have been able to do. But notice that fear of speaking out was still a very potent barrier to communication with sources.

What is investigative journalism?

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Key points from this chapter

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

An original, proactive process that digs deeply into an issue or topic of public interest Producing new information or putting known information together to produce new insights Multi-sourced, using more resources and demanding team-working and time Revealing secrets or uncovering issues surrounded by silence Looking beyond individuals at fault to the systems and processes that allow abuses to happen Bearing witness, and investigating ideas as well as facts and events Providing nuanced context and explaining not only what, but why Not always about bad news, and not necessarily requiring undercover techniques though it often is, and sometimes does.

zz Curiosity zz Passion zz Initiative zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

Logical thinking, organisation and self-discipline Flexibility Good teamworking and communication skills Well-developed reporting skills Broad general knowledge and good research skills Determination and patience Fairness and strong ethics Discretion Citizenship Courage.

And finally Finally, we have noted that though there are shared goals and common standards, there isnt one, universal model for investigative reporting, and that to get the most out of studying case studies of other investigations, you need to think carefully about the similarities or differences in context between the case study and your own situation as a reporter.

What is investigative journalism?

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Glossary
zz Balance (in a story) making sure that all relevant viewpoints are covered, that sources form a representative selection of

people involved, and that any judgements in the story are supported by the evidence
zz Conclusive proof evidence that is so complete and compelling that it points to only one explanation zz Contract labour short-term work governed by a contract between employer and employee; often implies exploitative

labour conditions because short-term workers do not have the same legal protections as regular employees
zz Ethics system of belief about what is right or wrong; behaving in accordance with this belief zz Hypothesis a proposition put forward as the basis for argument or investigation without any advance assumption that zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

.
zz

it is true Infrastructure the basic foundations or resources needed e.g. for social, economic, military or journalistic operations Niche a specialised area or section: a niche publication serves a small, specialised readership Objectivity assumption in science that reports of observations are completely uncoloured by feelings or opinions Parastatal an organisation that has some political status and operates in some relationship sometimes indirect with the state Public interest in the interests of the people; something that benefits the people or prevents harm to them Source in journalism, an informant or interviewee. Single-sourced describes a story based on information from one person only; multi-sourced, a story based on a wide range of informants Tender a document submitted by a company to bid for a contract: it describes the company, what it can offer and the conditions and targets relating to the proposed work. Also the document put out by the procuring organisation Undercover journalistic techniques involving subterfuge, for example, using a hidden microphone or taking on a false identity (see also Using covert techniques paragraph in Chapter 8)

Further reading
zz Read the full speeches of Anton Harber, Gavin Macfadyen, Mark Hunter/Luuk Sengers and more on the Wits University

journalism site at http://www.journalism.co.za

zz You can find more information about the Forum for African Investigative Reporters at http://www.fairreporters.org zz For a discussion of the history of investigative reporting in the rest of the world, see the Introduction to Tell Me No Lies:

Investigative Journalism and Its Triumphs, edited by John Pilger (London, Vintage, 2005)
zz To find out more about the investigative work of South African pioneer Henry Nxumalo, see A Good Looking Corpse by

Mike Nichol (London, Minerva, 1995) and Who Killed Mr Drum? by Sylvester Stein (Cape Town Mayibuye Books, 1999).
zz Read Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis prizewinning story (its in Afrikaans) at http://www.journalism.co.za.

Generating story ideas

Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to:
zz zz zz zz zz

List a variety of ways investigative story ideas can be found Evaluate the usefulness of each of these Distinguish between investigative journalism and leak reporting Follow a systematic process to evaluate and deal with a tip-off Follow a systematic process to expand and develop a story idea.

If you are confident that you already have these skills and understand these issues, go straight to: zz Chapter 3 for guidance on planning your reporting project zz Chapter 4 for a detailed look at finding, keeping and using sources zz Chapter 5 for more on interviewing zz Chapter 6 for technical assistance on computer-assisted and number-based (e.g. financial) research zz Chapter 7 for advice on analyzing your evidence, packaging it and writing the story zz Chapter 8 to consider the legal and ethical aspects of your reporting.

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Where do story ideas come from?

John Nyamu was a young journalist on an independent paper in an East African country. One day, he received a phone call.
The caller didnt give his name, but simply said: Meet me at the tea stall in the old-clothes market in an hour. I have a story that will make your career. John was intrigued. When he got to the place, no-one was there, but the stall-holder showed him an envelope and said Are you John? A man in a white shirt said I should give you this. The envelope contained a videotape. It seemed to show the President sitting at a table in the presidential palace garden, accepting a suitcase full of banknotes from a well-known businessman, who had recently been acquitted in a big money-laundering case. John was very excited. But when he discussed the videotape with his editors, they were divided. One said: This story will make the paper! Its obvious this is a recent tape because of the weather and how the two men look. We can bring down the government with cast-iron proof that crooked businessman bought his acquittal. Well put stills from the video on the front page. Good work, John! But the other said: Im not so sure. We dont know where this came from, it might be a fake, and there could be many reasons why money is changing hands. It could even be a donation to the Presidents charity fund. Then the editors discussed how to proceed, and asked John what he thought, since hed brought in the tape. If you were John, what would you have contributed to the discussion? What should the paper do next? (At the end of the chapter, well look at this question again).

hen they start their careers, investigative journalists very often have an image in their minds of important people if possible, very important people approaching them in dark alleyways and slipping them packets of confidential, preferably top-secret, documents. Once the contents are revealed, the resulting Big Nasty Story makes the front page, with, if all goes well, a byline in really bold print. Praise, prizes, and perhaps the fall of regimes, all follow. It does sometimes happen like that. Watergate, which we discussed in Chapter 1, began with an anonymous tip-off and, in the end, a US President did fall. But weve also seen the limitations of that model of investigative reporting, particularly in the context of resource-poor newsrooms in developing countries. And Watergate is a well known example not only because of the inspired and determined work of the reporters involved, but also because its unique: the story of a highly unusual set of circumstances and people. In every chapter of this book, you will read case studies of real investigations done by African journalists. Many of these had a major impact on their communities. You can study the full investigations as you read on; for now, consider the accounts some of these reporters give of how their stories got started: zz In the midst of a conversation about something else, I picked up my sources concern about this (Joyce Mulama, Kenya) zz We were motivated by the need to clarify the vast difference between electoral promises and the actual exercise of power (Eric Mwamba, Ivory Coast) zz I began my story because a World Bank press release did not feel right (Joe Hanlon, UK/Mozambique) zz The story started as an item in our daily news diary (Andrew Trench, South Africa) zz I had covered another story about this company, and wondered why (Finnigan wa Simbeye, Tanzania) zz When I saw the Sunday Times front page about this topic, it seemed to me it begged at least one other question And another story got started because of something that happened to me when I tried to open a bank account (Tom Dennen, South Africa) zz The story was inspired by a report launched at a conference in Addis Ababa, where I learned for the first time about something I hadnt known of before (Joyce Mulama, Kenya) zz A source leaked the story to one of us (Sello Selebi and Phakamisa Ndzamela, South Africa) zz We considered many other topics for transnational investigations. But then it became starkly clear to us that the concern we all urgently shared was that our own members and people they knew, were actually getting sick and dying because of this (Evelyn Groenink, FAIR) zz I heard more about this from a colleague whose cousin had been involved. I thought: Id better go and have another look (Henry Nxumalo, South Africa) zz I had always been sceptical about the success of a certain property developer (Charles Rukuni, Zimbabwe)

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Only one of these stories came from a tip-off. The rest were developed by the reporters pre-existing interest or a previous story, by something they read, by direct experience, a conversation or a chance remark. In other words, most of these stories started with a question or issue, not an anonymous phone call or a packet of top-secret papers. But generating good story ideas isnt easy in fact, the editorial focus group on this chapter, made up of regional journalists, said it was probably one of the hardest parts of a journalists job. So, first well consider the various alternative ways of finding stories, and then spend the second part of the chapter discussing how best to handle tip-offs.

Pros and cons of sources of story inspirations

Look at the list of story inspirations below. For each, suggest what their advantages and disadvantages might be. Take five minutes or so to do this before you read on.

Your own experience

The experience of friends, colleagues and neighbours

Following up news stories that have already been published

Reading, and surfing the web

Routine checks of public information on your beat

Roadside radio/Radio trottoir: what people in your community are discussing

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Very often, reporters complain I dont have enough evidence! when they have been to the site of a story, spoken to role players and recorded detailed descriptions of what they saw. Yet all this is real, concrete evidence. In the same way, something that happens to you is no less valid as the starting-point for a story than something that happens to someone else. The advantage is, you know it is happening: you experienced it. You are your own best and first witness, and it is always preferable to have first-hand experience and observation to help you shape your own view of the story backed up, of course, by detailed notes taken at the time; never rely on your memory. If you have a cellphone with a camera, photograph that leaking sewer as soon as you see it. That is why we say that a journalist is never off-duty. Keep your eyes open, and notice the blocked drains on the road as you travel to work; the long queues you stand in at the passport office; the rudeness of the nurse at your clinic. There may be investigations there, waiting to be done. Keep an ideas book as a section of your notebook, and jot these observations and questions down when you come across them. But there are two potential problems. The first is that your own feelings may get in the way of conducting a balanced investigation. You may be so angry at the conduct of public officials who delayed you that you seek to blame them, rather than uncovering the reasons for what happened. You may not want to confront certain aspects of how you behaved, or what you are feeling, and so bias your investigation towards alternative explanations. The second potential problem is that your experience may not be representative. You are only one person how many people is this happening to? Did you experience certain treatment because you are a journalist, or a man, or a woman, or an educated person? Is other peoples experience the same? Does it happen every day, or was today different for some reason? The way to overcome these potential pitfalls is to broaden your reporting out from what happened to you. If you wish to write only about your personal experience, thats an opinion column, not an investigative report. To make it a report, seek reasons, find out about context, and talk to a range of different kinds of people to make sure your final story represents something more than your personal grievance.

All the same advantages and disadvantages apply to the people you know and work with. Their experiences are real, but may not be representative, and may be biased by personal feelings. So, again, they can be the starting points for good investigations but only starting points. The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) notes: Some people you know may do jobs where a commitment not to disclose information goes with the job a policeman, for example. So think first about how you use the people you know. And dont imagine that because someone is a friend or neighbour, they dont mind helping you out it might make life difficult for them. Always get permission before you use someones personal story. Steer clear, however, of things told to you by friends that are not direct experience, as in: I have a cousin who knows a woman who was asked for a bribe at the airport. Unless the woman has a name, an address, and can be interviewed, this is just rumour or urban legend.

No medium is better at generating urban legends than roadside radio: the fast-traveling gossip and anecdotes of street traders, taxi drivers and passengers, and people in bars and cafs. Periodically, rumours of ghost hitch-hikers, or miracle cures, or magical tricksters who make penises disappear, infect whole cities or villages. Of course, the legend itself can become the subject of an investigation: is it really true? Why do people believe it? What does it tell us about our times and our country? But far more useful is the way roadside radio can alert us to real trends and changes. The media is often accused of agendasetting and telling readers what they ought to be interested in, but popular rumour also sets its own agendas. Just as you keep your eyes open for physical clues to stories, so your ears need to be alert to what people around you are discussing. Are girls disappearing, suspected victims of trafficking, in a certain suburb? Have people begun abusing a new type of homebrew? Has a well-known businessman suddenly stopped spending money, or a top policeman begun socialising with the criminal elite? Roadside radio will tell you about all these developments, and many of the tales will be true. Your first step, however, has to be confirming the validity of the rumour. Cross-check with sources who are in a position to know. Check with the suburbs police station on reports of missing girls, and with doctors on cases of alcohol abuse. Check with employees of the businessman about how his enterprise is doing, and with financial analysts about market trends; look at whether he has sold assets such as houses or cars recently. Observe the policeman at play. Once you have confirmed that the rumour has some substance, you can begin planning your story.

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Former IRE executive director Brant Houston reminds us in his and IREs Investigative Reporters Handbook that local newspapers carry many seeds for investigative stories. A story lurks, for example, behind practically every paid legal notice: whether it deals with wills, name changes, foreclosures, auctions, tenders, seized properties or unclaimed property. Local newspapers also carry valuable reports on new construction or government projects and on local court cases. You may find the name of your school bus driver in a drunken driving case, or the name of a financial officer in a shoplifting case.

We do this far too infrequently. Reader surveys and focus groups invariably tell us that readers love follow-ups. They want to know what happens next, or why it happened, or what the story is behind the terse daily news. Look especially for news stories that neglect to ask why, or that seem to focus narrowly on only one aspect of an issue. Look, too, for alternative ways of covering obvious, or regular stories such as world or national commemorative days.

Case study (from Brant Houstons and IREs Investigative Reporters Handbook)
Old newspaper reports came in handy when US journalist Mike Berens (then at the Columbus Dispatch) reported on the murder of a prostitute in Ohio. Berens had read other stories about murdered prostitutes and remembered a comment, made years earlier by the FBI, that some serial killers prey on prostitutes because they are easy targets, who move around a lot and are therefore often not immediately missed. Berens checked online databases of his countrys daily newspapers, starting with Ohio. His first keyword search prostitute and body turned up 60 stories. There were three stories about prostitutes who had been found murdered and who had last been seen alive at a Youngstown truck stop. These victims bodies had all been found along the Interstate 71 Highway, so Berens started on the advice of the Columbus Dispatch librarian to include the words Interstate and highway in his internet search. That led him to three more similar cases. The pattern that appeared was of the womens bodies having been dumped directly from a truck cab. For that reason, Berens started to exclude cases where the bodies had been moved or hidden. He then conducted similar searches of newspapers of other US states over the past six years and found cases in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and New York. He then started calling sources, visiting truck stops and interviewing police officials. In the end he produced an investigation that pointed clearly in the direction of a serial killer at work, and that helped police eventually to make an arrest. Remember, though, that a follow-up rests on information that is already out in the public domain. Other journalists or publications may seize on exactly the same line of investigative follow-up as you, especially if the original story has obvious gaps in it. So you will need to ensure that you have an original angle, and may need to plan speedy work and publication to beat any rivals. One form of follow-up that we often neglect is asking stupid questions in other words, questions that are so basic and almost naive that they are neglected. When every newspaper is speculating whether a politician took a bribe to vote a certain way, why not instead investigate whether he needed to be bribed, or why his price was so low/high? You may uncover some surprises. Another is to interrogate the information that everybody knows. Journalist and trainer Edem Djokotoe checked figures on the land area of Zambia something where a standard figure appears in every school geography book and discovered an environmental story in what turned out to be shrinking borders. Ugandan journalist Frank Nyakairu recommends revisiting your own notebooks for follow-ups too. Remember that interesting question an interviewee posed, that wasnt relevant to the story you were then working on? That could become a new story in its own right. A particularly rich source of ideas is searching for a local angle on a foreign story: we call this localising an issue (see page 2-6 for examples).

Generating story ideas Is it happening here?

Journalist and media trainer Edem Djokotoe describes the following examples of localising overseas news:

2-6

In recent times many high-profile sports personalities have been caught for doping or implicated in using performanceenhancing drugs. Notable among them are US sprinter, Marion Jones, and Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis. Reporters could investigate the extent of drug use in their own countries. Agreed in most of Africa, the extent of poverty and lack of resources means that often sportsmen and women cannot access top-of-the-line drugs. But there are unconfirmed reports that the use of easily accessible drugs like dagga is very common among soccer players in Africa. One Zambian player, Rotson Kilambe, who played in the PSL at some point, was banned for a number of years for using dagga, following a random drug test. How prevalent is it? To what extent is it sanctioned by coaches? Another example is based on an experience of a story I tried to investigate: the use of growth hormones and steroids and other unethical practices in the poultry industry in Zambia. I found out that table birds (broilers) were finding their way to the market after three weeks instead of the six to seven weeks chickens need to be ready for consumption. Unfortunately, there are no resources to test chickens for growth hormones and steroids. I was told that samples would need to be sent to South Africa at great cost.

Reading widely is your most important source of story ideas and the best way to upgrade your professionalism and writing skills. If youre serious about your beat, accessing everything that is published about it is a professional duty. If you are not prepared to do this, investigative journalism is not the career for you. Whats more, without the detailed, concrete knowledge that reading will give you of how systems and processes are supposed to work, how will you detect when something is going wrong? Dont spend your time simply processing the information that happens to come your way from press releases, statements and public events. Seek out new information to broaden your own knowledge base. Although scarce resources, or geography, may limit your access to overseas publications or the Internet, you should use whatever channels you can to keep up to date. The various information services of embassies and non-governmental organisations often have free reading rooms or libraries, often with Internet access. If you have no alternatives, get into the habit of visiting these whenever you can. Official and NGO reports often look dull and daunting, and many journalists see reading these as a routine task, rather than a source of exciting stories. But if you read them carefully, rather than simply using the front page or a press release summary, you can often uncover new and challenging information that can kick off investigations. If you are able to access the Internet regularly, look for news sites and specialist listserves linked to your area of interest. Many (such as the BBC World Service) offer a free RSS feeds service that will post headlines to your email address every day, so that you can stay updated. Do this. It saves you surfing time and ensures that you get all the news about the issues you are interested in on a daily basis. This is especially important in an area such as health or science, where the state of accepted wisdom can change quickly. Some journalists in Africa were still writing stories about the lack of effective treatments for Aids years after antiretroviral drugs had been tested and put into successful use in Europe and America they simply did not have the information. It took them a longer time, therefore, to move public knowledge towards the really vital issue: the right of access to these drugs and the various ways it is being blocked. Two important questions must be asked of any information you discover from reading or web-based research. The first is: who has written this, what are their credentials and what is their motivation? Anyone can post almost anything on the web, from genuine experts to wishful thinkers or lobbyists paid by commercial or political interests. Anyone who can raise the money can self-publish a book. We give hints in Chapter 6 on evaluating the reliability of researched information. But secondly, particularly in areas like science and health, when was the information published? What was cutting-edge knowledge ten years ago may have been completely outdated by research since then. And the new developments can form the basis of a genuinely informative investigative story as you will see in Joyce Mulamas case study at the end of this chapter.

This is another basic professional obligation. When someone is appointed to a new post, check the public information about them: their life story, education, the directorships they hold, etc. When a new enterprise is founded, check the main players. Cross-check too: look for links between them and their colleagues, or rivals, or relevant figures in government. If the new Agriculture Minister

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also sits on the board of a major grain supply company, is this legal? Even if it is permitted, surely theres the possibility of conflict of interest? Discovering these types of links is a potent source of stories. Any reports of scarce supplies whether of petrol or land or scholarships make the likelihood of corruption in the allocation of those resources greater. Asking questions such as who the gatekeepers are on these supplies, and what the allocation mechanisms are supposed to be, can help you to track down the points at which scarcity is being turned into somebodys personal gain. Another form of routine checking is having regular conversations with your contacts in various fields. We talk at length about handling sources in Chapter 4, but it is worth pointing out here that if you only contact sources when you need them, they will begin to feel used, whereas if you meet with them regularly without a set agenda, youll establish a good relationship and your conversations will produce news of new developments before any other reporter is alerted. We call this working your contacts. But stories from these sources will not automatically jump out and wave at you. You will have to use reasoning to work out the story. Says Edem Djokotoe: For instance, in a country of 12 million people where almost 80 percent of the population earn under one US dollar a day, from which sources do political parties get the financial and logistical resources they need to operate on a national scale, with a presence in 72 districts? Sheer common sense will suggest that money for running parties will not come from the sale of party cards or from fund-raising dinners. So where is the money coming from? It is easy for ruling parties to divert public funds to run party activities, but the question is: how exactly does the skimming occur and which functionaries make it happen? The fact that in Zambia political parties are not obliged to publish their financial statements and make the source of their funding known makes this a story worth pursuing.

Know what youre looking for!

Journalists Mark Hunter and Luuk Sengers gave a presentation to the University of the Witwatersrand Investigative Journalism Workshop in 2007. Among the advice they provided was the following: Youre looking first and foremost for a good story, not a phone book. We gather information to get a story out of it; we dont work on stories simply to gather information. You want to stir emotions. You want your readers to get angry, to weep, to become determined to change things. Otherwise, what is the point of spending so much time collecting evidence, risking your life and your relationships? People are real characters in your investigations, not just quotes.

Which of these do you use as sources of story ideas?

Go back to the list of story inspirations above. Analyse your own practice. Which of them do you look at, on a regular basis, as a source of story ideas? Which do you neglect? Which have you never considered? Before you go on, plan some practical steps you can take to systematically broaden your sources of story ideas. Regularly use Own experience Experiences of friends and neighbours Following up shallow news stories for deep investigation Reading Roadside radio Routine checks of public information Routine conversations with insider contacts Occasionally use Never use

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Evaluating and dealing with tip-offs

anystories that expose wrongdoingstart with a tip-off. We have a whole vocabulary of newsroom terms associated with these, for example, Deep Throat, the term for an anonymous insider, and a legacy of Watergate; walk-ins: people who just drop by your newsroom with a story. So, for example, a contact in the police will inform you of a car-theft racket involving the commissioner; a vengeful ex-spouse will phonethe newspaper she subscribes to,denouncing her tax-evadingformer husband; a politician will tell a friendlyeditor about an untoward relationship between a company tendering for a government contract and a member of the tender board. But this information may not be everything that it seems. It may be untrue, and designed to set you up. It may be only a partial truth, tailored to serve somebody elses agenda. And, true or not, it is an attempt to set your reporting agenda for you. Investigative journalist Stephen Grey, who in 2004 broke the world exclusive story of the CIAs transport of prisoners to Middle Eastern countries where torture is routine, told the 2006 Investigative Journalism Workshop at Wits University in Johannesburg: For me, investigative journalism is saying: We ask the questions. We are the journalists and its for us to say what is the issue of the day. And if that issue is determined by the fact that youre sitting round the breakfast table and theres a power-cut again, well, you go into the office and say: This is what we have to find out about! Even if youre somebody whos churning out 20 stories a day for a wire agency, where you think you really dont have much chance to shape things. If you do one story a day where you turn stuff around and say, Well, this is a story where Im going to choose what I write about, or where, when the press release comes in, you pick up the phone to find out whether its true or not then I think you are doing investigative journalism. It doesnt need to take years, months, weeks. To a degree, its a state of mind. If Grey is right, and setting your own news agenda ought to be part of the definition of investigative journalism, then the first thing you must do with a tip-off is question it. Ask: zz Is this a subject that I would have written about if I didnt get the tip off? zz Is what it uncoversan issueI feel passionate about? zz Has a truth been unearthed here that is really in the public interest? If the information can be corroborated, then in exposing the police commissioner and his car racket, the answers would probably be yes, yes and yes. People are not safe as long as the police force itself, with the highest police official in the land as Godfather, is involved in theft. These kinds of tip-offs are not as common as some journalists would hope. But Seymour Hersh would not have been able to expose the abuse and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq without information supplied by a range of concerned people, from senior military officers worried that standards of army conduct were being lowered, to the civilian mother of a soldier on Americas East Coast. These were genuine tip-offs, clearly in the public interest, from people with genuine concerns: In the middle of publishing the Abu Ghraib stories for the New Yorker, I get a call from a mother She said: I have to talk to you she had given her daughter a portable computer to take to Iraq she said: I was just going to clean it up she opened it up and sure enough there was a file marked Iraq. She hit the button. Out came about 100 photographs We published just one in the New Yorker. This is something no mother or daughter should see. It was the Arab man, leaning against the bars, the prisoner naked, two dogs on either side of him. What we didnt publish was the sequence that showed the dogs did bite the man pretty hard. A lot of blood. This woman saw that, and she called me, and away we go.

But what are the answers if you ask these questions in the case of the Tender Board member or the tax-evading ex? Exposing another corrupt or allegedly corrupt individual may not have a major impact on social justice and the public interest in general. Particularly not in countries where corruption and evading taxes are systemic in state structures, and endemic in the behaviour of some social groups. Your readers might get a cheap thrill from the exposure and downfall of a famous person, but the value of the story could stop there. Journalists often argue that by exposing one wrongdoer, the others will get a fright and the battle against corruption will be advanced. There is some truth in this: the danger of exposure will deter some aspiring robber barons, and at least that small amount of money may be saved to contribute to government spending. And it is taxpayers money the money of your readers. They have a right to know where it goes. But the press exposure of countless corrupt individuals in Africa has so far not very significantly impacted on systemic corruption, ingrained as it is in all structures and transactions in many African countries and sometimes even in the structures that have been created to fight corruption. What has happened however is that, in virtually all African countries where corruption and good governance are meticulously monitored by local and international institutions, clever officials and politicians have come to see the value of a corruption accusation against a rival, or even a superior they dont like. Governments routinely investigate former governments (now in opposition) for corruption, and vice versa. Of course we expose corruption; a Zambian newspaper editor once said, the opposition is very corrupt. (His newspaper was government-aligned.)

Generating story ideas Dont look at us; look at him!

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At the 2007 FAIR Investigative Journalism Summit, Zambian investigative reporter Zarina Geloo explained how corruption tips can actually hamper deep investigative reporting. Geloo found it was extremely hard to unearth documents about a certain arms trading network, despite the fact that the authorities were aware of, and had written reports about, the network. What was much easier, however, was to access the bits of the reports that had to do with relations between the network and former Zambian president Chiluba, who was being investigated by the authorities under current president, Levy Mwanawasa. As long as it shows that Chiluba was corrupt, you can get it, Geloo says. But nobody is interested in giving you any other part of the story, or the whole story. The front company concerned is allegedly still connected to the Zambian government, but that connection will probably only be investigated once a future president decides to expose Mwanawasa. So before we get too excited about the secret documents handed to us, we should stop and think. It may lead to a Big Nasty Story about some VIP, but is it really important? Investigative projects often compete for scarce newsroom resources. If your alternative investigation concerns why the local clinic still has no medicines in stock, the public might be better served by your search for those who are siphoning off the health budget, rather than by your digging up dirt on the tax evader or the corrupt Tender Board member. And what are the likely consequences of pursuing one investigation rather than another? In Malawi, good governance monitoring led to the discovery of corruption in a drug-supply firm, whose contract was terminated. But no alternative importer had been identified, and the result was a major shortage of important drugs. Its important to distinguish between wholly corrupt processes, and small instances of corruption within generally clean processes and to identify the difference you need a good general knowledge of how these processes are supposed to work. But does this mean there is no story worth following in these little sins? Of course there is! However, it is a different kind of story. If you can use an instance of corruption to highlight flaws in the system that make tax evasion and bribery easier, then the impact of your story will be greater. If you can link the impact of tax evasion to the lack of resources for clinics, you can explain a public problem rather than simply bemoaning it. And if you can expose the way factions and parties use anti-corruption finger-pointing to take the spotlight away from their own misdeeds, you have informed readers about the hidden processes of your countrys politics. Include the added dimensions of flaws that may be unconnected to corruption, such as ineffective targeting of activities or wastage. All of these require far more work, investigated more deeply and over a longer period of time, than simply using a windfall document to crucify one individual.

Your first step is deciding whether the tip-off could lead to a story that is important and in the public interest. Only after you have made that choice can you move on: you must now try to discover whether it is true. Sometimes it is not. It is fairly easy for a prominent state official or politician to access or create documentary evidence that seems to underpin false or partial allegations. Documents can be forged by anyone with access to official letterheads, a computer and a photocopier. But even if they are real, documentscan be carefully selected to paint an untrue picture; other crucial documents showing other aspects may have been left out.

Read the fine print! (Or find an expert to explain it)

Sometimes, documents can be so complex or technical that non-specialist journalists cannot understand them and have to rely on the sources explanation. Such documents should be discussed with independent experts, such as accountants, lawyers or doctors. But even seemingly simple documents are prone to misinterpretation. Recently, the South African magazine Noseweek was approached by a distressed informant, who claimed to have been paid only half of what was rightfully due to her by an attorney. As proof she produced a copy of the lawyers trust account, which listed all transactions in a single column. She tearfully pointed out how the document proved that the lawyer, Mr A, had made a payment to Ms Y, claiming it to be the full amount due to her but , look, he had then immediately made an additional, obviously irregular, payment for the same amount to himself! The reporter confronted Mr A, who pointed out that only one of the two payments was a debit entry while the other one was a credit entry. The story never made it to print. Comments Noseweek editor Martin Welz : One often gets documents that look obvious, especially when one has already been led along a certain way by a source. You then perhaps dont scrutinise them as closely as you ought to.

Generating story ideas Why have you been given this tip-off?

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Sometimes an allegation turns out to be true, but concerns a relatively insignificant piece of misconduct. Yet, having weighed up the issues as we describe above, you decide to follow the trail. Politician X of the Blue Party is an important party official, so you decide its worth trying to confirm that hetraveled to Europe at taxpayers expense simply to have a holiday, with a conference as an excuse. Part of your investigation must entail discovering why your source is telling you this. After all, many politicians take these kinds of paid holidays, and many do so unnoticed and unpunished. Why has your source decided that politician X, specifically, must not get away with it? Is somebody trying to get rid of X for other reasons? What has X done to make some people angry? What is the interest of the accuser? You discover that X has been investigating fraudon the part of his accuser, a fellow office-bearer in the Blue Party. So, do you: zz Showcase the accusation on your front page and assist in the downfall of X? zz Put the tip on hold while you ask X about the fraud investigations (and also about the trip to Europe)? zz Take time to find out what is actually going on inside the Blue Party? Take five minutes to think about your actions, and your reasons.

When corruption allegations fly as commonly as mosquitos, journalists have to be very careful not to fall victim to the agendas of informants trying to usethem to neutralise rivals, remove obstacles and realise their own ambitions. You cannot move further on the story above until you have investigated all sides of this story, and that involves investigating party factions and tensions, and the conduct of the accuser as well as the accused. You also need to decide where you stand: what are your reporting priorities, and where does the most pressing public interest lie? Once you have done that, you may decide it is still worth telling taxpayers how their funds may be misused for politicians paid holidays. But you will be able to present the incident in context, and, perhaps, as far less important than the bigger story of Blue Party back-stabbing and fraud.Well talk more about sources and their possible motives in Chapter 4. All this shows how risky it is simply to rely on sources to give us tip-offs. The only reporters who can sit back, relax and just wait for the phone call or the meeting in the coffee-shop or bar, are those exceptionally hardworking veterans who have sources in all sectors, all government departments, all businesses, all NGOs,and all political groupings in our countries. They are extremely rare, if not nonexistent. The rest of us cannot allow ourselves to be galvanised into action by the sources we merely happen to have assembled around us, no matter how nice we think they are.

None of this means you must never use sources. But that is the key: you must use them, not them, you. Too often, manipulative informants understand how we like to jump and run with our scoops without taking the time to find out everything that is really going on. It is called story planting, and the type of journalists who fall for it are known not as investigators, but as leak journalists. (Perhaps that should be leaky, since the resulting stories are so often full of holes.)

Make a list of areas of concern and questions you would like to investigate. This is where that ideas book we mentioned earlier becomes a very useful story planning tool. zz Do you want to know where the ruling party inner circle gets all its money? zz Or why there are still thousands of children living rough on the streets in spite of the existence of 12 childcare NGOs who together receive millions of Euros in donor aid? zz Why there is sewage in the streets even though the Campaign for A Clean City has been running for two years? zz Why people have been falling ill in your home village (built next to an abandoned copper mine) with strange pains in their limbs and blue-tinged lips? What do you see when you look at the list? Could it be your own values, your own passion for exposing injustice and social ills? Actually taking time to draw up such a list will show clearly why good investigative journalism is so closely connected to the public interest. It is value-driven: our values are the values of truth and justice! Finding those concerns and passions that drive you will be the first indicator of the investigative projects you will target.

1 List and prioritise your concerns.

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When you begin to prioritise, you will consider the scale and impact of the problem or question, weighing your own preferences against broader community concerns and what will make a compelling story for your readers. Already, you have moved beyond needing a tip-off to get you moving. You are working already.

2 Analyse your concern

Now you must analyse the top concern or question on your list.

Is it based on a public assumption, or on reality? We worry about many problems that, on closer inspection, may not be what they appear.

The tidal wave of teenage pregnancies

If you read the letters pages of South African newspapers, or listened to broadcast commentators, you might believe that there are now far more teenage pregnancies than there used to be 15-20 years ago. Yet when a research institute studied the problem, it found that teenage pregnancy rates had stayed almost constant over the period. Does that mean it isnt a story? No but again, the story has changed. Why, with contraceptives far more easily available than in the past, have teenage pregnancies not gone down? Is it because conservative clinic workers publicly shame young people coming in to request condoms or the pill? Is it because of the emphasis on abstinence campaigns, which, studies show, do not help teenagers to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancies, but rather push unsafe sexual activity underground? Is it because even modern young men refuse to use condoms? Is it because having a baby gives some young women a sense of family and roots, at a time when old community and family structures are falling apart under the pressures of migration, poverty and sickness? And what provokes these waves of public indignation (social scientists call them moral panics), where people suddenly make noise about something being far worse than the figures show it to be? This does not mean you have to study sociology or psychology before you can write a story! But it does mean you need to recognise that expertise is needed, and know how to access this, from your contacts, research or elsewhere. See Chapter 6 for research advice. One purpose of your analysis is to compile a list of useful sources including an assessment of their likely credibility and a short outline of the kind of background information you are going to need. The analysis will also help you to form your story hypothesis: your best guess at this stage as to what is happening and why. For example: The Campaign for a Clean City is failing because it has never been adequately funded. Can I define my story focus in detail? As we have seen, a word like corruption can cover (literally) a multitude of sins. Are you investigating fraud (lies and false information), rule-breaking, nepotism (giving a job, contract or favour to a friend or family member), bribery, negligence, inadequate controls, deliberate wrongdoing, or what? The point about a hypothesis (and well return to this in the next chapter) is that it is a term, and relates to a methodology, derived from science. It must be provable (or disprovable) by reference to concrete facts. A vague, undefined idea cant be proved or disproved. Is it important enough to merit investigation? There is a difference between a businessman stealing tens of millions from a miners pension fund to finance his luxury lifestyle, and a secretary who awards her office coffee-machine contract to her sister-in-law. What methods and processes could produce the evidence I need? As we will see in Chapter 3, when you pitch your story you will need to be able to describe your investigative methods. So, even at this early stage, it is worth thinking about. It will also provide you with an early alert about legal and ethical dilemmas to be resolved, if you might, for example, need to work undercover.

Your initial background research will either confirm your starting hypothesis, or suggest an alternative. You may even have found the opposite of what you expected to find! But on this basis, you not your editor, not your source, but you can now sum up your story in a concise, punchy working headline. This may not be the headline the story ends up under, but it is a good way of holding on to the focus of your story. zz Lonely teenagers make babies to feel loved zz Drugs for clinics stuck at customs zz French cash funds Presidents lifestyle zz Where is the promised childrens centre? zz Copper makes villagers sick zz City cleanup clean out of cash

3 Find the headline

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Your working headline will help you to pitch the story, and may even help you to think creatively about how the story can be presented by your news organisation. You will modify it as you find out more. You are getting there!

Finding the right headline

Doctors killing babies versus Saved babies sick on the streets Mark Hunter, a journalism professor now based in Paris, told the 2005 Global Investigative Journalism Conference in the Netherlands how he was instructed to get the story on doctors in American hospitals killing off premature babies. But he found that the tip-off that led to this assignment was completely incorrect. Doctors were actually saving many more premature infants than ever before in history. Hunter ended up with the opposite headline, which was only mildly less shocking. A new law inspired by the conservative religious-fundamentalist lobby, ruled that even infants who were so premature and weak they required constant, painful, invasive medical procedures, had to be kept alive. Babies who, before the law, lacked the physical basics to survive, were now subjected to operations, tubes, drips, tests, and yet more operations. Most of these babies were growing up into chronically sick, severely disabled toddlers. But another conservative-inspired law had simultaneously cut social spending. Now almost no free support services existed for disabled children from poor homes. Many of these saved children now vegetated on the streets.

This is a key stage of your process. You already have a list of background experts. Now you must try to find sources of the specific information your story needs, through source mapping. Who are the actors in your story and are there documents where their actions are recorded? Many records show what lazy governments, stealing hospital staff, irresponsible corporates, mafiosi and corrupt politicians have been up to. (For example, if your country has a Hansard a daily record of proceedings in Parliament it will indicate what committees your politician sits on, what debates he attended, what questions he asked or what votes he cast. This is public information.) Your targets may not want you to look at this information, precisely because they have been lazy, or incompetent, or thieving. So no one will just give you evidence. But it can be found, often more easily than you think. First find your main target. As soon as you have defined your headline, you will know where to look for the player who is accountable for the wrong in your story. This is often an individual or organisation, but not always. In the case of our teenage pregnancy story, a fragmented, traumatised society full of fragmented, traumatised families, could help explain why be responsible messages do not get through to teenagers. Interviews with teenage mothers (your own mini survey/vox pops) will confirm what the problem is, and your headline now has to make the point that the existing policy and structures are not helping. Teenagers have babies to feel loved may become Health services neglect teenage despair. This begins to suggest your structure for the actual story: explaining how, with many adults working far away, or sick, or dead, or preoccupied with their own problems, teenagers have only clinics and schools to guide and protect them. Youll need to demonstrate why massive support and refurbishing of these structures, including outreach into the communities, is needed to cope with the problem. In this example, your specific sources are easy to find: the teenagers themselves. Their statements will show you the way to other sources for confirmation: are the clinics unhelpful due to understaffing? Clinic leadership will be able to provide you with data on this, and the nurses will just plainly tell you (more statements) how fed up they are. How does the school handle issues like sexual relations between pupils? There must be policy papers or at least minutes of education committee, teachers or school, board meetings. (If there arent, in the face of these problems, this could amount to negligence another story.) As for the neglected street children, you can find paper trails: income and expenditure records of the street childrens NGOs compared with the income as received by the shelter catering for them. Experts in NGO affairs or accounting can tell you if these income and spending patterns look typical or reasonable (interview statements). In the case of the rich party officials, they may have made their wealth from friendly contractors hoping for tenders, or possibly from party coffers, in which case you will want to see the party books. Bank accounts are by law confidential (think whether you would be prepared to try and get around this, and how youd justify it), but you can look for evidence of windfall income in somebodys spending patterns, such as building a new luxury home or buying yet another flashy car. It is unlikely that you will get to see the partys account books even if you find a friendly party member who agrees to ask for the books on your behalf. But your efforts, and the evasive responses you get from those trying not to answer your questions, will make for interesting reading, especially if combined with lists of the wealthy party members assets. (More on doing these types of interviews in Chapter 5.) Try to obtain these with the help of a search at the company registry and, in the case of MPs and ministers, the parliamentary asset declaration record. If the asset registers are empty, or only list a crate of good whisky, whilst the private jet of the person concerned can be photographed from the road, thats a story in itself. If you decided to investigate the continued flow of sewage in the streets or the suspected copper poisoning in your home village, you can enlist the help of an environmental expert or institute to analyse the records of the Campaign for a Clean City

4 Source map your story

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(what was done, how much sense did that make?), and in the copper case, test the villages soil and water. Your own observations, inhabitants testimonies, local council records and budgets (or in the case of the copper poisoning, the copper companies budgets and environmental records or environmental impact studies) will make the story complete. A source map lists all these possible sources of data and which parts of your story they could help to expand or confirm. Doing a source map helps you plan where you will look for information.

Which of these is real investigative journalism?

A wealthy foreign import/export tycoon, now resident in your country, has recently joined the golf club in the capital city: the place where the elite go to play, socialise and do deals. He has been generous. He helped junior cabinet minister X to secure a loan for a new home; he sent a case of fine imported wines to every club member last New Year. He makes donations to all the right charities. Everyone speaks well of him although nobody knows exactly what it is he ships. He has told another local paper his main business is sewing machines and similar goods but you suspect he may be channelling arms to the civil war in the country north of yours. How would you start to find out more about this mysterious charmer? Draft a source map to indicate what initial questions you might ask, and where youd look for answers. Take about 15 minutes to think about this.

Questions to be asked

Sources of answers

Obviously, few people in a close elite social circle are going to stab their new-found benefactor in the back, although business rivals might be prepared to speak more freely. However, a reporter doing a society portrait of the man might fill in a lot of his background, so it might be best to keep your initial, public enquiries on this discreet basis. Your first searches and there will, of course, be many more will therefore look something like this:

Questions to be asked
zz Who is he? zz What favours, exactly, has he done? Has he asked

Sources of answers
zz Google zz Interviews with golf club colleagues

for anything in return?

zz What contacts has he made through this network? zz Does he deal in sewing machines? zz Do customs papers show imports of sewing

machines under his companys name? What are their alleged retail destinations? zz Will dock-workers talk to you about the crates, what they looked like and where they went? zz Do they end up in shops? (visit and interview dealers in destination suburbs/villages)

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To obtain data that are more difficult to access, there may be laws to help you. In South Africa, the Promotion of Access to Information Act provides some assistance, and there may be similar laws in your country. Chapter 8 looks at legal frameworks that are helpful (and unhelpful) to journalists doing investigation.

From this point, you will follow the trails suggested by your source map, using the techniques of project pitching and planning, interviewing and research that are described in subsequent chapters. As you collect the evidence, record it, using the mind-mapping style described in Chapter 3. This is the start of your data map, which can be used like a real map to find what you are looking for. Where you find connections, draw arrows from your intended headline and your background expertise to the findings that provide support for these. Draw other kinds of connections for example, jagged lines between bits of evidence that throw up contradictions or puzzles. For example, the customs papers say 500 sewing machines went to a certain village; inhabitants of the village say that they wouldnt know what a sewing machine even looks like, and certainly none have ever arrived at the trading store. Contradictions are often the most fruitful, explore these constantly asking why and you will find that your story idea grows not only legs, but wings!

Data mapping and ordering information

Mark Hunter and Luuk Sengers provided the following hints on data mapping and keeping your information on a story in good order: zz Create a chronology that describes events (dates, places, who was there, what was said, what was done); keep this information in a consistent format so you can instantly find the fact you need. zz Create a list of people you spoke to with their contact details (but remember to keep it secure) zz Create a to-do list of people who might know something about the project and whom you still need to contact, with their contact details zz Establish and draw up diagrams of the relationships between the various people involved zz Make a list of key documents, indicating those you have/have seen/still need zz Index your documents, and if you work with a computer create hypertext links to full electronic versions where you have these zz Highlight the facts you can consider as having been firmly established zz Note the status of other information you have zz Always keep a notebook with you to jot down ideas

To satisfy yourself (and your editor) that you will not be wasting time following up your story, think in terms of minimum and maximum. John Grobler, for instance, knows that a chicken farm his Namibian government has planned for, in a very inhospitable area without good water reservoirs, will probably amount to a waste of money, because chicken farming and slaughtering require a lot of water. That is the minimum story he is aiming for. But maybe the bizarre scheme is the result of kickbacks to politicians paid by crooked businessmen, and if he can prove that, he will have the maximum story. (Grobler is still investigating.)

As soon as you think you may have a story, it is worth communicating with other newsroom players who are likely to have a role in the investigation. This is an essential part of team-building and managing your own project, and also part of the broader enterprise of building good working relationships. Of course, you will use your common sense. Youll communicate discreetly, not boast wildly about the upcoming story in a general newsroom meeting. Office doors do sometimes need to be closed! Youll select the people you talk to carefully: people you can trust to be discreet themselves. You wont give away every tiny detail of what youre working on it is still only a proposed story

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and you need more checks and you will make the status of the information youre sharing and the need for discretion very clear. But by communicating with trusted colleagues and decision-makers as soon as a story starts shaping up you will be laying the foundations for a powerful team, and for good treatment of your project on your publications pages.

Case study
J
oyce Mulama is a Kenyan investigative journalist with a particular interest in gender and reproductive health stories. She got her story idea for The Little Pill That Could not from a dramatic tip-off, but from a report presented at a conference. The story was published by Inter Press Services in March 2006. Here, Joyce tells us about her work.

Please give us a brief outline of your story: Previous articles written on abortion in Kenya had largely focused on the consequences of abortion. My story, The Little Pill That Could, sought to expose hidden realities in the abortion scenario in the country. It explored why simple interventions to address unsafe abortion undertaken in other countries had not been considered in Kenya, a country where women increasingly die from unsafe abortion. It was a story about Misoprostol, a drug used to induce what has come to be known as medical abortion. How did the story get started? The story idea was inspired by a report launched at a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March 2006. The meeting brought together over 140 researchers, policy makers and health care practitioners from 16 African countries to discuss existing abortion research, and identify and prioritise areas that needed more research. Discussions also touched on ways of disseminating research findings in order to spur policy change around the contentious issue of abortion. It was from the report that I learnt of something I had not known about before: Misoprostol and its effectiveness in procuring abortion if administered under supervised medical care (in countries where abortion is legal); its cost-effectiveness (it is cheaper than surgical abortion), and its value in saving women from unnecessary death in countries where medical abortion exists. I got curious to find out if the drug, which has existed for years in other countries, was available in Kenya and if not, to find out the reasons for its absence. What reference documents did you use? Apart from the Addis Ababa report, Preventing Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences, I looked critically at several government publications on Kenyas reproductive health sector, focusing on material about abortion. I studied yet another report, A National Assessment of the Magnitude and Consequences of Unsafe Abortion in Kenya. This is a joint study conducted by the Kenya Medical Association, the Federation of Women Lawyers (Kenya Chapter), health ministry officials and Ipas: an international NGO that lobbies for womens sexual and reproductive rights. I also referred to publications from established non-governmental organisations working in the area of reproductive and womens health. Besides these references, I also talked to several authorities including the Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (KOGS) as well as authentic non-governmental organisations concerned about the subject. What difficulties did you encounter? It was extremely difficult to get comments from the government, particularly the Kenya Pharmaceutical and Poisons Board, which registers drugs. Yet this would have been a crucial voice, given that my investigations had revealed that Misoprostol was actually a registered drug in Kenya, but only as an anti-ulcer treatment, and not for abortion purposes. I was tossed up and down, being referred to an endless list of officials who would insist they were not the ones to respond to the matter. The story finally had to run without any comment from the Board. It was also a challenge to find the right information about Misoprostol. Different medical experts gave me conflicting information about the drug. I had to spend a lot of time sieving through the information I was given, over and again, and pressing for more details. What happened after the story was published? The article resuscitated campaigns led by KOGS to have Misoprostol registered for gynaecological use including that related to abortion in a country where unsafe abortion accounted for a large number of maternal deaths. In addition, campaigns by pro-choice activists intensified, seeking to have the abortion legislation reviewed. Presently, abortion in Kenya is illegal unless the mothers life is in danger. But women abort regardless of what the law says, which means the practice goes on in the backstreets, the very places where

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quacks also thrive. This does not mean, however, that illegal abortion does not exist secretly in high places too. The difference is that the majority poor, who cannot afford to pay for safe services, are dying from complications from unsafe abortion practices carried out by doctors with questionable qualifications. This is also one reason why the story elicited public interest, with many people, including professional colleagues, confessing that they had never heard about Misoprostol before, yet it would rescue lives. The story won an award from the Population Reference Bureau in 2006. How long did the investigations last? Having to make endless trips to the offices of the pharmaceutical board was quite a time-consuming exercise! There are days I would camp there from morning to evening. I felt devastated that after all that effort, I still could not get any of the officials to say something. After doing my reading of the documents, I spent two weeks conducting investigations about the situation of Misoprostol in Kenya. Have there been any follow-up stories? Indeed this is a story that warrants a follow-up. However, neither I nor other journalists have followed up on this story. The closest I got was to do an article on how a small community in a remote setting in western Kenya was addressing unsafe abortion. But this is an issue I am passionate about and I plan to follow it up. What did you learn from doing the story? Investigations take time and require a lot of patience. While one can easily get frustrated, it is important to stay focused on the subject and remain guided by the core role of journalism: serving as the watchdog of society and offering a voice to the voiceless. The significance of a wide network of contacts cannot be over-emphasised. It was the rapport I had previously established with medical professionals that gave me access to the information I managed to gather.Talk to as many people as possible to corroborate facts and to obtain a variety of information that could add to the twists in the story. Needless to add, extensive reading of material related to the subject is important. More often than not, you will find some supportive background and pillars here to strengthen your findings. Also critical is the fact that a journalist needs toallocate himself/herself enough time for investigations, in order to avoid working in a rush.

Following the right steps

Joyce makes all the most important analytical points about her own work. But notice that she followed the process we recommend in this chapter, starting with setting and following her own agenda. This is a subject she cares passionately about; reading about Misoprostol in a report clicked with her because of that pre-existing interest, and she shaped a story that was relevant to Kenya from it. It was a story that provoked public interest and won an award because it was researched with the head, but written from the heart.

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Key points from this chapter

zz zz zz zz zz

Story ideas come from a range of sources, including some that might appear routine or unexciting. Dont neglect: Your own experience and that of friends and neighbours Follow-ups on previous stories Reading and the Internet Street, caf and taxi gossip Routine checks of public information and with contacts. Keep an ideas book to record issues you come across. But in every case, evaluate these ideas for their currency and public interest, and for any biases or lack of representivity related to their source. Tip-offs can produce dramatic stories, but should be handled very carefully.

zz Evaluate their worth. Story tips about corruption have the most value when they can be used to shed light on some

important aspect of public life; merely crucifying an individual is not always the best use of reporting resources.
zz Evaluate their truthfulness and the possible motives of sources.

Investigative journalism sets its own agenda, and uses sources and tips to uncover important truths. When sources and tips use the journalist, this is called leak journalism, not investigation. Wherever a story idea comes from, journalists should start with their own and their communitys real concerns: Analyse those concerns Boil the story idea down to a clear headline to focus the investigation Source map the story Data map the information as it is uncovered.

zz zz zz zz

So, what should John Nyamu have said and done about his videotape?
Well, since he does not know who the source was, that might be one starting point. Any further information (such as a detailed description from the stallholder of the man in the white shirt or his car) might help with future investigations. But his paper cannot simply print stills from the video as proof of anything. John needs to look at whatever financial or lifestyle evidence he can access, and talk to as wide a range of people with insight as possible, to clarify the nature of any financial relationship between the businessman and the President. Depending on the media freedom climate in his country, this could carry serious risks. Johns news organisation needs to weigh these up when deciding how to proceed. If the corrupt shielding of criminals goes on at such a high level, this is certainly an important story in the public interest, and deserves to be followed. But whoever left that envelope, should have added a large label saying Handle With Care!

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Glossary
zz Bias bending or skewing any aspect of a story to fit prejudices or preconceived ideas zz Data map a diagram of information discovered in the course of your investigation, showing important connections,

gaps, etc
zz Follow-up a story based on a previous story by picking up some unanswered question or gap in the first story, or a fresh

angle. NOT simply a rewrite of a story published elsewhere

zz Hypothesis a statement suggested as the basis for further debate or investigation, without any advance assumption zz zz zz zz zz zz

zz

zz

that it is true Minimum and maximum story what your story can certainly deliver and what would be first prize Misoprostol a drug used to induce medical abortion of a foetus Radio Trottoir French term for the rumour factory that operates on the streets of any big city. Literally pavement radio. Representative (experience, instance, etc.) a single experience or example which provably represents a broader situation Source map a diagram or list of all the sources who might have information about a topic Story planting action, often by those in authority, to drop misleading information into journalists laps in the hope they will believe it and publish it. The information may be wholly false, or simply incomplete, but is always designed to draw attention away from a true situation Urban legends unproven stories that circulate regularly in big cities: for example, the ghost hitch-hiker or the magician who steals penises but also unproven stories about the goings-on of the rich and famous. The same urban legends can crop up in different cities at different times; their source is often A friend of mine knows somebody who Working your contacts the professional journalistic practice of cultivating and maintaining regular contact with sources, even when you do not need their help with a specific story

Further reading
zz Read Joyce Mulamas full Misopristol story at http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32716 zz Read Seymour Hershs interview on doing the Abu Ghraib investigation at

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204
zz and read his New Yorker articles on the magazines website at http://www.newyorker.com zz Find more about the Wits Universitys Investigative Journalism Workshop at the journalism school website at http://www/

journalism.co.za

Planning the investigation

Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to: Explain the difference between a story idea and a hypothesis Draw up an investigative reporting plan Create and deliver an informative, convincing story pitch Explain the uses and limitations of different types of source material and different investigation methods zz Understand what a paper trail is and how to begin tracking one zz Draw up and use criteria of authenticity and adequacy for evidence and zz Draft useable timelines and budgets.
zz zz zz zz

If you are confident that you already have these skills, go straight to
zz Chapter 4 for a detailed look at finding and using sources zz Chapter 5 for more on interviewing zz Chapter 6 for technical guidance on computer-assisted and number-based

(e.g. financial) research

zz Chapter 7 for advice on analysing your evidence, packaging it, and writing the story.

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group of African investigative reporters working across several countries came together and discovered their communities had very similar problems. All were suffering resource exploitation and depletion, spearheaded by big multinational companies. All could pinpoint corrupt officials whose corruption was damaging service delivery and the rule of law. All saw and in some cases personally experienced the devastation of diseases such as HIV/ Aids, malaria, pneumonia and the problems caused by lack of medicines to treat these. They decided that there was scope here for transnational investigations where the experience

of several countries brought together could comprehensively explore the issue. But this would be a massive and complex undertaking. Every aspect, from selecting the topic to carving up the work would need to be tightly controlled, in order to make sure the final project came together properly. The organisation was the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) and the resulting transnational investigation, on the availability of medicines, forms the case study for this chapter, on page 3-19. First, we look at the ingredients that go into planning any investigative reporting project, large or small.

Why plan?
T
he previous chapter looked at sources of good story ideas. We saw that while tips from informed insiders are immensely useful to investigative reporters, they are not the only source of ideas, and that all sources have their own characteristics and limitations. We also saw that the best story ideas are not necessarily the biggest: the best story ideas are those that go to the heart of a real problem in the community or broader society where reporters work. But you cannot just move from idea straight to investigation. What you have is just a starting point. Because investigative stories carry a heavy social responsibility and various legal risks you must be sure your reporting is as thorough, accurate and comprehensive as possible. Because media work is a team effort, you also need to ensure that theres good communication with colleagues. And because investigative reporting needs resources, you need to make certain these will be in place. For all these reasons, you need to plan the work that will go into your story. Where your idea came from will be one of the factors shaping your work plan. If the idea came from your own observations, or from anecdotal evidence, you need to be sure that these individual experiences really represent a broader trend or issue. If the idea came from a tip, you must check the authenticity, reliability and possible motives of the source even before you move forward. We noted these questions in Chapter 2 and youll find more on source-checking in the next chapter. But even if the sources are impeccable and the initial facts irrefutable, there is a first stage you have to go through: turning your story idea into a tightly-focused hypothesis or question that the investigation will prove, disprove or answer. You need to do this because: It makes the work manageable by giving it boundaries and goals It assists in communicating and selling the idea to others It allows you to budget time and resources more accurately It provides criteria of relevance for the evidence you collect It lays the foundation for a coherent final story. However, a plan is never set in stone. As youll see from what follows, it has to have sufficient flexibility to cope with the new information and new directions your investigation will uncover.

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From idea to hypothesis

Very often, youll find you have the story idea in broad general terms that will allow you to investigate a wide (and probably unmanageable) universe of topics. A good technique for developing and refining this idea is to write your way into it. Try to compose a story summary: a paragraph that describes what the final story will look like. This is a way of opening newsroom minds to the story, and sketching out a range of possible explanations. It also helps you to see whether the story can be treated as local, or whether it might have national, regional or even pan-African implications. For example:

Local, national or regional?

A lot has been written about the impact of water privatisation on poor people in Africa. X municipality in our country privatised its water services three years ago, and our papers local office has been receiving many complaints that water is now unaffordable and repair services are unreliable. Now there has been a big outbreak of diarrhoea in the area. Some people are saying the water supply is no longer poor; others are saying that people who cannot afford private water are using other unsafe sources. This story will look at the impact of water privatisation on the community and whether our water is still safe. This big picture approach is a good basis for further brainstorming. It takes you some way towards focusing the story, but not all the way. Its quite abstract and general almost academic rather than journalistic. It doesnt define its terms, and raises issues that could take the story in different directions or split it into different themes. zz Is our focus safety or cost? These could be two stories. zz Does impact mean impact only on the poor? Are there problems in middle-class communities too? What about industrial and agricultural water users in the area? zz Do we want to see if the same problems exist in other regions? In other countries around us? Internationally? (These questions, of course, may form the basis of other, future stories. Dont throw away the results of such brainstorming.) There are some other, more detailed frameworks that can help you tighten this very general level of description and see exactly what your IJ project should be. The first is the classic formula for focusing a story: Whats been happening? So what? (Why should our readers care?) Whats been happening? This puts the focus of your story firmly on the NEWS aspect. Theres been a major outbreak of waterborn diarrhoea in X, a district where water supply has been privatised. So what? Our readers want to know why, and whether their own water supplies and health are also at risk. We need to find out the source of the epidemic. If it can be linked to privatised water, we need to discover that link. And whatever the risk factors, we need to see if they exist or are likely to be created anywhere else, and warn our readers. This framework gives you useful ideas about packaging and presenting your story so it is appealing to readers. But it is still broad, and doesnt indicate the practical activities, precise focus or levels of depth in the investigation. Who did it? How did they do it? What are the consequences? How can it be put right? This is an IJ outlining approach that many US journalism textbooks recommend. It clearly sets out the stages of the planned investigation and is appropriate for stories where there are already strong indications that corruption exists. But assuming somebodys guilt before you have looked at all the evidence can be dangerous. It ignores another key IJ question: conspiracy or chaos? In other words, is the outbreak the result of deliberate neglect and cost-cutting that risks safety, or the result of slackness, inappropriate systems that dont suit the circumstances, inadequate resources, or a dozen other causes that cant be pinned on one villain. It might be better to ask more neutral opening questions: What went wrong? How did it go wrong? Why did it go wrong? What are the consequences? How can it be put right? Thomas Oliver, assistant managing editor of projects (investigative stories) on the American newspaper The Atlanta JournalConstitution, suggests three questions that bring together news and in-depth, focused planning: Whats the news? Whats the story? Whats the keyword? Whats the news? makes us sum up in a sentence what might be going wrong: the epidemic again. Whats the story? focuses on how it can be told for example, by telling the story of how people find water when they cannot buy it from a private company. Or by going to the water plant and looking at the adequacy of safety checks in the process. And that third question, Whats the keyword? makes the journalist boil down the story idea to a key aspect: perhaps affordability or cutting corners. Going through this process means you have to choose a direction for your investigation. When you have collected all your evidence, you can return to these three questions to direct your writing of the story. Oliver notes: projects tend to become all-inclusive and sometimes exhaustively cover everything one ever wanted to know about a subject. This is a weakness, not a strength.

Planning the investigation

A final question to ask is:

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Whats the rationale? (Why are we doing this story?) Examining your rationale puts the spotlight on the values that underlie the story. This is the point where aspects such as public interest are examined, and asking and answering this question may put the brake on stories that are simply exposure for the sake of exposure. Some questions that can flesh out the rationale for a story include: zz Who will benefit/ who may suffer if we do this story? zz Whom does the story challenge or call to account? zz How important is the issue? zz Will the story stir debate around values or behaviour? zz Will the story highlight faulty systems or processes? zz What could the story reveal that wasnt previously known? zz Has the story been covered before or elsewhere? You may wish to take questions from all these frameworks and weave them together into a personal planning process. Thats fine any framework is useful if it helps you decide: zz Whether you really have a story; zz What that story is; and zz What direction your investigation should take.

The Daily Dispatch and Frere Hospital

The South African regional paper, The Daily Dispatch, based in the Eastern Cape, published an investigation in July 2007 into what they alleged were hundreds of unnecessary infant deaths at a local hospital. The story had huge, national repercussions including the sacking of the deputy health minister, who was accused of not being a team player because, among other things, she had supported the papers claims of a crisis at the hospital. Here, deputy editor Andrew Trench, explains how the story began, and was planned: Our special investigation into the deaths of babies at Frere Hospitals maternity unit had a humble beginning. It started as an item some two months ago on our daily news diary as a report about a mother whose baby had died in apparently negligent circumstances at Frere. It was, unfortunately, a story familiar to us. Over the last year, a number of mothers had come to us to tell us of their ordeals and heartbreak after losing a child at the hospital. This time, we decided to hold back on publication for a day. We told our reporters to try and locate in 24 hours as many mothers as possible who had had a similar experience. Within a day we had located at least half a dozen. It was clear to us that we needed to dig further into this phenomenon to really understand what was going on. So we assigned three reporters to do nothing else but to investigate the truth behind these dreadful accounts. For the last two months, Chandre Prince, Ntando Makhubu and Brett Horner have done nothing else. They spoke to former and existing staff, and interviewed parents who had lost their children. They walked the corridors of Frere and dug out documents. They have pieced together the shocking truth which we reveal today You must turn this understanding of your proposed story into a hypothesis (a statement that your research will support or disprove) or a direct question that your story can answer. Your hypothesis or question helps you to decide what evidence will be relevant and what will count as proof. They can be short or long, one sentence or two sentences. But they must Be concrete and specific Avoid loose terminology that can be interpreted in different ways Not beg any deeper, underlying questions that should really be your focus. (This is how biased investigations develop. They start in the middle of the process, based on assumptions that the story never tests.) You might begin by thinking that two hypotheses are possible from our poverty, privatisation and water-borne disease story.

A B

Privatisation has made buying water too expensive for the poor. So they draw water from unhealthy free sources, leading to an epidemic, or; Private water companies are cutting corners and standards of water safety are falling, leading to an epidemic.

But you need to examine these hypotheses carefully. What assumptions do they rest on and are we certain of the validity of the assumptions? Both these hypotheses rest on untested assumptions about the source of the epidemic: A assumes that it is unofficial

Planning the investigation

water supplies that are at fault; B that the water plant is careless about standards. Actually, you need to look at both possibilities, because both these hypotheses rest on the same deeper question: where did the epidemic start?

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A far better hypothesis would therefore be: The recent epidemic of water-borne disease in X municipality came either from the privatised water supply or from unofficial water sources. And this refined hypothesis allows you to go back to your story outline, and create one that is clearer and more balanced: There has just been a major epidemic of water-borne diarrhoea in X municipality, where water is privatised. This story will try to find out how that epidemic started. Was it because people cant afford to buy private water, and are using polluted streams and wells instead? Or was it because the private water company has dropped standards of purity at its plant to cut costs? We will talk to scientists about the causes of the epidemic. We will follow members of a poor community on their daily search for water, and visit the plant with an independent expert to look at their safety standards. When we have established how the disease got started, we will look at what needs to be done to prevent a recurrence.

Exercise #1

Hypotheses

Read and critique the following IJ hypotheses. Note which are adequate as the foundation for a story, and which are not. How could the faulty hypotheses be improved?

The immigrants flooding into this country are causing crime. Adequate/not adequate

Comments

The death penalty should be brought back as it will deter murderers. Adequate/not adequate

Comments

advice and support service. Adequate/not adequate Comments

The restrictions imposed on Aids education by some donor institutions are making it harder to give a complete

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A bribe was given to Cabinet Minister X in 1999, to secure his vote in favour of a multi-million arms sale to our

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country. Adequate/not adequate Comments

Nurses at X hospital in Y province are selling medicines out of the hospital pharmacy for private profit. Adequate/not adequate

Comments

COMMENTS: The immigrants flooding into this country are causing crime. This is not an adequate hypothesis. It is based on an assumption that immigrants are flooding into the country that isnt tested. It does not define what it means by immigrants: these could be documented or undocumented migrants, from countries ranging from the UK to Iran. And causing crime is a vague term. Does the hypothesis mean that immigrants actually commit crimes, or change society in such a way that there are more opportunities for crime, or more people tempted to commit crime?

The death penalty should be brought back as it will deter murderers. Again, this hypothesis has decided the issue before doing any investigation. There are a number of questions here: zz What deters murder? zz Is there one known deterrent or are different types of murder affected by different factors? zz Is the death penalty proven to be a deterrent? zz What could be the other consequences and risks of restoring the death penalty? Taking all the above into account, would it be socially beneficial to restore the death penalty?

The restrictions imposed on Aids education by some donor institutions are making it harder to give a complete advice and support service. This is an adequate hypothesis, but it would be stronger if that phrase making it harder was defined a little more for example by preventing clinics from counseling sex workers or distributing condoms.

A bribe was given to Cabinet Minister X in 1999, to secure his vote in favour of a multi-million arms sale to our country. This still needs more work: zz Who gave the bribe? zz How much? zz And are we certain that the Minister would have voted against the arms deal if he had not been bribed? You need more detail, and to focus the hypothesis on the actions of the Minister.

Nurses at X hospital in Y province are selling medicines out of the hospital pharmacy for private profit. This is an adequate hypothesis. It defines the investigation, and the target.

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Making your research plan

Once you have developed a hypothesis, you need to create a research plan. This involves the following steps, which well look at in order: zz Listing likely sources zz Developing criteria of adequacy and proof zz Deciding on a methodology zz Creating a timeline zz Developing an outline budget

Chapter 4 looks in detail at how you deal with sources and Chapter 5 at interviewing sources. This section explains the range of sources you may use, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. There are two main types of sources: primary and secondary. Primary sources These are those that form direct, specific evidence or relate direct experience. For example, a patient who was sold drugs through the hospital back door by a nurse is a primary source about that experience but not about what nurses are doing behind the scenes. So is the foreman at the water plant who was told to do purity checks once a month instead of once a week. So is the bank statement of a cabinet minister, clearly showing a payment from an international arms company. Primary sources so long as you have verified them and made sure they are authentic are the most valuable, because they provide direct proof of something. They are also, often, the hardest to find. People with relevant experiences may be reluctant to go on the record for fear of being victimised, and documents such as bank statements or hospital records may be kept confidential or even governed by privacy laws. The next chapter explains how to tackle these practical and ethical challenges.

Secondary sources These sources relate information at one remove. All published materials, including organisational reports, and second-hand accounts (I had a friend who) are secondary sources. Secondary sources are valuable, particularly for establishing context and background, helping to explain issues, and providing leads to good contacts, but any evidence you draw from them should be checked and verified, and the credentials of the author also checked.

Mind-mapping You need to make an advance list of the sources you will use to obtain both evidence and background. A good way to do this is to create a mind-map. Take a large sheet of paper and write your hypothesis in the middle. Then begin to draw branches related to the different parts of the hypothesis. On these branches, list possible sources.

Source 3

Source 1

Hypothesis Source 2
Source material There are three types of source material: human, paper and digital (web).

Source 4

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a

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Human sources Human sources fall into many categories: direct role players, eyewitnesses, experts and interested parties, eager and reluctant. Be sure you understand the status, credentials and motivations of the people you approach. If you are working on the water privatisation story, the representatives of anti-privatisation organisations will be able to provide a great deal of information. But that information will be informed by a particular position: you need to seek other viewpoints, too. If you are speaking to people from a community, be sure your selection of voices is representative: women, men, young, old and from the various income and interest groups. Human voices give your story authenticity and make it come alive. Try never to base a story on paper or electronic sources alone. Paper sources These can include books, newspapers and magazines, official records and business documents such as contracts and bank statements. Very often it is in the paper sources that you will find the proof you are seeking. We call this following the paper trail. Veteran American investigative reporter Bill Gaines credits his ability to research documents with his success. I was able to get stories that other people missed because I went to the places where you could find the documents. And very often, Gaines found what he was seeking in public documents, not by raiding secret files. He found the home of a key source by searching property records, and nailed a company for corruption because of something they had written when filing a business registration. Investigative journalists in Africa face problems when seeking paper evidence: very often it does not exist, or public records are disordered and hard to search, or there are no freedom of information laws allowing the media to make paper searches. Even in South Africa, which has freedom of information laws in place, the attitude of officials can create obstacles. A 2003 study done by the Open Society Institute ranked South Africa bottom out of five newly-democratised nations in providing access to information. Follow-up research showed that one big problem was the attitude and lack of capacity of officials, who often stalled because they thought information was going to be used against the government.

Nevertheless, in a modern society, everybody leaves a paper trail. The Internews handbook for Cambodian investigative journalists gives the following example:

Everybody leaves a paper trail in a modern society

zz At birth, the hospital produces a birth certificate zz When you begin your education, you are registered (enrolled) at school and during your school years other records are

produced including attendance and grade (marks) reports

zz If you break your leg playing football and go to hospital you will have a medical record zz If you are prosecuted for breaking the law you will have a criminal record; if you are involved in a civil suit, other legal zz zz zz zz zz

documents may be filed in court If you get married, the courts will issue a marriage licence If you buy a home, there will be sale and/or bond (home loan) documents If you earn enough to pay taxes, tax return and payment documents will be kept If you buy anything, you will be issued a receipt detailing what you bought, where, and often how you paid When you die, there will be an official death certificate.

The documents may have different titles in your country, but what this example illustrates is that everybody, however humble, is documented somewhere. One important piece of initial research in an investigative story is to discover what documents are used and required in the field you are investigating where and how they are stored, and how they can be accessed. If advance permissions have to be sought, you need to do this early in your research, since official permits can take a very long time to come through. Dont overlook the obvious paper sources: directories and phone books. Digital sources Digital sources include information on the web and digitally stored records. Searching for these requires skill and some technical expertise, and is covered in detail in Chapter 6. The amount of information available on the web is dazzling but, as with any other source, you need to check who the provider is, and their credentials and possible motives. Remember, the web is relatively uncontrolled: almost anybody with access can post almost anything, including complete fabrications. In addition, web information often stays in circulation for a long time; sometimes long after it has become outdated. Always check the most recent sources first.

A new tool: crowd-sourcing This combines human and digital sources. Newspapers that have a web presence or good phone links are beginning to draw readers into investigative work. They might report a story like the one above, and then invite readers to add to it. When the US Fort Myers News-Press did this on a story about over-billing for local utilities, they were astounded by the response. Experts among their readership sent them analyses of balance sheets and technical papers, and there were thousands of phone calls and e-mails. Read the full story on the newspapers website (http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage).

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Exercise #2

Approaching sources

What are the pros and cons of the following approaches to sources?

A I am investigating the impact of Chinese investment in my country. I plan to do many interviews with the employees of
Chinese-owned factories. I know this will give me primary evidence of how Chinese investors exploit local workers. Comments

whose marriage has been made impossible because the young man cannot afford the price demanded by his fiances parents. I will talk to older married couples, traditional elders, pastors, marriage officers and a sociologist at the University to try and create a timeline of how the cost of marriage has risen over the past 10 years. Then Ill try to correlate this with other economic data, to see if I can prove that worsening family poverty is making parents more demanding. But I will also talk to parents, to get their viewpoint, so that the story is not just an attack on greedy parents. Comments

B I am investigating how poverty in my country has raised the cost of lobola (bride-price). I plan to start with a couple

It seems as if the foreign food companies put pressure on peasants to grow only crops for export. There is a lot of stuff on the web on this, from all over the world. All I need to do here is a couple of local interviews to confirm its happening here too. Comments

C Im investigating the links between multinational land ownership in my country and changing agricultural practices.

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COMMENTS I am investigating the impact of Chinese investment in my country. I plan to do many interviews with the employees of Chinese-owned factories. I know this will give me primary evidence of how Chinese investors exploit local workers. There are too few sources here, and the angle of the questions does not cover the full scope of the investigation. In fact, it begs several questions, including how dominant Chinese investment is, whether it is limited to factory ownership, and whether Chinese factory owners are uniquely harsh with their employees. There is no attempt to contextualise, and this is an investigation that could end up simply reinforcing one narrow prejudice.

I am investigating how poverty in my country has raised the cost of lobola (bride-price). I plan to start with a couple whose marriage has been made impossible because the young man cannot afford the price demanded by his fiances parents. I will talk to older married couples, traditional elders, pastors, marriage officers and a sociologist at the University to try and create a timeline of how this cost of marriage has risen over the past 10 years. Then Ill try to correlate this with other economic data, to see if I can prove that worsening family poverty is making parents more demanding. But I will also talk to parents, to get their viewpoint, so that the story is not just an attack on greedy parents. This is a good selection of sources: human and documentary, with a clear attempt to balance different types of evidence.

Im investigating the links between multinational land ownership in my country and changing agricultural practices. It seems as if the foreign food companies put pressure on peasants to grow only crops for export. There is a lot of stuff on the web on this, from all over the world. All I need to do here is a couple of local farmer interviews to confirm its happening here too. No, this is not all you need to do. At best the web information only provides you with context and you cannot, in any case, accept it all without some verifying procedures. You need documentary context information about your own country too: perhaps surveys of farming patterns over a few years. You need to relate these to patterns of land ownership. And a couple of farmer interviews may add voices and colour but, alone, they are far too few to provide any evidence about trends and patterns, and may be simply anecdotal.

Once you have listed likely sources for the evidence you need, you need to decide what will count as proof for your hypothesis, or an adequate answer for your question. Will it be enough to prove that the Cabinet Minister received a bribe and did, in fact, vote for the arms deal? Or do you need to look at his views on the arms trade, and whether his position shifted after he received the bribe? Will it be enough to prove that the water plant now does fewer quality checks than it used to, or do you also need to find out what the consequences of fewer checks were? Brant Houston reminds us that the best investigative reporters do not only assemble evidence that supports their hypothesis, but also evidence that contradicts it. For instance, a government official who is already very rich may be unlikely to waste his time doing a service for someone who offers him a US$10,000 bribe. Considering contradictory evidence is the best way to avoid the wishful thinking trap. Ask yourself: zz What will count as complete evidence? zz What will count as reliable evidence? (How many sources? What types of sources?) zz What could invalidate/disprove my evidence? Can I deal with this during my research? zz Which pieces of evidence will require the most careful and detailed checking? Be careful with the notion of proof. Sometimes, it will be possible to prove a hypothesis completely. Sometimes you may be able to assemble enough evidence only to make it probable your hypothesis is correct. This is very similar to the situation in law where criminal charges require proof beyond reasonable doubt and civil charges only require a balance of probabilities weighed towards one side of a case. (Note that even criminal cases do not require proof beyond ALL doubt because this is almost impossible to construct!) Find more on proof in Chapter 7. So long as your final story makes it clear whether you are presenting proof or probability, you may still have a story, even without watertight proof. But you will need to be very careful how you write it, and we discuss this too in Chapter 7.

Planning the investigation

Type of source Human Useful for
zz Giving life and

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Strengths
zz Interviewing does not

Possible problems
zz People have biases, prejudices etc. and

authenticity to a story

require hi-tech resources zz Accounts of first-hand experience make a story convincing primary sources
zz Secondary sources broaden

may lie.
zz May only provide anecdotal evidence zz Need to ensure your interviewees are

representative
zz People may be victimised for talking to

the press how will you protect them? Paper

zz Providing hard zz May be protected by privacy laws,

evidence zz Providing history and context

background research beyond what you can tackle yourself zz Primary documentary sources (e.g. bank records) are on-the-record and reliable
zz Can do it all from your

censorship etc.
zz Hard or slow to access zz May need specialist knowledge to

understand e.g. financial documents

zz Can produce a dead or over-academic

story with no live voices

zz Beware of using secondary sources only zz Can produce a dead story zz Needs electricity, technical skill and

Digital

zz Can do all of the

above, depending on whats being retrieved

computer, including accessing sound and video zz Information is posted fast and from a huge range of national and international sources

network access
zz Must have good verification procedures

beware of being misled or framed

We tend to associate this term with academic activities, but it simply means: how will I do the research? From the range of methods available, you need to plan the best mix of documentary research, live interviews, site visits and observation, and other approaches. You need to decide which sources to use, how much time to devote to each, what cross-checking procedures will be needed, and what stages the work will go through. What youre looking for is evidence that will substantiate (add weight to) your hypothesis. You can do this indirectly by building up the picture of a context, background, history or climate in which certain things are more likely to have happened. Journalism lecturer Derek Forbes says of this process: Like a jigsaw puzzle, this section of your planning works best if you begin with the surrounding details before working on the image at the centre. But most powerfully, you do it directly, by getting relevant evidence from your sources. Always have a Plan B An important part of methodology planning is thinking ahead to the possible obstacles you may encounter. Supposing you cant obtain access to a particular document, or a key source wont talk to you? Whats your Plan B? How can you put together alternative evidence that will provide support or proof of equal weight? And remember that methodology should take teamworking into account. Will you need to work with experts? A photographer? A lawyer? How will you build these cooperative processes in, so that they are allowed enough time to produce results?

You need to take decisions about methodology before you construct your timeline for the investigation and your budget. The timeline is your estimate of how long the investigation will take: how many hours you will spend in archives, or interviewing, or on the web, or writing. As well as the time consumed by various tasks, two other important factors in constructing the timeline are deadlines and competition. You need to be aware of publication deadlines. If the story has already been commissioned or diarised, work backwards from the submission deadline, and try to bring the time you will need into line with the time you actually have. If you cant negotiate. If, on the other hand, you are pitching the story to an editor, work forwards from your starting point, so that your pitch (see below) indicates which edition the story will be ready for. Again, negotiation is usually part of this process but if you

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have worked on a timeline you will be able to make rational arguments for the time you need, rather than simply sounding like an inefficient, slow reporter. If the story concerns a hot topic of public concern, it is also possible that other competitor media are also chasing it. If you know this, it may be necessary to speed up your work to publish first. Investigative reporting should not be rushed or skimped: that way lie defamation suits. But with a timeline in front of you, you will be able to decide the earliest point at which something coherent and substantial can be published, even if it is not yet the complete investigation.

The other important estimate a project plan needs is a budget. How much will the investigation consume in money and resources? Elements to consider when putting your budget together include: zz Travel (mileage/petrol/transport fares) zz Accommodation and meals (Will you need to spend time away from your office? Will you need to provide modest hospitality for sources?) zz Fees for expert advisers, translators, transcribers or service providers zz Fees for legal advice zz Fees for conducting archive or record searches or getting notarised copies of documents zz Communication costs (phone, fax, internet) zz Photographic costs zz Photocopying

Exercise #3

Budgeting

Budgeting raises one important ethical question: should you expect to pay sources, or pay bribes to get access to information? Well consider an overall approach to making ethical decisions in Chapter 8, but stop for a moment here and think about your own position on this issue. Most journalists agree that it is not a good idea to pay sources. The lure of payment can encourage lies and exaggeration; the fact of payment can be used later to retract or discredit the evidence: I only said it because they offered me money. And the fact that you are prepared to pay for stories does not reflect well on your papers ethics or your own investigative skills. Sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, a paper may compensate a source for working time lost giving an interview, or for travel or other costs. But even here it is important that both parties are clear what the payment is for, and to pay a low, normal rate for the expense in question. (Remind sources that they are not, in fact, doing you or your paper a personal favour by providing information: they are helping the affected community or society at large). Bribing an official to gain access is equally disreputable. But in some communities, officials have developed a culture of demanding small favours (dash, cool-drink) for doing anything including opening their offices in the morning! In this climate, you may be unable to work at all without oiling the wheels of officialdom. Yet you risk compromising your whole investigation through these trivial payments. However small and routine they are, they will still be bribes if the official reveals to his bosses or rival media that you made them. You need a decision-making process for dealing with these kinds of demands: think each one through in relation to its circumstances. Could you justify it (most importantly, to your readers) if challenged later? It is always better to try and secure co-operation by explaining the importance of your work and building allies. Supposing your paper cannot afford the investigation? For many small media in Africa, budgets are tight. The kind of investment major US papers make in investigative projects would be enough to keep the whole newspaper running for a year. In these circumstances, you need to be creative about identifying other sources of support. A good starting point is international donor organisations. Sometimes they have areas of interest that coincide with your investigation. FAIR runs an (unfortunately still rather small) grant fund for investigative journalism projects: check it out on the FAIR website. In South Africa, the Taco Kuiper Fund awards research grants to deserving local investigative journalists.

Funding investigative journalism?

A freelance journalist in the DRC (* who prefers to remain anonymous) was interested in the operations of major logging companies. He did not have the resources to conduct the investigation, and some newspapers he approached were nervous about offending big people by looking at the logging industry. Eventually, he found a European donor

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Funding investigative journalism? (cont.)

organisation with an interest in resource exploitation more generally and also in training journalists. He was able to secure a research grant from the organisation by broadening the focus of his research slightly and also by developing a methodology that involved mentoring other journalists with whom he could co-operate.

There are dangers in this approach. Its important to guard your freedom of operation, and maintain the priorities and focus that drew you to the investigation in the first place. Otherwise you may find yourself serving someone elses priorities or being accused of doing so when your investigation breaks. Make sure that whatever contract you sign with a donor has safeguards for your own editorial independence.

Pitching your investigative project

f your publication or station has assigned the story, all the planning we have just described is the first stage of your work process. But if you are a freelance journalist, the planning provides the information you need to create a really convincing pitch for an editor. A pitch is a short presentation that explains what the story is about and attempts to persuade the editor to support and run it. It needs to contain the following elements: zz Your revised story outline zz Why the story is right for this particular paper/readership zz Brief account of approach and methodology zz Timeline zz Budget. Some papers will also expect you to be able to contribute to a discussion of how the paper should present the story pictures, graphics, etc. while others leave such issues to editors and designers.

Exercise #4

Pitches

Look at the two pitches below. Do you find them convincing? If you do not, how could they be improved? An awful lot of people are talking about how driving standards in this country are dropping and that this is because theres corruption in issuing licenses. I talked to a guy who says he bought his license. I reckon if I hang about at the licensing office I can see whats going on, and maybe I could pretend to have a bribe to offer. If we could get a hidden camera that would be good. I can probably do it all in a week or so.

A friends brother recently had a very bad experience at a circumcision school. The traditional surgeon didnt look after people, and the boy ended up in hospital due to starvation and exposure. And it turns out the organiser of the school was not licensed in any way. I think this would be a good story for our paper, because its the season for circumcision and people here are tradition-minded. They need to be alerted to the dangers. If I start with this boys story, I can then look at the theme of how unlicensed initiation schools are dangerous and actually against both traditional custom and the law. Ill talk to traditional, medical and legal authorities, and look at hospital records to get some figures on how big the problem is. Ill need to take a trip out to a traditional village to meet returning initiates from a recognised school thatll just cost petrol because I can stay with my aunt there. I think I can have the story done in about a week.

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Exercise #4 (cont.)
COMMENTS

Pitches

B A

is almost a model pitch. Its short but not so short that it omits vital information. The editor has a clear idea of the storys hypothesis, the sources, methodology, cost and timeline, as well as a rationale for the story.

on the other hand, is a shoddy job. It moves from anecdotal evidence to a plan for going underground with no verification checks, and no reference to any ethical considerations. The timeline sounds like guesswork. This reporter needs to go back, refine his hypothesis and work out a step-by-step plan for getting evidence: zz that driving standards are falling zz that irregularly-licensed drivers are involved in many accidents zz that these irregularly-licensed drivers obtained their documents through bribery. If this context can be firmly established, then it may be worthwhile setting up a sting in an office that has been named as involved in corruption. But the ethics of doing this still need to be considered, as well as whether there are other, open ways of getting equally useful information.

How does it work in practice?

(Here we follow an imaginary investigation from start to publication, taking you through the decision-making processes and reporting activities at each stage.)

Where do you start? Whats your strategy?

You work for a weekly investigative paper. Your editor calls you into his office. Ive just had a phone call, he tells you. An NGO in the rural area says farm workers are being evicted by big agricultural companies, but are afraid to talk about it. The provincial government wont do anything, they say. This sounds like our kind of story; we can put pressure on the authorities to stop the evictions. Heres the name of our informant. Get on it. I want this for page 3 next week... You have a week. Where do you start? Take a few minutes to plan your strategy. Make notes before you read on.

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Maybe you suggested doing some reading on land rights or the company involved. Both of these are good ideas but an investigative strategy always needs to be based on: zz A clear understanding of what needs doing zz Balanced with a realistic recognition of the resources including time you have available zz And a hypothesis your research can substantiate or disprove. Your editor has given you the working hypothesis here: HYPOTHESIS: Big agricultural companies are evicting and intimidating farm workers and the provincial government wont help.

Realistically, you dont have the time to become an expert on all aspects of land rights and problems. It can be very intimidating if you believe that a journalist needs to know everything. In fact, a good journalist needs a different skill: knowing how to find out anything. So Stage 1 needs you to identify the best resources to help you. You need to find people who are expert in land and land rights. First, obviously, you should talk to the initial caller to get more information on the story. This person works for an organisation in the area so you have to consider that he or she may be biased. Many people ring up newspapers because they have an axe to grind. Take a few minutes to think about the advantages and disadvantages of using biased sources:

What about biased sources?

Biased sources can be very useful. They often have detailed inside knowledge, and can give you strong questions to ask the opposing side. But you need to remember that the information comes from one side of the case; it will need cross-checking. And representatives of organisations are often speaking on behalf of much larger groups of people; when they summarise group views, they may organise and edit community opinions in ways that change or exclude important aspects sometimes quite unintentionally. So you need to think about what the bias might be and read, interview and research widely, to put the informants statements in context. Having got more detail from the initial informant, you can use the notes of that conversation to start planning your first lines of investigation. zz Start with your personal contacts, or fellow journalists dealing with the relevant rural area, land, labour (farm workers), environment and agri-business. Among other sources you should phone are university departments and libraries (including your own papers archive). Work outward from the sources you know to identify the sources you dont yet know. zz Next, you should hit the phones. The phone book is your most important reference book: if all else fails, work through every entry with the relevant surname or keyword until you find the right person. Ring every relevant source you can think of. If you cant think of any, use the phone book (or, these days, the web) to trace organisations with land in their names. zz Your research may produce complex or even contradictory results about who the best sources are. So its always useful to use a two-source principle even for identifying sources. Check them more than once: via the phone book and Google; via Google and your colleague who knows the field. More on these techniques in Chapter 6. Ask these contacts: Do you deal with /carry information on...? Who is the relevant person in your organisation to tell me about...? Do you know of anything (reports, articles, books) thats been published about...? Can you suggest someone else it would be useful to talk to...? Always take notes of these conversations. Get contact details to add to your contacts book for future use. Build up a contacts tree using the working outwards strategy until you find the people you need. Notice we havent mentioned government sources yet. You do, of course, need to get official views. But you need to be wellinformed to ask useful questions, so this first stage of investigation may not be the best time to do a formal official interview. Also,

zz zz zz zz

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you may waste too much time setting up an interview with someone who when youve refined your research may not even be the right person! If an official will talk to you off the record or informally, thats best at this stage. You can always go back formally to get confirmation. Respect the ground rules of informal conversations with sources! Sometimes either interviewer or interviewee makes the wrong assumptions about the status of informal interviews, and this can lead to problems later. So if there is any possibility of misunderstanding, its best to ask: Are we on or off the record here? zz On the record means you can use everything youre told. zz Off the record means you can use the information, but not in a way that allows the source to be identified. zz Background only means dont use this at all; its just to help you understand the context. If you want to confirm off-the-record or background only information, take it to someone else and (without revealing your source), ask them if such-and-such might be true and if theyll confirm it on the record. You must tell your source that you will be trying to verify their information. And when you do the verification check, keep it sensitive and very low-key. There may be real danger for your source in being identified: getting sacked, sued, deported, arrested or even killed. These on/off the record conventions arent laws, theyre only understandings between journalists and sources. But you may be required to disclose your methods, if an investigative story becomes controversial. And if you breach these conventions, you will at best very likely lose your sources and get a reputation for sleazy behaviour. At worst, your source could suffer real harm. Find more on these issues in Chapters 5 and 8. What next? Your phone calls should have given you further names and contacts to follow, plus lists of reference material. This may include grey material material which is widely circulated but which may not have been formally published (e.g. studies commissioned from private organisations, academic dissertations) or which may be officially confidential. You have located eight possible phone contacts who may be prepared to talk to you. One of them sounds like the main expert on rural land rights in the area, but does not respond to messages. You feel youre really stalled until she gets back to you.

How would you spend your day?

From the web and your own papers archives, you have also found a dozen newspaper articles on farm worker evictions, two NGO case studies on landholdings in the rural area concerned, and a postgraduate dissertation on national land law reform. Tomorrow, you travel out to the countryside with a photographer. How should you spend today? Take a few minutes to note your answer before you read on:

You might feel that you should get through as much as you can of the reading. But this isnt always the best strategy. Reading is slow and especially if youre doing internet research you may have identified not a few, but a few hundred relevant references. You could easily spend the whole night reading and still not finish, or have time to make sense out of what you have read.

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Once you understand the issue better, much of the reading youve located may be irrelevant. At this early stage, skim-read only the broad, background stuff in this case, probably the newspaper articles. Make sure your web-search has not been too wide (putting around the key words will give you only those articles that include them all). Bookmark any web references that look interesting, so you dont have to spend time later searching for them again. Dont waste time on that elusive expert. Chase up as many of the people on your phone list as you can. And go back to the people you first talked to with any related questions youve thought of. At this stage, you need to search broad rather than deep.
zz Make a mini-timetable in advance, working backwards from your deadline. Decide how important each segment of the research

is, and how much time you can afford to spend on it. Never waste extra time chasing up just one elusive person, document or figure find another way to get what you need, or some other information that will do instead. zz Plan your questions for the live and follow-up phone interviews based on what you are finding out. As new inputs land, decide in more detail what might be going on, what is being alleged, and who might be the culprits. You should be in a position to replace general, abstract terms like corruption or injustice with concrete, specific, allegations that X did or did not do Y to Z. zz And begin putting yourself in the shoes of the people you are talking to. What might their agendas, motives, hopes and fears be? This way you can get a perspective on what they tell you. Youve skimmed the basic reading and had a number of very interesting phone interviews. And youve visited the district and seen the situation for yourself. Youve found out the following: zz The evictions are taking place only in one district. And the four families concerned have actually been very open in talking about their problems. In one community newspaper article, they blamed a district civil servant, Job Nkomo, for being lazy and not responding to their complaints. They repeated this when you spoke to them. zz The commercial farming company concerned HAS been buying up land and trying to move small farmers off it. But it has been using legal process and following the rules. Your law expert says the company has not broken any rules. And elsewhere in the province, there are at least a dozen cases on record of evictions being successfully contested. The provincial government has been very energetic in publicising land rights, and there are posters up almost everywhere although you didnt see any in the district where the evictions are happening. zz The NGO that initiated the complaint was only established three months ago and is still at the stage of securing funding for itself. Apart from establishing a small office, advocacy for the evicted families is the only activity it has undertaken so far. So maybe its agenda, while sincere, has elements of wanting to make a reputation for itself..? Remembering your brief (This sounds like our kind of story; we can put pressure on the authorities to stop the evictions) can you now go ahead with the story? And what should your next steps be? Take a few minutes to decide on your answer before you read on: zz Yes, there is still a story there. But its a different story: one about a small area that has been left behind by provincial land rights work possibly because of a grossly negligent district official. The NGOs agenda is to establish itself as a representative of the community, but its input is not very relevant; there are better quotes from the local people themselves. You can even see the new headline in your imagination: The land the law forgot. zz Your hypothesis has changed. Never be afraid to redefine your story in the light of new information! Flexibility is one of the most important principles in doing a good investigation. Dont cling rigidly to your original idea and try to force the new facts to fit.

Tell your editor whats happening. She may need to re-plan space or place this different story on another page. You MUST do this as early as you can. Now is the time to deepen your research and discard whats irrelevant. Most of the reading can probably go back on the shelves, except anything dealing with that particular district. And your notes on the broad situation of the province may no longer be useful. It hurts to discard work youve done. But you must. File your old notes: they may prove useful for some future story. Now you can look for meaningful official comment.
zz Face Mr Nkomo with the accusations against him. Ask the provincial (and/or national) land departments whether their policies

should be applied everywhere, and how they feel about areas the new law hasnt touched.
zz You will, however, also need to go back to the most interesting contacts and references to find out if there is anything in the

history of that district which has led to it being so neglected, and to ask other relevant questions.
zz What youre looking for is a sequence of events and/or chain of evidence that links the district officials inaction to the evictions

of the four families. It helps if you can find a rule that has been broken or an action that is required but was not taken. Again, you need concrete, specific evidence to replace the abstract accusations like laziness that people have laid against Mr Nkomo. And

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be sure to deepen your understanding of Nkomo and his actions if he is to be your focus. You dont want a defamation suit nor do you want to omit any aspects of his misconduct. zz Flag the risk of defamation with your editor. She may need to pass the finished story to a lawyer for advice. zz Forget anything you cant verify. Look for conflicting points in your notes can they be reconciled? And what do your biased sources have to say about it all? Try to get on-record comments. Check, cross-check and check again. Its very rare to find absolute proof of something the smoking gun, as it is called. That is what you are looking for: the documentary proof Nkomo did not respond to an appeal: for example, a memo from him saying the problem did not exist. But you may not have the time or resources to find this (Remember, this is now a smaller story of local government neglect, not a big story about multinational agribusiness. It is still worthwhile, but may not be accorded the same resources.) finding it may require steps (like searching an office) that are illegal and/or ethically unacceptable. it may not exist! zz You can build up almost as convincing a case by sheer weight of evidence: a detailed time-line, for example, of what happened, what should have been done, and Nkomos failure to communicate, supported at each stage by facts and relevant comments from role players and experts. Now you can start to write... We can see here the basic stages of investigation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Define the initial question Build up contacts Do broad research Look again at the question. Redefine or completely re-cast it if the facts have revealed a different angle or story Discard irrelevant material Do narrow, deep research (including back-tracking) Plan and write the story.

The two question-defining stages are crucial. A story doesnt exist until a subject area has been given angle and focus. And if youre failing to come up with answers, it may be because youre asking inappropriate questions.

Weve looked at the example of an extensive story done over a few days so that we can focus on every stage of the process in detail. But what happens when you are trying to research two stories in half a day before the deadline for a daily paper? Exactly the same principles hold good thats why we looked at a one-week example. The temptation is to cut the planning time, and dive straight into the research. Thats a mistake. Good research whatever your timeframe depends on good planning. Thats particularly true when your time limits you to fewer sources and fewer questions you have to make sure that you use your time wisely; asking the right questions of the right sources. When youre working to a tight timeframe, the stages of the research dont change: Define what youre looking for. Spend more time here, sorting out story priorities, so that if you only have time for a little research, it will be relevant. Check with your editor how long the story should be, and what angle the paper is seeking. Research broadly. You may have to settle for one Internet-sourced overview and contacts from two, rather than a dozen, phone calls. But its still vital that you check you have a story, and that its what you think it is. Redefine. Does your angle still hold? Then start writing at this stage. Use the research narrow stage simply to confirm key facts. And remember two important points: Some stories dont need deep investigative research make sure the story is worth the effort (and consult). They simply need accurate fact collection and clear writing. This is particularly true for those sections of the paper that still carry fairly short, hard stories. Even here, you need to make sure the story is valid and worthwhile, but having done that, you can go ahead and write it. And some stories are simply too important and/or complex to be tackled in two hours. Dont be afraid to make your case to your editor if you believe your story needs more time and research. But dont use this argument to cover up work not done. Youll need to have gone through the early investigative stages and have solid facts and reasons if you want more time. And there may be scope for a compromise, where you deliver breaking facts on time, but plan for a longer background or context piece later in the week.

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Case studies

FAIR Transnational Investigation Case Study on the availability of medicines in Africa

What FAIR set out to do Transnational Investigations have been conducted successfully by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and also by networks of journalists in South America and the Balkan. Such investigations have yielded impressive results, from identifying global arms traders to highlighting problems with the privatisation of water supply. FAIR recognised from its inception that Transnational Investigations would be important to conduct in Africa. International forces, such as multinationals, international financial institutions, development aid, and international crime impact on all countries on this continent. Within Africa itself, countries share similar problems, from conflict and civil war to poverty and weak state infrastructures. FAIRs view therefore is that African issues should, when and where possible, be investigated in a transnational way, with a broader than local focus and scope. A well-conducted and wellpublicised TI would help to highlight an important issue, that impacted on the whole of Africa, on the international agenda. FAIR saw it as its role to pioneer such a project. Getting the project going It took FAIR up to 2007 to find funding for its first Transnational Investigation. By then, it had worked out a framework for an international team-based operation and chosen a subject that answered to two criteria: it had to be truly international (and therefore of interest to international donors) and it would have to be of interest to the participating African media audiences. This subject was The pharmaceutical industry and lack of access to medication in Africa.

Transnational Investigation framework

1 2
Definition of Transnational Investigation goals, inputs, outputs Process:
zz Initiation stage: team, editor, subject, guidelines in place zz Production stage: team works closely with editor zz Closure: work is produced, data are stored

3 4 5

Work methodologies: maximum effort combined with maximum peer mentoring Ethical monitoring procedure: in relation to sources and audience and within the team itself Publication strategy: both internationally and vis a vis African media houses

On budgeting
Combining goals, inputs and outputs will be the core of your proposal. A tasty subject choice will also help. Donors who want to fund investigative projects will likely fund a project that answers to all the relevant criteria (see below under Subject Choice), as long as your methodology is included in the proposal and is realistic. However, beware of donors who push towards their own priority issues if they arent the same as your own and dont waste your time on

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donors you know wont support you. Heads that need to be budgeted for are:
zz An initial workshop where the whole team can exercise through the subject matter and emerge with a clear

to-do list
zz A project managers fee (the central project manager is an extremely important element; it is this person who

zz

zz zz zz

zz zz

has to ensure sufficient and relevant input from all team members AND put it all together or there will be no dossier!) The designing of a format in which the process to follow is clearly sketched out (when and how do the team members liaise together, when and how and how often does the project manager liaise, what is the editing, revising, feedback and correcting process at every stage of incoming results, how to troubleshoot when necessary input does not materialise, how to get everybody to agree on final results; also, the relationship and decisionmaking process between the project manager and the organisations leadership needs to be spelled out; contracts need to be signed between the project manager and the organisations leadership, and also between the latter and the team members) Communication Some expenses for team members and expenses for the project manager (it is important to be clear on what is going to be refunded and what not: the issue of paying sources for documents is likely to come up here) A field trip (preferably two, one at the start and one just before the end) by the project manager to the teams in each participating country, in order to revise/finalise the hypothesis (as per investigative process) and ensure the requests made from the teams are realistic as well as detailed Grammatical and spelling edit, proofreading, lay out, printing Postage.

On subject choice
This must be: Collectively arrived at Newsworthy Feasible (you need to have a fairly good idea of how and where information can be found on this subject) Relevant to both African and international public (you want to make headlines in the New York Times and attract western donors for your next project but relevance to the African public is even more important as per your journalists mission of serving your audience; so beware of fashionable donor issues that might not interest the people in your own town) zz Of interest to the journalists who will work on it, to create eagerness and commitment it mustnt be a chore (this is more likely if point 4 is met; journalists will most likely feel strongly about an issue their community/audience feels strongly about, too).
zz zz zz zz

We had a discussion on the FAIR listserve and at a special Board meeting where it became abundantly clear that lack of access to medication was such an issue.

On work progress
zz The project manager engages in a coherence-exercise. A workshop is held in which all team members and the

project manager thoroughly exercise through the subject matter. Do we all understand the ins and outs of, and questions around this issue? How will we go about this? Revisiting good IJ practice in this workshop is crucial, it will determine the quality of the end result. Best practice and ethics will be a part of this discussion too. Will we eavesdrop, go undercover, pay for documents if needed, or not? And what is our personal interest in this matter as members of the public? An initial working hypothesis is developed and to-do lists are drawn up of required background information and sources. Contracts are signed between team members and organisation.

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zz In a field trip, - to be made a few weeks after the team members have started -, the project manager monitors the

zz

zz

zz

zz zz

situation on the ground in each participating country and takes account of the challenges faced by each team. During and after the trip, viability of the subject and achievable goals are determined by the project manager; the working hypothesis is revised (if necessary, which it usually is); (new) sources are identified and more detailed and corrected to-do lists are communicated to the teams. The project manager reports to the coordinator. The project manager and Board consult and achieve an understanding of what the contribution of the journalists in various countries is likely to be on the projects issue. The project manager targets a minimum story as the outcome of the project. A minimum story would at least broaden the view of the public in many countries about the issue covered before the publication of the project as a local issue. The common story will identify pieces of the puzzle from the team members stationed in various countries/locations that will in the end form a common story that will be of relevance internationally. After the first steps on the track with the editor, the country teams will continue alone. They will be in touch with one another and with the editor on an internet mailing list, reporting regularly to the project manager on their progress and, most importantly, also on the setbacks. Lack of access to information, failure to verify, need for centrally accessed expertise will likely feature here. The project manager communicates, either upon request of the team or per own initiative, centrally accessed expertise and information back to the teams that are in need of it. The project manager also updates teams about the progress made by other teams, in such a way as to create synergies. One team can serve as an example or an inspiration to another; a team in trouble can benefit from weve been there advice from another. Filing of documentation (interviews, acquired documents, reports) is consistently done on the teams internet mailing group, so that a database of source material is constructed. The project manager decides HOW to use the input from the different teams: task each team to write its own report (this worked well with the FAIR 2007 TI, but one will then have different styles in one dossier, unless as happened in the FAIR TI - the project manager then rewrites and restyles all the chapters) or merge all info into one dossier written entirely by the project manager on the basis of the different submissions: US style. The project manager communicates his/her conceptual design of the final product back to the teams and asks for comments/ amendments.

On ethics
zz Roles must be clearly defined so that conflicts of interest are avoided. In the case that a team member is

zz

zz zz zz

simultaneously a board member, these persons need to recuse themselves from board decisions pertaining to TI progress. Team members will be provided with a relevant best practice guide from the FAIR website and urged to read through it and raise anything that would be difficult to comply with in the specific situation/country in which they operate. Jointly with editor, coordinator and FAIR Board these issues will be discussed and a policy will be designed to deal with such issues. The team will from then on operate on the basis of the best practice guide together with the designed policy. The editor will request regular reports on achieved goals and methods used to achieve these. (S)he will alert the coordinator and the FAIR Board if ethical guidelines thus agreed are violated by a team member. The FAIR Board will then discuss the case and implement an adequate (dis)incentive to ensure that such a violation is not repeated.

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What lessons did you learn and what advice would you give others?
Firstly, valuable information often stays hidden from the lone individual journalist, and you have to be prepared to fight for it as a team. This is illustrated by the following example from FAIRs Transnational Investigation in 2007:

Keeping things hidden

In the early 2000s a suspicious company, with a background in the arms trade, got a lucrative contract to store, manufacture and supply medication in Zambia. Pharco even was to supply ARVs locally: it got an exclusive license in 2004. The Zambian public was not aware that Pharco was in fact a reincarnation of mercenary- and arms trade outfit GMR. If it had been, there likely would have been questions on why a company with such a background would want to branch out into the continental trade in little white tablets. But Pharcos background was well hidden behind a company name change, an excellent PR machine and official government endorsement. Zambias sick and dying pinned their hopes for locally produced medication on this company. But ARVs were not produced. When the company, confronted with the increasing public call to finally start the promised ARV production, couldnt duck the issue any longer, they blamed the World Health Organisation: the WHO, they said, had sabotaged Zambias ARV manufacture by withholding permission for production. The WHO was not in a position to lift the lid on Pharcos background and simply repeated that Pharcos production facility was not up to standard. Which it wasnt. All the while, Western diplomats, donor representatives and government officials in Lusaka were aware of the dicey background of Pharco and the impossible situation the Zambian government had allowed itself to get into. Yet, none of them cared sufficiently about the Zambian public to speak out. The information stayed hidden and all authorities seemed to agree that Pharco was right in pointing the finger at the WHO. No-one, not internal, nor outside authorities would allow such a situation, where citizens die daily in their hundreds, to continue in, say, the Netherlands. In Zambia, and many other African countries, such disrespect, neglect and carelessness seems to be the usual mode by which the elite relates to the masses. Journalists who care to inform these masses are confronted with those brick walls if they get wind of the situation at all, that is. In the case of Pharco, the story would likely never have come to light if an international health consultant (important enough to have been confided in by some in the Zambian governing and donor elite) had not informed journalists in his home country in Europe of the link between Pharco and GMR. Again, that information would not have reached journalists on the ground in Zambia, if FAIR had not provided a network through which one of these Western journalists had contact with a Zambian colleague. And without the journalists in Zambia working with this tip-off, Pharco would not have been confronted and Zambian government documents on the Pharco contract would not have been unearthed. But he did, and she had, and they managed!

Secondly, team members should have a detailed understanding of what the research questions are and what the current expertise on a certain subject is. Halfway through the 2007 TI, the FAIR team discovered that some team members investigated herbal medicines as an alternative to scarce pharmaceutical products, whilst the other half investigated the pharmaceuticals scarcity. Central intervention was needed to save the TI. It would have been better if differing assumptions between team members and disinformation present in each of the participating countries had been recognised as a challenge from the start. Thirdly, the team should have a clear understanding of their own position vis a vis the research topic. During the 2007 investigation into lack of access to medicines, one team member became severely ill; another one died shortly after contributing his report, and several team members battled to help sick relatives and friends. This led to a prominent declaration of personal interest by the team in the introduction to the TI report. Lastly, if the result is good, and a publication strategy is in place, media in a number of countries will publish (and hopefully pay for) the story. In the case of the FAIR TIs, the first one did not pay for itself at all, the second one resulted in salaried publications by team members, and in the third TI in 2009, FAIR set up a system whereby free-lance team members would be reimbursed from central sales of the report.

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Key points from this chapter

You need a framework of structured questions that will allow you to move from a broad, theoretical story idea to a tightly-framed hypothesis or question your IJ project can prove or answer You need to plan your project, thinking about rationale, sources, obstacles, timeline and budget You need to base any story pitch on this plan Consider all sources: primary, secondary, paper, human and digital Be aware of the uses of each, and construct a methodology that allows you to dig for information from sources that are appropriate.

Glossary
Broad research the first check to test the viability of a hypothesis, checking a large variety of sources Crowd sourcing inviting feedback and contributions from ones own audience by telephone or internet Deep (narrow) research focusing on the key questions that have emerged and attempting to find in-depth answers Pitch- the story in concept as one presents it to the editor, containing hypothesis, rationale, methodology, sources, obstacles, timeline and budget zz Proving and disproving evidence evidence gathered from human and documentary sources that either confirms or invalidates a hypothesis zz Rationale reason for the focus on this particular story zz Timeline the chronological reflection of the story project
zz zz zz zz

Further reading
zz There is a very interesting worked example of investigative planning in Chapter 4 of Derek Forbes A Watchdogs Guide To

Investigative Reporting (Johannesburg: KAS, 2005, pp 15-26), Forbes links each planning stage to steps in the process by which the Sunday Times investigated corruption accusations involving then South African parliamentarian Tony Yengeni. zz The full investigative file on Frere Hospital can be found at http://www.dispatch.co.za zz Thomas Olivers article on Stages of Planning and Producing a Project is at http://www.poynter.org/content/content_ print.asp?id=4568&custom= zz The FAIR transnational investigation dossier is posted at www.fairreporters.org; you can also order a hard copy from the same website

s r o t c o d n i p s d n a Sources
Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to:
zz zz zz zz zz zz

Build on the foundations laid in Chapter 2 to further develop your source-mapping skills Employ a structured process for evaluating the usefulness/relevance of a source Describe the factors that impact on a journalists relationship with human sources Discuss the dilemmas encountered in dealing with sources Describe and evaluate the range of options reporters have for resolving these dilemmas List some available sources for information on a range of topics.

If you would like to revise the basics of sources and source-mapping before reading on, check Chapters 2 and 3. If you are confident you already understand sources and the various ways of handling them, move on to:
zz Chapter 5 for more on interviewing zz Chapter 6 for technical guidance on computer-assisted and number-based

(e.g. financial) journalism

zz Chapter 7 for advice on analysing your evidence, packaging it and writing the story zz Chapter 8 to consider the legal and ethical aspects of your reporting.

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Angelique Kimoko worked for a small, privately-owned newspaper in a war-torn Central African country. She heard rumours that members of the international peacekeeping forces stationed in her country were abusing women displaced by the war: demanding sexual favours in return for food.
Angelique asked around everywhere, and eventually found a mother and 14-year-old daughter who were prepared to talk to her about their experiences at the hands of the peacekeepers. Angelique didnt say much during the interview, just listened and took notes. Their story was harrowing. Both said they had been raped by international force members while looking for rice rations for the family. Angelique was so touched by their plight that when the interview ended she gave them all the cash she had in her handbag. Back at her newsroom, though, her editor was less thrilled by the story. The government needs to keep a good relationship with the international force, he said. How do we know these women are not just troublemakers paid by the rebels? What are their credentials? Angelique gave him the familys details so he could verify their story. To her horror, when the story was published, the womens full names and the camp where they stayed were included. As she was complaining about this in the editors office, the mother burst in, weeping hysterically and shouting Angeliques name. Traitor! Youve betrayed us! she said. Everybody knows what happened and this morning the security police took my daughter away!
zz What mistakes might Angelique have made in dealing with her sources? zz How could she handle things better next time?

At the end of the chapter, well consider these questions again.

ources are so important to the work of investigative reporters that we have already begun talking about them. In Chapter 2, we discussed the technique of source-mapping: listing the questions a specific story must answer, and brainstorming possible sources of answers. In Chapter 2, we examined the differences between primary sources (those providing direct evidence or describing direct experience) and secondary sources (those providing context, background, or second-hand information). We also looked broadly at the advantages and disadvantages of human, paper and digital sources, and the technique of following a paper trail. We saw that paper and digital sources alone can produce a comprehensive, accurate story, but one that risks being pedantic and lifeless. While human sources may be affected by conscious or unconscious bias, and are vulnerable to pressure, theirs are the voices that bring life and immediacy to your story. In this chapter, the first sections will concentrate on human sources: how to find them, and how to deal with them. The final part will survey documentary and digital sources, with Further reading listing a range of useful websites.

However much we try to refine our methods, theres a hell of a lot of luck in this. (Stephen Grey) Never forget that the usefulness of human sources depends not only on who they are, but also on your skill as a reporter in building a relationship of trust, asking good questions and recording answers with meticulous accuracy. Investigation is one type of reporting where whether or not you can use it in court you should record, and not simply note, your interactions with sources. Your starting point always is listing the main role players in your story and planning how you will interview them. Well look in more detail at investigative interviewing in Chapter 5.

We have already seen that the most important, reliable and vivid sources are usually witnesses: the people who have experienced or are otherwise directly involved in a story. You begin to identify witnesses by combing previous accounts of your topic for the names of people who were involved, or simply on the scene. If people claim to have been present or involved, you must of course verify that they were. Where you experienced parts of the story, you also count as a witness for what you saw. Sometimes, when reporting on the circumstances you have observed at a story scene, you are the most important witness. For example, if you are conducting lifestyle checks on a community leader, enter her home, and see expensive leather furniture and a flat-screen TV in what looks from outside like a humble cottage, you can report that. But often an investigative project benefits from doing your most important interviews at a later stage, when you are in possession of more information and background and can frame your questions very precisely. So there are other people you need to find first and some of them, you may not even know at this early stage. What follows, provides some tips.

1 Witnesses

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2 Current associates

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Look for people currently associated with the subject (e.g. other company officers or shareholders, family members, business associates, employees or clients). Consider organisations in which the subject is active such as sports clubs, religious organisations or charities. Remember that such people, because they are in some kind of relationship with the subject, will have an attitude towards him or her. Factor this into your enquiries.

Look for people who were previously associated with the subject: ex-partners in business, former spouses, employees, doctors, teachers etc. Remember, some professionals may have legal or ethical obligations of confidentiality, even after they have left a job. People with whom the subject was in a known dispute or in litigation can be very important witnesses, but, again, remember that their emotions and attitudes will colour what they tell you.

3 Previous associates

Development researcher Joe Hanlon calls this finding the woman who knows. Start with an obvious contact or acknowledged expert in the broad field, and ask this person to refer you to someone with more detailed knowledge of your precise area of enquiry. Ask that contact, in turn, for an even more specialised referral. At the end of such a chain sometimes after only three or four phone calls you may well find someone who worked on the project or with the person you are investigating. This is particularly true in developing countries, where social and professional circles are small, and everybody knows everybody else one of the advantages of doing research in Africa!

4 Chains of enquiry

There are experts on almost everything. After the Tsunami in late 2004, every television and radio station in the world managed to find their own expert on extreme weather. There are technical experts, historians, research scientists, lawyers and engineers and many more. When dealing with corporate affairs (for example, the activities of multinationals) it is particularly important to identify the right expert: what a local accountant can tell you will be very limited. Whats more, experts inhabit their own often transnational communities, so one expert will often lead you to another. Make sure you have done solid preliminary research before you talk to your chosen expert, so that your questions are clear and reasonably well-informed. An expert does not expect you to know as much as he or she does, but it is insulting to go in unprepared. However, it is quite legitimate to ask for explanations in laymans language, so that you can explain things better to your readers. Always be careful to record what experts tell you accurately. It is acceptable to ask: Is this correct? And never twist, omit or distort what they tell you because it does not fit your hypothesis. You can find experts by looking at sources quoted on the Internet, in other materials on your subject, or through books they have written on the subject. Publishers can often provide contact addresses for their expert authors. Some experts for example the forensic accountants employed by the police to trace paper trails of corruption or drugs money operate as paid consultants. They are expensive, and what they can discuss with the media is limited by the constraints of client confidentiality. A far closer, more affordable and accessible source is often your local university. If you are seeking expertise on mining, university departments of mining, engineering, mineral sciences and environment may all employ people who can help you. This may involve time fighting your way through sometimes unhelpful switchboard operators or departmental administrators. But local experts often have advantages over the star name you have found on the Internet. They are accessible; you can meet them face-toface; they may speak in your local language and they can certainly relate what they tell you to the local context. zz Shop around Experts in different but related areas may provide fresh insights into your subject. A lawyer, a police officer, a doctor, even an interrogator may be as useful to your story on human rights violations as a human rights campaigner. zz Evaluate your expert Not all experts have equal status or are equally reliable. So look for recommendations from other journalists you trust; research the exact name on the Internet (and make sure the same name is the same person) or in your media organisations archive. Find out who they do their research for, since scientists funded by commercial concerns may share the role of lobbyists. Look at what criticisms their work has attracted, and remember that both work and criticisms happen within the conventions and contending ideas of a particular discipline. Ask tough questions. For scientific experts, find out if their work has been published in a peer-reviewed journal; this sets far more stringent standards than, say, the health columns of a popular magazine. Ask Who is your strongest critic? then try and interview that person too. And remember that scientific research is always a work in progress; scientists know this and will very often express what they say as a likelihood or the best interpretation given current data. Dont overstate what they say as definitive or use out-of-date quoted expertise. zz Beware of frauds Theres a lot of pseudo-science out there. A few years ago in the UK a man was convicted of a criminal offence because his ear was said to match the mark of an ear left against a window. The police called an expert on this new science of ear-printing. But a few years later the mans conviction was quashed when the science of ear-printing was shown to be bogus. (Even reading fingerprints, which is quite different, carries an element of interpretation.)

5 Experts

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More tragically, in Africa bogus claims about Aids cures are made regularly by self-proclaimed experts. The public interest demands that you investigate these thoroughly and do not accept them at face value.

Interrogate reliable experts

Even apparently reliable expert reports sometimes need to be interrogated. In April 2008, the New York Times reported that in the case of an arthritis drug, Vioxx, which turned out to have dangerous side effects and was later withdrawn: the drug maker Merck drafted dozens of research studies then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication.
zz Find a way of dealing with difference

If several experts you consult disagree, you must find a way of presenting these differences in context, so they make sense to readers. If the weight of expert opinion stands strongly on one side, it makes sense to go with that but you may be shown in the future to have been wrong. If experts are evenly divided, you owe it to your readers to explain that. But that is one of the reasons why evaluating your experts is so important. For a long time the media presented the debate on global warming as evenly divided. Only later did analysis of reports reveal that many of the experts debunking the idea of global warming were the paid spokespeople of energy lobbies. In fact, the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence has for many years told us global warming is happening, and is dangerous. And if you cant find an expert to back your story, that does not mean you have no story. You may be wrong or you may be asking the wrong expert, or the wrong questions. Including the diversity of opinions in your story shows you have an open mind, and may prompt other experts with different views to come forward.

Whos the best source?

You are working on a story about an international NGO that has established a base in your country and offers what it calls free treatment for HIV and Aids. It tells people who come to its clinics to stop taking ARVs or anything else their own doctors may have given them, and instead to take a mixture of herbal syrup and vitamins which they buy, at quite a low cost, from the NGO. Consultation with the NGO advisers is free. Now youre hearing about clinic patients dying perhaps from giving up their official treatment, perhaps from the new treatment. Nobody is certain. You have no medical background. What kind of expertise would you need to deal with this story and how would you find it? Take 10 minutes to think about this before you read on.
zz Youd need to know about the record of the NGO and its reputation in other countries. Web research could give you this

zz

zz zz

zz

information. Youd need to know about the law on what medical NGOs are and are not allowed to do in your country, and would need to find this in legislation and codes of practice. Then youd need to analyse the arguments and counter-arguments about herbal/vitamin treatments for Aids-related conditions. An Aids practitioner or researcher in your country (find one at a big hospital, a scientific research institute, a university medical school or bio-science department) could map out these arguments. A university science department or hospital researcher can help you to get the medicine analysed, if the NGO will not disclose its details, but this may carry fees. Nobody except the medical practitioners who signed their death certificates can tell you how those clinic patients died. But medical ethics say this information must be kept confidential. This is the point at which your story could stall. Youll need to build a good relationship with a doctor or with some bereaved relatives, and inspire them with confidence that you will handle what you are told discreetly and ethically. As with all stories, your ability to tap expertise on its own is not enough; you also need a systematic and persistent approach to background research, and good people skills.

In most countries with a functioning central government, government departments and experts are regarded as reliable sources of information. There is a long history of apparent impartiality in scientific reports, accurate minutes of meetings, court proceedings and registrations. But in major and controversial stories, this can prove a naive and dangerous assumption. A state-employed expert is just as likely to be right or wrong as any other expert and in some cases may be under pressure from his employer to present information in a particular light. As with any other sources, consider the context and possible motives when you weigh up the information they give you.

6 Government departments and other official bodies

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However, such insiders are often extremely knowledgeable, and assuming they are always biased could be as mistaken as assuming they are always correct and impartial. Simply test the likelihood of what they tell you using a second informed source. It is also sometimes possible to ask a government department for an unofficial off-the-record briefing from one of their specialists, and this can provide extensive background, although you cannot quote it in your story.

We tend to think of these bodies as sources of written reports and policies only. But they can also provide useful contacts, both in their home country and in the countries in which they operate. They are under no obligation to help you, but are often extremely sympathetic if approached correctly, particularly if your enquiries relate to an issue where they have strong policies. But precisely for this reason, (like all other organisations) donor bodies and other types of agencies have their own policies and principles, as well as sometimes being firmly guided by the policies of their home governments or backing organisations. (For example, some European countries have donor foundations run by parties of the political Right, or the Centrists, or the Left. When you interview a representative of one of these agencies, what you hear will relate to one of these broader political perspectives.) Research will allow you to put their comments and information in context, and judge whether you also need to conduct a balancing interview with another source. Allow time for these kinds of interviews, as often international agency representatives have to seek permission before they can talk to the media. And be sure to credit the individual and organisation for the help they provided.

7 International agencies

Investigative reporting can sometimes be risky, and in some countries or for some topics the risks for the journalist can include arrest or assassination. So often working discreetly (if not actually underground) is important. But sometimes you can shake out contacts by actually letting it be known that you are working on a topic, or already possess certain information. Sometimes you can do this informally, by using your networks of contacts; sometimes by publishing a preliminary, sketchy story on the investigative project. At that point, new people may volunteer additional information, or previously reluctant sources may come forward to correct your story. Always weigh up the pros and cons of this tactic carefully; it can backfire. An equally possible outcome is that you alert people to your scrutiny, and they rush to hide evidence, silence sources or take pre-emptive action against you!

8 Shaking the tree

DRC journalist Sage-Fidle Gayala puts the arguments against shaking the tree
I am against the publication of a preliminary investigation, especially in Africa because it can block the development and the results of the investigation Journalists can be murdered if the subjects of an investigation feel that they are approaching the truth. This happened to both Norbert Zongo (see Introduction) in Burkina Faso and Bapuwa Mwamba of the DRC. Another risk is that interested parties, when forewarned, can come up with fake witnesses well-prepared to deliver misinformation and divert you from the truth. And I myself have experienced the pressure and even bribes that people may offer to you, to witnesses or to the owner, operator or editor of the newspaper. In 2005, I was doing an investigation on the Belgian businessman, Arthur George Forrest, who was involved in corruption, unfair contracts and illegal exploitation of natural resources in Katanga Province, DRC. The mere publication of a preliminary story was enough for the boss of the newspaper, in an editorial board meeting, to tell me I must abandon this investigation and demand all the documentation I had collected. The most dangerous forces that may be alerted by a preliminary story are those who are not yet even known to the journalist. They will do everything in their power to prevent the investigation identifying them. A journalist called Magloire who disappeared in the DRC is an example. So far nobody knows where he is or whom he had been investigating. In this regard, it is also important to inform the bare minimum of colleagues what you are working on: not all the journalists who work in your office. Because, we must not forget that the powerful have their antennae in every newsroom to pre-empt investigations. I published an investigation into the political assassination of Professor Jean Mboma under my pen-name in the newspaper Le Soft International. I was able to keep the investigation secret from the beginning until I completed it. But it took hardly a week after the publication of the story for the murderers to identify the bearer of the pen-name. Its also very common in the DRC for journalists and even editors to be recruited by the intelligence services. I know of hundreds in the DRC. They are often recruited particularly from the staffs of investigative papers and from human rights NGOs. So the publication of a preliminary draft may, and very often does, constitute a danger for both the journalist and the investigation.

Sometimes reading these can lead you to whistleblowers: discontented employees with dirt to share on their organisation. Many companies, organisations and government departments in the developed world have unofficial electronic meeting rooms where critical opinions and information might be shared. It also happens in the few African countries where Internet use is well developed, such as South Africa. But do not take information directly from such sites into your story. You need to verify that the person is genuine and can support what they say; try to meet the source or conduct other checks.

9 Blogs and internet chatrooms

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10 Networking

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Every journalist builds up networks. Often this happens naturally, in the course of reporting. But if you are working on a specific investigative project, you need to work proactively to build up a network relevant for your story. Where do people involved in what youre investigating socialise? Do they live in a particular suburb? Shop at a particular store or mall? (Again, the smaller professional circles in many African countries make these slightly easier questions to answer than they might be in a huge city such as New York.) Go to those places, and get talking to people, gradually narrowing in on people associated with areas of, or individuals involved in, your investigation. You can glean a great deal of background knowledge just from chatting and observing. You can house the key role player: find out exactly where (and how) he or she lives. But think carefully about both ethics and the security needs of your investigation before you take decisions on revealing your identity and conducting on-the-record conversations with targeted individuals. Dont neglect your journalistic colleagues as sources of contacts from their personal networks. If rivalry on a story is intense, you may not wish to share story details. However one good way of overcoming limited resources is to set up joint investigative teams with like-minded colleagues even if they work for other media houses. Divide the work, and agree which of the resulting stories each outlet will publish.

The most useful contacts are those within an organisation who can save you the moral dilemmas and risks of going underground yourself. Gate-keepers are often literally that: secretaries, receptionists and door security officers, who can let you in to a place or tell you who else goes in and out. Dont make the mistake of paying attention only to high-ranking officials; try to establish good professional relations with everybody. Gate-keepers also play their role symbolically; controlling access to information rather than physical entry.

11 Gate-keepers, surveyors and door-openers

Getting round the gate-keepers

Kenyan journalist Joyce Mulama was covering a story about people being treated for Aids who sold their drugs for money to buy food: It required tact to win the trust of these peopleI had to do a lot of convincing, starting with the security man right at the entrance, who was instrumental in helping me identify the traders. Remember that gate-keepers such as workers in banks, credit departments or government bodies will have signed confidentiality clauses as part of their employment contracts, and are legally bound not to disclose information. Do not seek their help for frivolous reasons, and always keep your relationships with them discreet, so that their identities can be protected. One very useful question in any investigation is Who has this information? Often, information has multiple gate-keepers. Think laterally. If the Ministry of Health refuses to give you a document, perhaps another body has access to the same document: for example, the World Health Organisation, a health NGO, a university researcher working on this aspect of health, or a sympathetic member of the parliamentary health sub-committee. Surveyors are your inside contacts who may not have any sensitive knowledge, but who can tell you, in Stephen Greys words the lay of the land, who is who, who is really important, who really makes decisions. Door-openers are the people with influence. If they like you, or believe your work is worthwhile, they can persuade others to talk to you. Door-openers may be respected elder statesmen, or far less senior but trusted individuals in an organisation or social group. Sometimes a traditional leader is the door-opener for his or her community. These are the people who will be listened to when they say: This journalist is OK. You can talk to him/her. Identify them through your context and background research and cultivate them.

Hanging around a shopping mall in the civil service suburb to observe bureaucrats at play is not quite the same thing as surveillance. Surveillance is close, covert observation of a story subject, which may or may not involve your going underground: posing as an insider, or using concealed cameras and recorders. One very common tactic since the arrival of cell phones is to phone your source while he is in a meeting with the person you are investigating, then have the cell phone left on while they conduct a conversation about your story topic, so you can listen in. These activities are usually illegal and may also be unethical. The laws we discuss in Chapter 8 (privacy, false pretences, official secrets etc.) exist to prevent such activities, and all African states have these laws. Penalties can be severe, for both you and your news organisation. So, be sure you: zz use them only as a last resort, after you have tried all legal and public channels zz use them to fill defined gaps in your research, not simply to amass random raw impressions in the hope something will emerge zz use them only after careful consideration and discussion of the ethical implications zz consider how the use of covert techniques will affect the credibility of the final story and your reputation. Your subject may claim (and prove) that he was trapped into doing or saying something incriminating zz use them only for stories that are in the public interest, where serious consequences will result if you do not follow the story through to the bitter end. In important investigations, you will sometimes need to use these tactics: never say Never. But be sure your reasons are sound.

12 Surveillance and going underground

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You need to decide whether you will deal with the person, and whether you are prepared and have the resources to deal with any legal or ethical issues that may arise from your dealings. The following questions may help you to make that decision:

At the most basic level, you need to find out whether the person is who s/he claims to be. Can they prove where they work, their address, their family details, military record, passport, ID or drivers licence? If a source has a history of crime, personal difficulties, mental illness, financial problems, violence or, worst of all, fraud, you will need to be particularly sceptical about what they tell you. Even after you have explained why you need to verify their identity and record, the source may resist. There are probably strong reasons why he or she is hiding the information, and you need to factor this into your judgment about whether to trust the information they provide.

1 Is the source genuine?

We have noted that you need a story hypothesis before you begin your investigation, and this is one reason why. Only if you know what you are looking for will you be able to judge the worth of what you get. Does the source provide a complete explanation or set of evidence? Could you put it together in any other, equally plausible way, and come to a different conclusion? Where are the holes? Is the sources experience likely to be representative of experiences in his/her community? Is it up-to-date, or did it happen so long ago that things may have changed?

2 How adequate is the information they give you?

We saw in Chapter 2 that people bring you tip-offs for a range of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with helping investigative journalism or exposing wrongdoing. The same may be true even if you approach the source. Personal grievances, circumstances or beliefs may colour what they say, leading them to exaggerate some aspects or stay silent about others. Some sources may be over-eager to be helpful, and give the answers they think you want to hear. Your background check on the source may uncover some of this; your observation of how they behave when they talk to you will also help.

3 What are their motives?

People also make genuine mistakes and forget important details. So for all the reasons above, you need to verify everything you discover from anybody against one other independent source. That is, you need to get evidence that points in the same direction (only rarely will it be exactly the same) from two sources who cannot have learned it from one another. If you cannot find a second source, or there is simply no time, you may have to state in the story: it was impossible to confirm the statement. Too many unconfirmed statements, claims and allegations in a story weaken it. But supposing your second source produces conflict rather than confirmation? In this case, you should state both positions to your audience, or turn the conflict between them into the story: The interior ministry said armed men crossed the border; the defence ministry described them as unarmed. You cannot simply ignore something that doesnt fit the story you were trying to tell. Your own credibility and professionalism are also relevant factors here. Journalists with a distinguished track record and extensive contact networks such as Seymour Hersh may sometimes have relied on a single source. Very few of us are in that league.

Beware: spin doctors at work We call official spokespeople and lobbyists spin doctors: they are paid to make their employers case and put the most useful (to them) interpretation spin on events. But it is not always easy to spot the spin doctor. Obviously, the Ministers press liaison officer is one. But what about journalists who are secretly paid to promote a certain cause or party, story packages covertly fed to the press by official or commercial sources working underground, or experts actually paid by a commercial company to promote its products? What about material anonymously fed on to un-vetted websites? All of these are increasingly used to promote causes big and small: the US government used a commercial company to manage the public image of the Gulf War, and its CEO proudly described himself as an information warrior.

Sources and spin doctors Creating false impressions

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The Johannesburg The Star of Tuesday 26 February 2008 carried an insert headed Opening of Mpumalanga Parliament, in Star headline and body copy typefaces. The articles were bylined special correspondents, and one crime reporter. The articles, which were laid out as normal news reports and features, were all very laudatory about the Mpumalanga provincial government and its officials. The crime report byline actually headed a speech by the provincial safety and security minister. Of course this was no Star news section, but a PR exercise by the province, which had bought the space for the insert from the paper. One can ask questions about a provincial governments behaviour in spending taxpayers money on praising itself. But the paper had allowed the province to make the insert look as if it was part of editorial space instead of an advertisement and was thus condoning, and even actively assisting, this spin-doctoring of its own readership. South African media practice requires such inserts to be labeled advertorial but there are no explicit rules about not copying the precise layout and appearance of a publications pages. Readers may easily miss a small advertorial label.

Media outlets short of resources are often helped to fill their pages or bulletins by the supply of pre-packaged news from interested parties. Journalist David Miller, who runs the UK media monitoring site Spinwatch, says: Images do not need to be false to mislead. The photos shown by Colin Powell in his presentation to the UN on Iraq were genuine. They just did not show the things he said they did The cutting edge of innovation is in the corporate sector, particularly in the PR industry. Monsanto and other GM interests have been at the forefront of creating fake demonstrations, fake scientific institutes, fake pressure groups with all the paraphernalia of fake leaflets, T-shirts, websites and the rest It is easier to deal with an acknowledged spin doctor than with fake news. You know that the Ministers spokesperson is paid to gloss over problems and spotlight achievements. Only the most unskilled will actually lie it is easy to disprove an actual lie with alternative research. And thorough preliminary research plus good interviewing technique (see Chapter 5) can shake evasions and misleading emphases. Remember, spokespeople are just doing their jobs, as you are doing yours. Besides official spokespersons, governments and quite a few large corporations have intelligence agencies trying to covertly advance their bosses, and sometimes their own, objectives. The US government used its intelligence agencies to plant stories in the media about Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction which, it turned out later, he didnt have. In the case of the Dulcie September murder in Paris in 1988, the French secret services planted many false reports in the newspaper identifying foreign killers to obscure their own role. Planting stories is daily routine for secret services, which run entire departments dealing with influencing the media. That they spy on journalists to find out what we know, and that they even attempt to recruit us (sadly, in some cases, successfully) is wellknown. But just as often, they feed us (often spectacular-sounding) information with the objective of spinning us, and through us, the public. Be very, very cautious when someone seems all too willing to help you with important tapes and documents, even if their motivating story sounds plausible. Evelyn Groenink was once promised 300 hours of tape-recorded conversations with a known French arms dealer by a businessman who had been duped by this man. The source seemed to have a reasonable motive for going to the press: revenge after having been defrauded. But when Groenink started asking questions about the massive amounts of money, time, surveillance opportunities, plane tickets and network of contacts the defrauded victim appeared to have at his disposal, the source disappeared to London, where he lived and, Groenink suspects now, worked for the UK government or the UK arms industry. At the time, the UK arms industry had reason to be worried about inroads being made into the African market by its French competitors. As a rule of thumb, its always better to find sources yourself than to allow them to find you. Our Deep Throat who claims that we must meet him in the dark, in an alley, and never tell a soul about the meeting because they are after him, may very well be a part of them! Given all this, however convincing the evidence you find in documents or on the Internet looks, the possibility of fakery means you must always check the source. What is this research institute? Who owns it? Where do its funds come from? Who sits on the board? Whats the writers history? What are his or her known loyalties? Reluctance/anonymity Particularly with hot stories, you will very often encounter sources who are reluctant to speak to you, who insist that what they tell you is all off-the-record, or will not agree to be named. First, you need to know who the person is; if you dont have details about your sources background, you will not know what they are in a position to comment on. The most risky source is the unidentified voice on the end of a phone line even if Deep Throat did power the Watergate investigation. You cannot force someone to speak to you or go on the record. You need to understand their reasons for this attitude. Ask them. A good question is: What might happen if your name became known? Sometimes the reason is to do with personal fear: the undocumented migrant will be deported if her identity becomes known; the senior civil servant may be fired or even imprisoned; the person living with Aids may be attacked by his community. You may need to consult your editor at this point, to see how the news organisation can help to keep the person safe. (You may be asked by your editor to disclose the name of the source. When you do this, make it absolutely clear that this information must go no further

Sources and spin doctors

than the editors office.) But never make promises to a source you cannot keep; it is better to use an anonymous or off-the-record source than carry the moral responsibility for a tortured or dead one.

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To name or not to name

My worst experience as a journalist was to have a source assassinated, because the source had a lot more information than he provided for me, but he wanted to test the waters. He did not want his identity revealed, but of course all the people he was involved with did not have much difficulty to work out who he was and he got wiped out. So maybe as a source its better that you dont feed things in dribs and drabs, so that theres no reason to kill you, or you take the risk rather of using your name so that any action that is taken against you subsequently is very clearly in response to your whistle-blowing action. Thats the other side of source protection Sam Sole, Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg.

However, these are usually the only reasons for settling for a nameless source. Nameless sources are hard to monitor, can encourage inaccurate reporting and will certainly cause readers to have less faith in the story. But they may also provide first hand, insider knowledge, important confirmation or leads to additional evidence. Make your final decision based on the specific circumstances of your publication, the source, and the story. Agree with the source how you will refer to them in your story, and make the description as explicit as is safe. An environmental scientist working with the forestry ministry is better than a scientist unless she is the only environmental scientist the ministry employs! If a source is merely reluctant rather than literally scared for his life, try persuasion. South Africa-based investigative reporter Evelyn Groenink explains how she persuades reluctant sources and what she does if she has to settle for off-the-record information: Most people think of themselves as inherently good. I have had regular success with addressing people on that basis, explaining to them that I want to help correct something that is wrong and asking if we can work together in this effort. If only [the source] could make me understand how things are supposed to work and why or how they sometimes dont We will look at interviewing techniques for dealing with reluctance in the next chapter. Payments Never offer to pay for information, and be wary of sources who want to talk money before they talk about the story. The credibility of the source is immediately questionable, and so will your story be if your audience finds out it was paid for. You are open to the charge that the witness said what you paid him or her to say. This discredits both of you. If your story relates to a legal case, you could be accused of compromising the integrity of evidence or robbing the accused of the opportunity for a fair trial. If your source simply will not talk unless a payment is made, you must ask yourself why. Are they doing this only for the money; are they genuinely in such need that this offers a chance of survival or do they and you operate in a culture where favours are always reciprocated and dash oils the wheels of all transactions: for example, where registry clerks customarily receive a small underthe-counter payment for providing copies of birth certificates or government documents? If you have good reasons to believe the sources motive is purely mercenary, the story stops there. You have no way of knowing that what is brought to you is even true. Experience and your journalistic instincts will guide you, but if you are a relative beginner, the advice of a more experienced colleague can be helpful. If you are writing the story for an international outlet, remember most international media have strict rules about payments and simply will not accept a story reported on this basis. If the issue is cultural, you need to explain carefully why, in this particular case, making a payment could compromise the story: No-one will believe us if they know I paid you. Appeal to your sources better instincts; ask why they brought you the information in the first place and whether correcting that wrong is not more important than collecting cash. If this doesnt work however, and the source is genuine with unique information, the story important, and the payment within the normal range for this type of favour, you face a hard either/or decision: drop the story or make the payment. (For more on this type of decision-making, see Chapter 8.) Among poor communities, reporters sometimes have the reputation of vultures who exploit the stories they find there to build careers and become rich while informants stay poor. In these circumstances, asking for payment for information is understandable. Again, you need to explain that the story is not to benefit you personally, but in the public interest, and why payments could cause problems for the final story. But it is also justifiable to look for legitimate ways to compensate informants. A limited payment to compensate for time or income lost as a direct result of cooperating with a reporter is legitimate and widely practised, as is repayment of any expenses informants may have incurred. Make sure this doesnt appear to be covert payment for the story; get a receipt that spells out what the payment was for and ensure the amounts shown are reasonable. If you bring in TV cameras, you can pay a facility fee for any disruption the filming has caused, including the cost of any local power you use. And small courtesies while you are reporting, such as bringing a meal with you sufficient to share with your sources family as well as remembering to express thanks, and do any follow-up you have promised can improve the reputation of journalists and the communitys respect for their work.

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If a story incurs big expenses, such as paying for security, a safe house, or relocation for a source, these must be noted in the story. It should not need saying, but as a reporter you should never ask for payments or accept significant payments or favours from people connected with a story. This rule stands whether or not an explicit request is made to you about how the story should be handled. Obviously, commonsense judgements rule in these situations; being bought a single beer or offered a lift to the bus station are not significant favours. Many newsrooms have an ethical code setting a financial cap on the value of acceptable gifts and favours. But whatever the rules, if it becomes public knowledge that you received money, gifts or favours from a role player in a story you wrote (even if you did not change the story), your reputation will be compromised beyond repair.

Serving too many masters

A Congolese journalist, Franck Ngyke Kangundu, may have been assassinated for trying to serve too many political masters at once. He served as the eyes and ears of the new Kabila government on the opposition paper La Reference Plus, but had not cut all ties with the previous Mobutu regime and, using a range of pen-names, wrote both investigative stories attacking government (based on information from his old Mobutu-ist contacts) and stories praising government. In July 2005, La Reference Plus published a story accusing President Kabila of channeling US$30million of government funds to Tanzania, where he grew up. Soon after the Congolese secret service found and questioned the newspapers editor (who had gone into hiding), and got Kangundus name, he and his wife were shot down on the doorstep of their home. (See the full report on this, 30 Millions de dollars et la trahison du Marechal in the archive at www.niza.nl )

Protecting your sources It is your responsibility to alert your source to any potential danger that could result from the story being published but also to point out to them the social benefit and public interest of the disclosure. Only when you have discussed both these aspects can you say the source gave informed consent to being named in the story. Open, identified witnesses talking without ambiguity is in many cases the only effective way to counteract the spinning, lies, errors and crimes of the great and powerful. So you need to take time to get that. If, having done your best to persuade your source, he or she still fears to go public, you need to follow the following steps to protect them: zz Explain before any information has been exchanged that you may have to share their identity with some other people, such as your editor or media lawyer. Explain that this means not all the decisions about protecting their identity will stay in your own hands. zz Discuss how you will hide their identity, including how you will refer to their location, background, status or even gender.

Fire them!
In 1992, the then editor of the Zimbabwean Financial Gazette, Trevor Ncube, and reporter Regis Nyamakanga, were summoned before a Parliamentary Committee following their publication of a story in which they had quoted an unnamed member of the Committee. The member had alleged that (Committee investigations showed) that government ministers had received favours from a corrupt businessman. The Committee felt that it had been prejudiced in its investigations by the publication. Parliament ordered the two to reveal their sources or face prosecution. Fearing the possibility of a prison sentence, Ncube revealed his source. Source: MISA/IFEX

zz Agree with them explicitly what will be in the story, when it will appear, what the deadline is for alterations to content, and

whether the information will be embargoed (held back from publication for a certain time).
zz Make sure they understand the risks of meeting you, discussing the story over the phone or in e-mails. zz Make sure you keep any notes or records relating to the source in a safe place; perhaps with a third party unconnected with the

story, the source, or your paper. Do not discuss matters related to the source where you can be overheard, bugged, tapped (a phone) or hacked (e-mails on a computer). Remember it is now very easy to track records of phone calls, including cell phone calls, and to use your cell phone companys routine tracking signals to locate you. Switch off your phone and remove the batteries before going to meetings that need to be secret. zz Accept your sources requirements for certain information to be off-the-record or for background only though you can try to change their mind about these aspects. zz If you have given a commitment to conceal someones identity, you must honour it, even if that means your going to jail. Make sure your editor and any other colleagues involved in the story understand this too. This is the single most important principle governing relationships between reporters and sources. zz However, bear in mind that in many African countries, reporters and editors are tortured for the names of sources (as was

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the case with Franck Ngyke Kangundus editor, above). And since media offences in these countries often fall under criminal rather than civil law, verdicts may turn on your sources of information, and refusal to reveal these may count as obstruction or contempt of court, and carry a prison sentence. You need to be certain in your own heart of how far you are prepared to go to protect a source, before you even embark on the investigation. See Chapter 8 for much more on these issues. Protecting yourself The law protecting journalists (or not) varies from country to country, as does what is admissible as evidence in court. We discuss general principles in Chapter 8. But it is your responsibility to know the law and to understand any risks you are taking and their possible consequences. However you keep records in written notes, on a computer, or as sound or video recordings they must be as accurate as possible, dated and filed in such a way that they can be recovered when necessary. Be crystal-clear about: zz What the source has actually seen, or knows and/or is prepared to say zz How they are in a position to have the information they claim zz Their motives zz What the source actually says their full words, not paraphrases, or a tape if you can persuade them to make one. Make sure you record fully all interactions with your source, including what you may have discussed around payments requested or made. Keep receipts connected with story expenditure. Take every precaution to keep documents and other information secure. If you are a full-time employee of a media house with reliable legal and technical advisers, keep constant contact with these people and take advantage of their technical know-how to, for example, encrypt information stored on your computer hard-drive, or find secure storage for hard copies. If you are a freelancer, or have doubts about the trustworthiness of your newsroom, you will have to rely on your own common sense and you are far more vulnerable. Seek advice and support from professional organisations of colleagues, such as FAIR, or online advice and protection sites such as that of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). Ensure a transparent and honest relationship with your sources. Never lie to them or mislead them for any reason. Dont make promises you cannot keep, or predict consequences you cannot ensure. Dont get so personally attached to your sources or involved in their problems that you cannot maintain professional distance. You must make every effort to ensure you are being told the truth. So treat their information, however critical it is to you, with professional coolness and normal skepticism. Verify their personal details and be suspicious of any parts of their life they try to hide. Ask difficult questions. Be prepared for unexpected stalls and problems in your relationship with them, and always interrogate what has gone wrong. There is no such thing as a perfect witness and you dont want to be surprised later by information about the source you hadnt previously known. Beyond what you may have mutually agreed for source protection, resist any suggestion that your source has a right to control the content of your article or broadcast. In all but very rare circumstances, this is your editors decision. One form of protection for both you and your witness may be a legally-recognised signed, witnessed statement: an affidavit. And remember that important people often have large egos, and that the same personality traits that make the person so individualistic and bossy in dealing with you, may be the traits that made them stick their neck out and come to you with information. This kind of statement, initialled on every page and signed in the presence of a lawyer, is acceptable to courts in most countries and has important legal consequences. It signals that your source is willing to appear in court and give evidence if required. An affidavit should be given to a trustworthy lawyer for safekeeping. If your story results in legal challenge or action, the existence of the affidavit makes clear to anyone challenging it that your source is prepared to reveal him or herself if offered the protection of the court. It also protects you if your source later retracts the story. However, in countries where there is limited trust in the rule of law, where the courts can offer little real protection, it may be very hard to persuade your source to sign an affidavit. It is, however, worth trying. But protecting your professional integrity is only one part of self-protection. There is also the important issue of protecting your personal safety, your family, and your sanity. If you intend to spend time in a risky and traumatic area of the profession, you need to zz Have conversations with those close to you, not necessarily about the detail of your work, but about what it might mean for your and their safety. Work out the best ways of staying safe, precautions to take, and the options for an escape plan if you think you may need one zz Use journalists organisations and websites to pick up hints on professional safety and security and secure international comradeship zz Recognise that you may need psychological support at some stages in your career, if you have witnessed traumatic events or been subjected to brutality, bullying or torture. The reading list at the end of this chapter suggests some useful resources.

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Ironically, just as access to a huge range of documents is made easier by the Internet, so the usefulness of those documents is more often being called into question. As investigative journalist Stephen Grey puts it: The age of documents is finished. We are faced with a situation where, more and more, we can no longer rely on documents. It is so easy now to forge them During the Iraq war we saw how one of the key arguments used by the President to justify the war was a claim that Saddam Hussein had been buying uranium from Niger looking back, its astonishing they ever believed these documents. The documents carried names that were from 5-10 years ago and letterheads that werent even in use any more; even the names of government representatives were wrong. Nevertheless, the information passed all the way through the system Greys assertion that the age of documents is finished, though, is controversial. We still need documents to construct stories, provide the background to an interview, or provide the facts to cross-check answers. What his anecdote (and many others) about forged documents tells us is that we need to treat documentary evidence just as carefully as what human sources tell us. You can use an internet archive such as Lexis-Nexis (see Further Reading) to source documents; but many documents produced before digitisation need to be hunted down as hard copy in physical archives or libraries, or from your sources. Lexis-Nexis is an electronic archive of secondary sources: books, magazines, newspapers, scientific journals and the like. A primary source is the actual document: not a photocopy of it or a quote from it or analysis of it in some other document: a companys account book, a test result, register or hospital discharge paper. Original documents carry far more weight than copies, unless you can verify that your copy is genuine by getting it notarised (certified by a legal professional).

A huge amount of the information you need may already exist and be available in documents that are open to the public. This is what we mean by the public record. It might turn up in newspaper archive searches, internet and book searches, bibliographies, court records or official registrations (property, vehicle, corporate, marriage or divorce). We tend to underestimate the public record, assuming that because it is out there, it is no longer news. But remember: zz The documents you search may be public, but not everybody has read them. You are bringing something from a narrow, specialised readership to a broader audience zz No-one may have asked your specific questions before zz Putting together (synthesising) information from many different sources actually creates new information when it reveals links, contradictions or gaps. Do not forget the basics, such as phone books, staff directories, annual reports and organisational publicity documents. These can provide names, contact details, lists of responsibilities and sometimes even photographs of people you may be interested in. Public record searches can be time-consuming and tedious. But they are always worth doing.

1 The public record

Exercise #1

Public record documents

What public record documents would you expect to find from the following bodies? Brainstorm your own ideas for about 10 minutes before reading on.

1 Businesses

2 NGOs

3 Government and parastatal bodies

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What public record documents would you expect to find from the following bodies?

1 Businesses 2 NGOs

Business licence Articles of incorporation Website if large Staff directories Financial statements Contracts and tenders Legal documents if involved in any cases Press releases If large/public, agendas and minutes of shareholders meetings

Registration or licence to operate Annual reports and budgets Website Staff directories Press releases Reports, policies, newsletters and other publications Media stories on activities Policy statements Reports Website Staff directories Speeches in parliament by relevant minister Press statements and releases Contracts and tender documents Letters from spokespeople Media coverage of activities

3 Government and
parastatal bodies

Many of these documents will, of course, represent the organisation as it would like to be seen. But they can be very useful for establishing the gaps and contradictions between what is supposed to be happening and the reality.

Check with all those who have studied the question before. Has the research already been conducted and the witnesses found? Be prepared to stand on the shoulders of others earlier work.

2 The previous work of others

Check out the work that has already been done

I spent weeks looking for the records of the former East German secret service, the Stasi, trying to find out who the spies were in the UK. We looked through thousands and thousands of documents all marked Streng Geheim: top secret. We spent weeks looking and trying to decode the whole system until we found out there was a book available in the bookshops that had done that already. In fact, this book even named some of the Stasi sources in the UK. Stephen Grey Other journalists, NGOs, independent researchers, doctors, government investigators, experts, academics and authors may all have done relevant work. In rare cases private investigators or privately-commissioned researchers may co-operate if they have looked at the subject, but they require the consent of their client.

Regulatory bodies are often required to make information public, about what they do and who they are. Government departments may be a source of partial but useful information: zz Births, deaths, wills, marriages and divorces zz Court records in criminal cases, as well as coroners courts zz Property records and mortgage information zz Military service records zz Company registrations

3 Government and official information

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zz Regulatory commissions and inspectorates (environmental, industrial, trade union, medical and sometimes criminal and

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military commissions)
zz Electoral rolls.

Other national governments can be excellent if unusual sources of information. The US Government keeps archives and active files on most countries in the world, their principal economic, political and military activities, policies and statistics. These may produce different information from a domestic source. These files may be available under the US Freedom of Information Act to which anyone, anywhere can apply and receive the relevant materials with minimum payment. It can be a lengthy process, taking months, and it will be necessary for you to keep accurate dated records of your enquiries, who answered them, when, and when you hope for a reply.

4 Evaluating documents

There are a number of important things that you should always check when evaluating documents:

zz (As always) question the source. What might his or her motives have been for providing the documents? zz Is the document genuine? Check the details Stephen Grey mentioned: the letterhead, any verifiable names quoted, whether the

date makes sense in terms of the information contained. Look at the language of the document: obvious grammatical errors dont always mean that an official document is forged (civil servants have language problems too!), but a grossly inappropriate style should alert you. zz Is it complete? Do page numbers follow in sequence or have some pages been left out? Has anything been erased, scratched out, or made unreadable by an accidental fold in the paper? The missing information could put a completely new face on what you have read. zz Is the information current? If possible, ask someone familiar with the area concerned to verify that this is an up-to-date document, not an old one that has been overtaken by events. zz Is it accurate? The existence of a document does not invalidate the two-source rule. Ask an expert whether the facts and figures seem likely, or cross-check them with other documents.

Case studies
Erika Schutze, a freelance journalist working in the Eastern Cape area of South Africa, found herself dealing with a wide and complex range of sources when she began investigating disputes over titanium mining in the area. Stories emerging from this investigation appeared in the magazine Noseweek in August 2007: (Dune Deal) and November 2007 (Pondo Uprising); in the Sunday Tribune, 24 June 2007, (Residents on Warpath over Dune Mining) and September 23, 2007 (Commando Brandy Cottages Doomed). Please give us a brief outline of the story: I set out to cover a conflict in the Xolobeni District of Pondoland, Eastern Cape, where the community is split between those who support an application from an Australian company to mine the dunes for titanium and those who wish to protect their ancestral lands and pursue sustainable development options instead. Coverage in the media until that point had overlooked the concerns of those opposed to the mining. I feel the press is reluctant to do the footwork necessary to find out the opinions of the rural poor. The stories I followed encompassed human rights issues, land rights issues, sustainable development and environmental issues, as well as freedom of speech. Those who are pro-mining have funding from the mining company to caucus: vehicles, phones, and allowances for running these. The anti-mining faction has to walk long distances to meetings, does not have money for telecommunications, and is further weakened by food shortages every winter. The playing fields are clearly not level. I needed to investigate:
zz Why was there conflict in the community? zz How far had community tensions been manipulated by the mining company? zz Were there real prospects for eco-tourism and exactly how had these been undermined? (Was there corruption in the local

development trust?)
zz In 2003 a man called Mandoda Ndovela was murdered after a meeting where he objected vigorously to prospecting/mining in

his area. A case has been opened with the police, but they are not pursuing any investigations, even though many community members claim to know who the murderer is.

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zz What role has been played by local and provincial government? (They seem to be trying to use the tensions to their advantage,

in the context of their broader plans for the commercial restructuring of the Eastern Cape.)
zz What was the background and history of the mining company, Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC)?

This instance of conflict between communities and mining companies is very significant in the broader context of South Africa, given the vast mineral wealth here. There is also growing international concern about the problem of mining induced displacement and resettlement, and lack of corporate social responsibility and consultation. Id read several reports on these issues. How did the story get started? Through a tip-off: a friend who initiated a community-based tourism project in the area in 1999, and is still active in rural development work in the area, alerted me to the increasingly tense situation. What documentary sources did you consult and who did you talk to?
zz NGOs active in the area: Amadiba Crisis Committee, Sustaining the Wild Coast, National Union of ex-Mineworkers, Sgidi

zz zz zz

zz zz zz zz

zz

Community, Vuka Mtentu, South African Faith Communities Environment Institute, Community Organisation Resource Centre, ACCODA Trust. Mining companies: through its public relations company Maverick Media, and its local BEE beneficiary, Xolco, and the company conducting the environmental impact assessment, GCS Consultants. Development consultants who have been active in the area: Mintek, Strategic Development Consultants, Eco-nomics & IDS, Dave Arkwright, James Jackelman, Richard King, Travis Bailey, Dave Perkins, Norman Reynolds, Alex Anderson. Government Officials: Department of Minerals and Energy (national and provincial) and its Deputy Director General: Mineral Regulation; Department of Economic Development and Environment Affairs (DEDEA provincial and regional); Ntinga Development Agency; OR Tambo District Municipality Mayor Capa, Department of Land Affairs. Private Sector: Wilderness Safaris, Ufudu Flyfishing, Clearwater Trails. Tribal Authority: Queen MaSobhuza Sigcau, Chief Nkosi Ntabazakhe Maleni, Xolobeni Paramount Chief Yalo. Lawyers: Andiswa Ndoni, Richard Spoor, Jeremy Riddle. Documents, books, media: Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC) Annual Financial Report (31 Dec 2006); Online Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO); Online Australian Stock Exchange Limited, MRC website, Grant Thornton study commissioned by the Wild Coast Project in May 2004; Draft Mbizana Coastal Development Framework, various drafts of White Papers on Sustainable Coastal Development in the area, Wild Coast Tourism Development Policy (WCTDP) Special Provincial Gazette, 2001; Wild Coast Sustainable Development Initiative spatial development plan (WCCSDP); Mkambati and the Wild Coast, Div de Villiers and John Costello; The Peasants Revolt, Govan Mbeki, IDAF (UK), 1984; Benchmarks Foundation, June 2007 Report: A Policy Gap a study on the corporate social responsibility programmes of the platinum mining industry in the North West Province of SA; Mining Weekly; Independent Online, Financial Mail. Online discussion forums: two anti-mining interest groups on www.facebook.com exposed me to potential sources and debates. What difficulties did you encounter and how did you deal with them?

zz The Chairperson of Xolco, the black economic empowerment company associated with MRC, wrote a letter to the Sunday

zz

zz

zz

zz

Tribune, disputing whether I ever attended a tribal authority meeting (and my facts) even though she herself was not there. This letter remains on the website of MRC and defames my reputation as a journalist. Some newspaper editors resist carrying stories that do not have national relevance. Initially I could only place the stories in the regional Sunday Tribune (which publishes in another province, KZN) and independent magazine Noseweek. Likewise, many newspapers are reluctant to carry long, in-depth, analytical stories, and prefer event-driven stories with little context and background. My final story on the topic remains unpublished. Like all freelancers I operate at my own expense. Initially I had to take a risk and go to the area at my own expense, not knowing who would buy the story. I had to seek my own funding and was lucky to receive a media fellowship from the Open Society Foundation to pursue the matter. Another problem is editors stealing a story idea from a freelancers submitted story, and getting their own reporter to cover it this happened to me twice. Noseweek did not credit me for either published story, although they later apologised and blamed being rushed at deadline Ive given up even complaining about this! I faced intimidation from certain community group members, who would come to meetings armed, verbally threaten me, and use racial and party-political slurs. Likewise, one mayor while addressing the broader community in the local language, switched into English as she spoke of the media, and accused me and a colleague from the Tribune of pushing an environmental agenda. A lawyer for the BEE company regularly threatened legal action whenever one of my stories was published. In all these cases I tried to explain the role of the media as an impartial truth-seeker, and referred the lawyer to the human rights lawyers working with the anti-mining community committee.

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zz As an English first-language speaker with only a conversational grasp of Xhosa, I have hit language barriers. I was forced to hire

translators for all the community meetings I attended, and I am sure I lost many nuances and textures of the story.
zz Some sources backed out of letting me quote them due to intimidation for example, some teachers lost their jobs when they

told the press they opposed mining.

zz The Australian mining company, MRC, and its local subsidiary, TEM, refused to speak to the press, labelling all South African

media as biased. I resorted to dealing with its PR company.

zz Officials, especially those from Department of Minerals and Energy often treated my questions as hostile, and refused to

explain complex mineral laws. They simply referred me to the licences and regulations. I received abusive e-mails from officials, including very personal character assassinations. I enlisted the help of mining lawyers and development consultants to try to overcome this problem and get the laws explained and, of course, I have kept the abusive e-mails. zz I suffered from not having sufficient financial journalism background to investigate the shareholding discrepancies of MRC. I know I need to get training in this. Also, as a freelancer, I did not have the benefit of a newsroom or editors opinion or company legal guidance. So I had to source my own accounting experts and call in favours from knowledgeable friends. What resulted from the publication of the stories? Public sentiment was definitely heightened, judging from letters to the editor. Other local and international media picked up the story CNN came to film a short piece on the struggle. NGOs opposed to the mining company grew their membership and some even received funding from individual private donors. Advocacy and lobbying work was consolidated Johannesburg-based activists with much knowledge of the problems communities face when threatened by mining, came to the area, and conducted workshops with local communities. At that point there was a perplexing development. On November 29 2007, at 8.04 am, the daily e-mail subscription for Mining Weekly declared that mining in Xolobeni had been put on hold, stating: Wild Coast Xolobeni heavy-minerals project on hold: Australian mining junior Mineral Commodities (MRC), and its wholly owned subsidiary Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM), has put on hold its proposed heavy mineral mining operation at Xolobeni, along the Wild Coast of South Africa. However, later that day, the story was removed from the website. When the editor was asked, he said: Your observation is correct. We felt that our story was based on reliable information when it was first published. But on further investigation we discovered serious gaps. We are continuing to follow up and hope to do a more thorough report soon. My informants and I could not understand this. But it took place soon after the mining environmental impact assessment was released to very critical public response. So perhaps someone in mining camp couldnt stand the anxiety and leaked the story, hoping to save some face. Now the national Mail & Guardian has started to pursue the story and the Sunday Tribune has picked it up again. In addition, Mining Weekly is now pursuing the matter more vigorously. Perhaps this is a small success for freedom of speech and community self-determination! How long did the investigation take and what were the most time consuming and/or expensive aspects: I investigated the story for five months (June to November 2007). zz The most time-consuming aspects: travelling long distances on dirt roads in public transport; eventually hiring a private truck and driver to take me to rural communities and tribal authority meetings; researching the history of tourism initiatives by retrospective document and policy analysis; contacting experts who have since left the country. zz The most expensive: hiring interpreters; long-distance phone calls; having to phone all sources back when they sent Please call me text messages on my cell phone since they cannot afford airtime; paying for a minibus to ferry the leaders of the Amadiba Crisis Committee to Port Edward so that I could interview them as a collective voice; phoning the Australian Stock Exchange to follow up its own investigation into questionable accounting methods of MRC and its inflated share prices. Follow-up stories
zz Fred Kockott from the Sunday Tribune picked up on the story after I had had my first one published in his paper. The Tribune zz zz zz zz

editorial addressed the issue in the week following my initial expos. Getaway magazine referred to my Noseweek story in its coverage of the matter in its November 2007 edition, Dispatches section. Journalists from Eastern Cape Herald and In Route contacted me for leads. CNN came to film a short piece on the land struggle. Australian journalist, Lesley Shuttleworth, formerly from the Eastern Cape, wrote about the issue in the Melbourne press, and interviewed me for her story.

What did you learn, and what advice would you give others covering similar stories? Investigating a story of this magnitude is not a solitary undertaking and it is imperative to nurture a wide range of sources that constantly feed you with information and notify you of new developments you may have overlooked. zz Cultivate grass-roots sources, otherwise the more vocal and better-funded NGOs tend to set the agenda and speak on behalf of the disadvantaged often without mandate or authority to do so, and often with erroneous observations. zz Keep a calm and impartial demeanour, even when aspersions are being cast on your character, so as to appear professional and defuse any explosive situations.

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zz Research all your facts in advance so that if you face obstinate and rude officials, you can explain your line of questioning and

win their confidence.

zz Find stress management techniques that work for you, and do not adopt the boozy solutions of many colleagues.

NOTE: Since Erika sent us this case study, the South African Human Rights Commission has summoned national and local officials to explain the human rights abuses that have occurred around these mining rights struggles.

Key points from this chapter

The usefulness of sources depends not only on the sources themselves, but how skillfully you use them. Start with your subject, and then map witnesses, people currently or previously involved, experts and relevant official and organisational contacts. Make your selection from these. Select and evaluate experts carefully, and find a way of dealing with differences in expert views without distorting arguments. Pay particular attention to organisational contacts who act as gate-keepers, surveyors and door-openers. Use covert techniques only after careful decision-making on important, public-interest stories. Evaluate sources and documents methodically. Use the two-source rule to try to ensure that each of your findings has independent back-up. Beware of spin. Question the origins and motives of everything. Encourage reluctant sources to go on the record. If they will not, take every possible precaution to protect their identity. Avoid making any payments to sources that can be misinterpreted as payment for the story. Protect yourself by accurate record-keeping, careful guarding of your story materials and, where possible, getting signed affidavits from important sources. There is a wealth of documentary source material in the public record. Look here first. Also check work done in your field by previous writers and researchers, to avoid re-inventing the wheel. The most important principle is that your relationship with your sources is sacred. Do not make promises you cannot keep. If you have made promises, you must be prepared to put your own liberty or life on the line to see they are kept.

So, where did Angelique Kimoko go wrong?

We hope you noted some of the following points:
zz It sounds as though she let her feelings of sympathy get the better of her. There is no evidence that she verified the

womans story, or had the necessary pre-interview conversations about confidentiality and protection. Both she and her source took far too much for granted. zz By giving the woman money for no clear reason, she could have put the credibility of her reporting at risk. zz She does not appear to have stressed to her editor the importance of protecting the womans identity in fact, she completely failed to protect her source, and real harm may have resulted from this. Angelique will have to come to terms with her own feelings of guilt and inadequacy, and she may need counseling or support from another source. And in future she will, hopefully, have those vital preliminary conversations with sources in which issues of confidentiality are discussed and ground rules for dealing with the story are agreed.

Sources and spin doctors

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Glossary
zz Confidentiality clause part of a contract signed by employees that forbids them from talking about anything to do with

their employer: sometimes even extends after the person has left that job
zz Door-opener a source who can give you access to others by vouching for your ethics and/or credentials zz Facility fee standard and reasonable payment for occupying premises (including someones home) for the purposes of zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

filming/reporting/recording/interviewing Forensic accountant someone employed by the police or authorities to track financial dealings and misdemeanours Gatekeeper a source who controls access to other sources or to stores of information Housing a source finding out where they live Informed consent consent given by a source to use information or identify them AFTER a full discussion of precautions and possible consequences Paper trail evidence of conduct or actions discovered through the documentary evidence the conduct has left, using one document to lead you to another Public record non-confidential documents kept on file as part of routine public administration, e.g. a driving licence, company or birth register Spin doctor a public relations consultant or spokesperson employed to maintain or improve image or influence public opinion Two-source rule professional convention that evidence counts as unconfirmed if you cannot find a second source to support it Whistleblower an insider who wishes to give evidence to the media about his/her employer or organisation

Further reading
For a general survey of government and commercial media manipulation:
zz http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Manipulation.asp zz The Canada-based site www.journalismnet.com lists an impressive range of international web resources that give you

expertise on almost every beat, as well as inroads into media and institutions in almost every country.
zz The FAIR website www.fairreporters.org (click on resource centre, library and links) provides a good list of international

institutions that maintain online databases on the following: African media and international newsletters focusing on Africa Company registries in SA and Europe, multinationals, resource exploitation and arms trade International corruption monitoring institutions International law and order agencies, statistics, the World Health Organization, human rights, justice, security and human traffic monitors zz The Dossiers section on the FAIR sites resource centre chapter provides background papers on resource exploitation, party funding, media law and a range of other issues. The Tipsheets section (under Career Toolbox) gives an institutional directory, with contact details of government and non-government institutions in all sectors of society, of nine African countries. zz Http://www.publicintegrity.org and its partner, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (find it on the same website) regularly publish research on international issues of corruption and unethical business practices zz Http://www.drewsullivan.com/database.html provides a list of US, but also international databases that are accessible online.
zz zz zz zz

zz zz zz zz

For general resources on Africa, see the following links: United Nations general (click on browse for a wide range of subjects): www.un.org/ Stanford University Africana resource: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/guide2.html Africana library: http://www.digital-librarian.com/africana.html South African local government data: http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/amed/southafrica/resources/southafricalibraries.html

Sources and spin doctors

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For documents service (companies, assets, deeds, etc.):

zz Lexis-Nexis: a fee-bearing service that can be expensive, but may be accessed via a university or law office terminal at that

institutions expense: www.lexisnexis.com For international labour-related issues: The International Labour Organisation (ILO)s statistics: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/portal/index.htm The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions: www.icftu.org Global Unions Federation: http://www.global-unions.org/ The European Trade Union Confederation: www.etuc.org Labour Start (current trade union news): http://www.labourstart.org/ For human rights organisations: Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org Human Rights UN: www.ohchr.org/english International Organisation for Migration: www.iom.int Save the Children: www.savethechildren.net/alliance/index.htm Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org Oxfam: www.oxfam.org.uk International Centre for Transitional Justice: www.ictj.org/en/index.html Unicef: www.unicef.org For environment and resource exploitation issues:
zz Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org.international zz Global Witness: www.globalwitness.org

zz zz zz zz zz

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

zz zz zz zz zz

For international law and police data: International Commission of Jurists: www.internationaljurists.com/index International Court of Justice: www.icj-cij.org Interpol: ww.interpol.int Europol: www.europol.eu.int UN office on Drugs and Crime: www.unodc.org For nuclear information:

zz The International Atomic Energy Agency: www.iaea.org/Publications/index.html

zz zz zz zz

For freedom of expression and freedom of information issues: Article 19: www.article19.org IFEX: www.ifex.org http://foi.missouri.edu.html for freedom of information guidance and examples www.saha.org.za for FOI services in South (and southern) Africa For networking and help if you work in a conflict-ridden area:

zz Dealing with stress, trauma and torture

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, which is based at the University Washington in Seattle (http://www.dartcenter. org) in coordination with the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies offers journalists a referral service to professional counselors worldwide. zz The Marjorie Kovler Center for Survivors of Torture (http://www/poetics.org/daytonpor/kovler_center.htm) is a clinic in Chicago with expertise in this area. (The above references are drawn from the very full bibliography of a CPJ report on journalists working in war areas. The full report, with four pages of useful references, can be accessed at: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/safety/safety.pdf )

Sources and spin doctors

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Other reporters organisations

zz International global investigative journalism (supports requests for information)

http://www.globalinivestigativejournalism.org/
zz Investigative Reporters and Editors (large archive of stories)

http://www.ire.org
zz The Center for Public Integrity (regular research on issues of corruption, etc.)

http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx
zz The International Federation of Journalists

http://www.ifj.org
zz Centre for Investigative Journalism

http://www.tcij.org
zz You can find more investigative journalism organisations in the library section of the FAIR website. zz Dont forget your own national or regional journalists organisation!

Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you will be better able to:
zz Describe the differences between

zz

zz

zz

zz

zz

general and investigative interviewing in terms of approach, strategy and questioning technique Understand the factors that can make interviewing relationships adversarial, and how to handle these Name and employ techniques for dealing with deceit and spin in interviews Name and employ techniques for dealing with trauma, reluctance and fear in interviews Discuss the risks reporters face in investigative interviewing, and tactics for dealing with these List the conventions governing investigative interviewing and discuss the usefulness of these.

This chapter will also provide a map of the chapters that follow, and provide you with some tools and terminology that well be using throughout the book. If you would like to revise the basics of story planning and source handling before you tackle these topics, we recommend you read or re-read Chapters 3 and 4. We strongly recommend that you read this chapter in conjunction with Chapter 8 on legal and ethical basics. zz For guidance on research tools to plan interviews or confirm information, see Chapter 6 zz For guidance on writing up the results of your interview in your story, see Chapter 7.

Investigative interviewing

Investigative interviewing

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Gideon Rufaro had just joined the investigative team of a weekly magazine in a Central African country. His magazine was chasing the story of corrupt tendering processes around the replacement of the government car fleet. The auto dealer involved had allegedly secured the contract without ever tendering, and at a very inflated price. Gideon was assigned to interview the minister for the public service, whose department is responsible for contracts and tenders. He had anecdotal evidence from several sources, including quite specific figures on how the cars were over-priced. This is how the interview went:
Gideon: Mr Minister, good morning, thank you for agreeing to see me. Now, youve told the state broadcaster that there was nothing untoward in the contract Sirdar Motors got for replacing the government fleet. But our sources say that you considered only the Sirdar bid, even though their prices were high. Would you like to comment on that? Minister: Who are these sources? Name one! Gideon: Youll understand we cant reveal our sources. But I have certainly seen the official limousine youre buying priced in showrooms at 30% below what Sirdar is charging you per vehicle Minister: If you are suggesting I am lying, there is no point in this interview. Government vehicles have all kinds of extra features for security, you know. What is your paper doing anyway, sending a young boy to interview someone of my stature? Gideon: Really, Mr Minister! It may interest you to know I got my Masters in Journalism at Columbia University. Minister: Aha! A lackey of American imperialism! No wonder you are trying to trap me! Gideon: If we could just get back to the topic in handis the government at least going to look into these allegations? Government tender procedures require three bids to be considered, so how did you make the decision when you did not even advertise the tender? Minister: I can assure you we are not swayed by malicious rumours. Every step of the process was followed according to specified procedure. Gideon: So who... Minister: Dont interrupt me. I am at least entitled to basic politeness, you little hyena! Gideon: Minister, you are not being very polite to me... Minister: How dare you! Anyway, you should have been informed we only had five minutes, and that time is now up. My time is too precious to waste on this nonsense. (Rings bell) My secretary will show you out. Gideon: But Minister...!
zz Oh dear. Gideon didnt get very much out of that interview, and he knows that his editor is not going to be

pleased.
zz Is there anything he could have done to handle things better?

Well consider this problem again at the end of the chapter.

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Basic principles
nterviews, like all acts of communication, are two-way processes. The results depend as much on you as on your interviewee. We include here some basic general points about interviewing, but if you are a relative beginner in this aspect of your work, or want to do more revision, we recommend you consult the interviewing sections of an introductory journalism text. A good interview has the feel of a conversation, but it is not one. Everything you do or say forms part of a planned strategy to get the answers you need.

It is worth devoting time even when you are not working on a project to:
zz Networking and collecting contact information from people at every seminar, meeting or conference you attend. If it isnt clear

from a persons card what they specialise in, make a note on the back of the card.
zz Organising your contacts book in good order. Whether you keep it electronically or in a notebook, what you dont need is a

jumbled list of names that you have to read through each time to locate the right person. Pure alphabetical organisation is adequate if you can remember every contacts surname (most of us cant). Otherwise, organise contacts alphabetically within topic areas (e.g. Education, Environment, Health, Government) to make searches simpler. zz Filing contacts as soon as you receive them, and going through the book from time to time to weed out those who have moved, or otherwise become irrelevant. The bigger that pile of business cards on your desk grows, the bigger will be the task of getting it in order and the more reluctant you will become to do it. zz Working contacts (we have discussed this in other chapters) to ensure a good, proactive relationship with them. Remember your contacts book is also very useful to rival publications, and to the security services. Always keep it safe, secure and confidential and know that there are certain names you will only store in your head. Be prepared research is crucial. Sometimes on a short-run news story there is very little time for research, but this should never happen on a serious investigative story. Research the person, the issue and the context before speaking; this may be your only chance and you dont want to miss important angles. Try to collect as many primary documents as you can before you go into a key interview. You will know exactly what to ask, and, if the person you are interviewing works at the institution you obtained documents from (and is not hostile), he/ she can help explain them. Context and background (see Chapter 6 on parallel backgrounding) can often give you clues to good questions that direct research on the individual will not suggest: they may highlight important contradictions.

Gathering the documentation

Zimbabwean journalist Charles Rukuni was investigating a story about a building developer who was cheating the buyers of his plots and substandard homes. The story is still running. Rukuni notes: The initial investigation took about three weeks. The most time-consuming aspect was the research about who [the man] was, what he had been doing, how he got into construction, how many houses he had built, and gathering documents that I could use to prove that he had been cheating some of his clients.

Select your interviewees and interview sites broadly Go where the problems are, and plan interviews with a range of people. Otherwise you risk becoming dependent only on important people or highly placed sources in urban offices or bars. You will find out more about cruel landlords in the places where farmworkers are being evicted, than in the capital-city office of a land NGO. Use data mapping to compare what you find on the ground against policy papers, promises, budgets and what your sources tell you. Compare your findings with what has happened in similar places with similar problems, or even at different times in history. Getting people to talk to you A good exercise is to mingle at a busy hotel, or when you are attending a routine function, and get people to talk to you about what they do. If you have an idea in advance of others who will be attending, and where they are employed, contracted or connected, draw up a cultivation plan and list issues to discuss. In other words, work out how to turn the person from a casual meeting into a source you could contact in future. What would interest the person? How can you draw him/her out about the issues and debates in their workplace? Would your approach be different for a senior civil servant and a barman? How? (Never underestimate the intelligence of people who do apparently routine jobs!) At what point would you tell them you are a journalist? In what

Investigative interviewing

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circumstances would you conceal your real job and pretend to be something else (e.g. a sales representative)? How would you build up that role convincingly? Plan your questions in advance There is a structure that assures you of retrieving something, even from an interview that blows up in your face: 1. Warm-up (establishing some kind of human relationship) 2. Basic information, including confirming known facts 3. Soft questions 4. Hard questions. However, in circumstances where relationships are likely to be strained even before you enter the room, keep the early phases of the interview short and tight compatible with cultural courtesy requirements and get to the point as swiftly as you can. Make sure your interview follows a logical structure, establishing first the information you will need to build more challenging questions on later. Your questions must be easily understood, clear and to the point. Practice in advance. A group of shorter questions that build on one another may be better than a long rambling question where your interviewee gets lost before the end. Avoid multi-part questions: Minister are you aware of tender irregularities, did you supervise the process and why did Sirdar get the contract? (Youll only get an answer to one part usually the part your interviewee actually wants to discuss.) Be aware of the difference between closed questions (those that invite a yes, no or other one-word answer) and open questions (those that encourage the person to expand on their ideas). Mix open and closed questions, and use closed questions only deliberately for specific goals (see the section on Adversarial and forensic questioning on page 5-10 below).

Exercise #1

Planning questions

Take 5-10 minutes to prepare the types and sequence of questions you would use if asking an official about a suspect tender process.

Investigative interviewing
We hope you included questions about What the requirements are for a sound tender process What checks and balances exist to make sure the requirements are followed What the official your interviewees role is Whether the circumstances around this process were normal Whether each step was followed in the case of this particular tender If there were variations from the norm why?

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zz zz zz zz zz zz

In other words, you move from the relatively safe area of official procedure to more challenging questions about what went wrong Ensure recording and writing equipment are in good working order Always carry spares (pens, batteries etc). If you will need the interviewee to sign a release form for the use of anything gleaned at the interview, be sure to have one with you. This is particularly important for long interviews that will need to be cut into a broadcast. It isnt necessary for corporate or political spokespeople by definition of their job, they agree to the interview and agree to its use by you in whatever way you decide. They do however have the right to complain if they dont like the way you have used it.

Use an appropriate set-up method This will depend on the purpose and circumstances of the story. zz You may just be able to do a walk-in (although often people consider this rude) or phone-in with someone with a personal story to tell. zz If you are consistently blocked from seeing the person, you may try a stake-out; hanging round in the persons office waiting room or lobby, or at a public event where you know they will be present. This can blow up in your face, and it is vital that you do not behave as though you are ambushing them; simply introduce yourself politely and let them know youd welcome an opportunity to talk. zz On a long-term story, you may write or e-mail (but see below). zz Where you do not know who the sources are, you may advertise (Anyone who took drug X during pregnancy). zz Where there is likely to be suspicion you may need an intermediary door-opener from the persons network. zz Any interview request to a company, organisation, government or parastatal body will likely require a formal approach, usually through a press office. In all cases, be polite and clear about who you are and what, in general terms, the interview will cover. (Try not to give too much away.) You may find it useful to rehearse a very short introductory speech that covers all the main points before you phone, for example Hello, I am Gideon Rufaro, a reporter from Company Week, a financial magazine based in the capital. Im working on a story about official transport fleets and wonder if I could set up an interview with Mr Y in this regard? Be realistic about what you ask for 15 minutes will be a long time for a Government minister; a person in trauma might need you to stay all day before they open up. Try to evade advance demands gracefully If a condition of the interview is that you provide questions in advance, you may have to do so. But this is not a good idea. See if you can, rather, send a broad outline of the topics you hope to cover. Advance questions except sometimes to experts, who may simply need time to collate specialist material will produce a stilted interview. Always reserve your right to ask follow-up questions. Resist demands to see the story after it has been written Make it clear that changes to the story at that point require negotiation with your editor, not you. (An exception here is the interview to tap technical expertise: you do need to ensure that you have understood and conveyed the technicalities correctly. But make it clear that you are sending it back for checks on accuracy only.) Choose a suitable venue A persons home or office gives them a small psychological advantage it is their turf but may also put them at ease and lets you see them in context. Your office gives you the psychological advantage, but may be far too public to give them any sense of security. Think about whether you want the interview to be in a public place, or discreet; about the mood you want to set; and about the surrounding noise, which may make a recording useless. Get precise directions, even if you think you know the venue, and find out about parking arrangements, etc.

Investigative interviewing

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Always confirm arrangements Always confirm arrangements for all but the most trivial, informal interviews with a phone call, e-mail or fax, so the interviewee cannot later say s/he forgot. E-mail is far more useful for this purpose than for a first approach (e-addresses often change, and e-mails are easy to ignore). Dont wait for secretaries who promise to get back to you. Allow a reasonable time for a response, then call back. Be persistent, but dont be a nuisance.

Should you interview alone?

zz Common sense suggests that if you want someone to speak freely about a confidential topic, the fewer witnesses there

are, the better. A back-to-basics approach: you and the interviewee, face-to-face in a place where you are certain you cannot be overheard, bugged or filmed, is the most secure, and is likely to reassure your interviewee. zz But sometimes the danger and pressure in an interview falls not on the interviewee, but on you, the journalist. And in those circumstances, you may need the back-up of a witness. Ivorian journalist Eric Mwamba describes how he was saved from the intimidation trap: It was 1995 and I was still very young when I successfully completed my very first investigative report. This story revolved around the city of Kananga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The governor of the province, Malengela NGueji, and the city mayor, Tshibuyi Kayembe, had entered into a deal to divide up and to sell the shops of the central market at a hugely discounted price, and for their own personal gain. This building had been put up by the colonialists in 1950. It was the pride of everyone due to its architectural beauty and it was also a source of income for many families. The investigation revealed that the deal probably brought a real small fortune to the predators: somewhere in region of US$400 per square metre sold. What was even worse was the opinion of architects that the redevelopment of the site had not been preceded by a feasibility study. As a result, the old building (1950-1995) was at risk of collapsing on top of its tenants, putting a historic landmark at risk and potentially causing the loss of many human lives and valuable stocks of goods. After the investigation was published, people took to the streets, marching to demand the resignation of these two public figures. After this, the governor invited me to his office to respond, as his right. But this meeting soon turned into a duel between a young journalist and a wily old politician ready to crush anything that proved to be an obstacle to him. Holding the copy of the magazine containing the incriminating article in one hand, his other hand closed in a tight fist and with a very serious face, the governor treated me to all sorts of threats in the presence of the director of his cabinet and his press attach. It was only the presence of an unexpected and inconvenient (for them) witness Franck Citende, president of the Human Rights League, who had come seeking a separate audience that allowed me to avoid a certain trap.

Journalists often suffer from their own bad press. We are said to be nosy, sensationalist, out to destroy peoples reputations, working for the opposition, keeping hardworking people from their duties, lacking respect, etc. Sometimes, these accusations are well-founded. If someone was annoying us the way we sometimes annoy other people we would be upset too. The way to counter this negative image is to behave decently and ethically. Dont be rude and dont demand things that are unreasonable. The more we behave in a way that implies I can phone you at any time of day and night and you just have to give me what I want the more we encourage hostility from the rest of society. Most people like to believe that they are good and honest. So why not begin by relating to interviewees on this basis? Phrasing questions in ways such as: I would really like to understand how this works, or Please help explain the problem for the benefit of the community, Please work with me on this because the pollution is killing children often produce good results. In many cases, individuals will help a journalist if they can be convinced that the public interest is at stake. This is not just a matter of strategy. Despite grandiose labels such as The Fourth Estate, no individual journalist was democratically elected to monitor anybody we just happened to land a job as a journalist. We are part of civil society, and in that sense share the responsibility of making sure the state serves its citizens, and we do have privileged access to channels of mass communication such as newspapers or broadcasting stations. All of that should make us less arrogant, not more so. Especially when we are working to expose hostile agencies, using methods such as making covert tapes that skirt or even break laws, it is important that we demonstrate our bona fides through pleasant, sincere, transparent (at least, as transparent as possible) working methods. To ensure that you dont overstep the mark as a journalist, always ask yourself: What if I was the person I am investigating? How would I see the world, how would I see the role of journalists? Also ask: How accountable am I? Would I succumb to the same temptations that I am investigating against others? What would stop me? Where are my checks and balances?

1 Lose the attitude

Investigative interviewing
2 Arrive on time

5-7

If you dont, you will alienate your interviewee, lose time, waste time apologising, and spend the first moments breathless and unable to focus.

While rules of dress are more relaxed than they used to be, you dont want to alienate your interviewee on first impression. Dress in a way that will fit in with the context, show appropriate respect, and be neutral enough to send no messages about your lifestyle or views.

3 Dress appropriately

If necessary, use the needs of your recording machine (It will pick up sound better here) as an excuse. You need a position where you can maintain eye-contact, but sitting directly face-to-face can feel too confrontational. Rather sit level, opposite, but at a slight angle to your subject. Avoid obstacles between you, such as piles of books or the lid of an open laptop. A soft sofa makes it hard to write and too easy to relax out of alertness.

4 Choose where you sit

This is good manners (you are their guest), will help you to relax and collect your thoughts, and may help them to see you as a human being rather than an intrusive journalist. But keep the type and length of the warm-up appropriate for the circumstances of the interview.

5 Always do some warm-up

There may be cultural considerations of respect to deal with here, but you will always have a better conversation with someone if each of you sees the others face and expression. This may be difficult if you are taking notes, but remember to look up occasionally, and always when you are asking a question. If you simply read your questions your interviewee will suspect you are not confident, or read rudeness or hostility into your refusal to engage.

6 Maintain appropriate eye contact

Be aware of body language (yours and theirs). Clusters of defensive gestures and posture can signal evasion and are a good clue to where you may want to push the questioning harder. Look too for signals of hurt, relief, humour, anger or boredom to either build on or counteract.

7 Be equally conscious of body language

Confirm on/off the record and the timeframe; ensure informed consent to publish stories around sensitive topics. If the interview is informal choose your moment to get out your notebook or tape recorder and say: You dont mind if I record this/take notes? If its formal, get going quickly.

8 Establish the ground rules at the start

Dont conceal recording devices, but try to write or record non-intrusively, and explain (This will help me to get your answers right) if they seem nervous, or ask.

9 Be aware that taking notes or recording may intimidate some interviewees

Note-taking keeps you focused and allows you to record things (gestures, surroundings, expressions) that the tape may not capture. It is also a back-up if anything goes wrong with the recording. Note accurately, and distinguish between quotes and your own observations/analysis.

10 Always take notes even if you record too

These are those questions to which you know the answer. It will help you break the ice and cover the basics, and you may discover you actually dont know the whole story. If your interviewee is bemused by the simplicity of the question, dont take offence. You dont need to, but you can explain Readers need this in your own words, not mine.

11 Include confirming questions (those to which you know the answer)

Dont ramble (their answers are more important than your monologues) and dont interrupt. If their answers are not easy to understand, rephrase the question and try again. Some interviewees need to order their thoughts and will be happy to try again. Listen carefully to the reply does it really answer your question? If not, you must try again. If you want to be absolutely certain you have understood, rephrase the answer back to them (So you are saying?)

12 Keep to the point

The interview is not about you. Dont get aggressive even if the interview isnt going as well as you hoped or the interviewee is rude. In a more informal interview resist talking about yourself, and provide empathy, not sympathy (which can sound patronising) for their difficulties.

13 Keep calm

Investigative interviewing
14 Ask lots of neutral-sounding, open questions

5-8

Take a tip from psychologists. Avoid questions that reveal how you will feel about the answer Wasnt this a shocking abuse of power? and rather ask: How do you feel about using power in this way? You may be seeking motivation and reasoning, but directly using the word Why? can sound accusing or incredulous. So ask why? indirectly: not Why did the press reports make you angry? but rather, You said those press reports made you feel angry. Tell me more about that

Let the interviewee finish, pause, then ask your next question. You dont need to fill the gaps. If the interviewee needs time to think about an answer, give it; if they need time to recover their emotions, just wait quietly before asking, Shall we go on now?

15 Silence is not a bad thing

Be in a constant state of interaction with what you hear; note your responses in your notes and use them to generate additional questions. Is this the answer I want? Do I understand this? How will I use this? Once the interview is over it may be very difficult to go back for a second one. If you have done your research and to your surprise you are not hearing what you expected, dont panic, give up or change the subject - go with it. Respond to new points and ask follow-ups. Dont try and shoe-horn an interview into a preconceived story. The surprise might turn into a better story in the end; if it doesnt, you can choose a later moment to return to your original theme.

16 Look interested; be interested

Keep an eye on the clock, pace your questions, and when you reach the end of your agreed time, ask: Do we have time for X more questions?

17 Respect time

The story will appear on Thursday. The photographer will phone you to make an appointment. Dont make promises you cant keep.

18 At the end, confirm with the interviewee what will happen next

19 Always say thank you

This is important, even if you have been stonewalled and insulted. Try to sound as if you mean it.

This is the time when your short-term memory works best; if you leave the notes until the next day, you may forget what a tailed-off scribble actually stood for, or what you urgently noted to yourself to check.

20 Check and clarify your notes immediately after the interview

Good journalists will use their material honestly. Obviously, you cannot tell lies about what was said. But nor can you alter the sense of a question or reply after the interview is over: that is what is meant by taking something out of context. (Be especially careful when you have to move answers from the sequence in which they occurred in the original interview; its easy here to distort truth accidentally by clumsy juxtaposition.) Tell your story, and then give the response of those the story concerns. Audiences are intelligent. They will know where the truth lies. You dont need to tell them it lies with you.

21 Respect the reality of the interview when you use it

The basic principles of planning, preparation and informed, flexible questioning that we have summed up above, apply in all interview situations. But an investigative reporting project puts different demands on your skills and requires a different emphasis in your approach. Timing is of the essence: think not only about who you will interview, but at what stage in the investigation it would be best to interview them. The context is different: you are more likely to encounter hostility, defensiveness, reticence or evasion from your interview subjects because the interview topics tend to be bigger or more sensitive. For this reason, you will use a different strategy, and your questioning technique will aim to achieve different goals.

The key question here is When should you confront the main characters in your investigation? Too soon, and you will warn them to escape (or seek an injunction) before you can close your story; too late and they may already have fled, or will have developed pat answers or legal evasions for your questions. It can be a scary exercise to ask for comment. We dont mean the fear that your assumptions might turn out to be wrong, and that after listening to very reasonable explanations by the object of your investigations, you might not have a story after all. That is always a possibility; accept it. It is actually more scary when your suspicions are correct. Even if your story is not fully complete or fully correct, you discover you are definitely on to something. For then, your requests for comment will alert the powerful people or institutions you are

1 Different timing: when to confront the principals?

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investigating to the fact that you represent trouble. They may respond in all kinds of ways. A simple denial is the easiest to deal with: you keep on digging. But just as likely are threats: direct physical and legal threats or more subtle forms of intimidation through third parties (often your editor or publisher), and immediate pre-publication lawsuits. The word defamation will be central to all these exercises, yet actual defamation suits often do not ensue. Appearing in court means the evidence will be laid out in public; the powers involved are usually more interested in stopping publication than in revenge after the fact.

Confronting VIPs
This is what happened to South Africa-based journalist Evelyn Groenink when she tried to obtain comments from very powerful individuals whom she had investigated for their possible roles in a corrupt arms deal, at the background of which a few murders had occurred. How do you approach someone with a request to comment on allegations, or a set of circumstances, that seem to connect them to murder? What compounded my problem was that I did not have clear statements from other people, accusing these individuals. In this kind of international mafia-deals, that involve very powerful people, you rarely get courageous whistleblowers who give you information on the record. All the information I had to go on, I had obtained from what was known about the murder victims, who were people who had resisted the multibillion dollar deal. I had combined this with profiles of the businessmen and politicians involved in the deal, their financial interests at the time, their connections to secret services, their relationship to the victims, rumours and statements from people who desperately wanted to remain unidentified. I wrote up my requests for comment in letters, because I did not want to go all alone and ring these individuals doorbells. Writing seemed both decent enough for them, since it would give them their chance to comment and deny, and safe enough for me. To be meticulously fair to the individuals, who might after all be innocent, I wrote up all the disconcerting information and circumstantial evidence that seemed to cast suspicion on them, and asked them politely to enlighten me as much as possible. I had expected trouble of course, but I had never expected that it would be so massive. To start with, none of the people I wrote to actually replied with comments or even denials. I, and even more than I, my publisher, received a barrage of abuse, pain and threats. One politician kept phoning us, never actually crossing the line where he might be accused of issuing threats, but threatening nonetheless: that we had criminal minds and that he would have to defend himself against our crimes. He also intimated to the publisher personally that the world was a dangerous place. A secret service operative I had identified threatened to come to the publishers office and beat us up. A lawyer whom I had written to because he seemed to have acted on behalf of some of the individuals I had identified, threatened to bankrupt the publisher with a defamation lawsuit. This, even when nothing had been published yet. In this lawyers opinion, a defamation suit was justified, because I had already defamed him by sending the fax with the questions, which indicated my suspicions, to his office. All this turned out to be too much for the publisher. He crumbled under the pressure and my book wasnt published. Other publishers, probably fearing the same backlash, later also refused having anything to do with my investigations. As a result, the murders I investigated are still on public record as individual hate crimes. Their connection to the arms deal will maybe only be revealed far in the future. Does this mean that we should rather not investigate serious crimes at high levels of power, because it will involve having to seek comment from very powerful culprits? Some established people in the media business are indeed wary of such investigations, because they know that these have very little chance of succeeding. My first editor told me long ago: Dont investigate state crimes that involve secret services and lots of money. We dont have the means to handle such things. On the other hand, I do believe that I could have handled it differently. I could have really tried to understand the arms business, by slowly building contacts in the companies involved. I could have held many, many interviews with players in all the contracts, without, in the beginning, even touching on the murders at the background of the deal. This would have helped me to distinguish between small and big players, between mere arms deal makers and individuals who would go as far as to murder people who were obstacles to contracts. I could then have targeted the real big fish with more knowledge and certainty. I could have developed a whistleblower in the circles who were innocent of murder, but who would have known who the murderers were. This would of course have been extremely risky. In 2000, Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso was killed after he had investigated bank fraud by powerful people in his country. He followed precisely the route of trying to understand how bank fraud works, he kept approaching people in the banks to explain difficult financial stuff to him. In the end, he got so close to a real understanding of what happened, that the culprits must have felt that murdering him was their only way out. Maybe the only way to handle this kind of investigation, is as a team. It would be difficult even for VIP criminals to murder an entire group of journalists. Some investigative journalism networks have already put such high-risk investigations into practice as team projects. The best known is IREs Arizona project, named after a case where a journalist was murdered in pursuit of a story. IRE organised dozens of journalists to flock to the place where the investigation had been conducted, and they finished the story. The message to the culprits was: you can kill a journalist, but you cant kill a story.

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In Africa, FAIR has called on journalists who are faced with the necessity to confront really powerful and threatening people, to write to the organization, so that an Arizona project, whereby a team comes to assist with the story, can materialise on this continent -hopefully before the initiating colleague is killed

Investigative reporting aims to uncover what is not known. This may be the result of deliberate lies or of a consensus of silence: the cabinet minister who told a lie to parliament, or the society that chooses not to see or discuss the trafficking of young, poor girls in its midst. The results are always likely to be startling, if not shocking. So tasks such as setting up the interview may have to be handled far more sensitively. If you reveal from the outset what you are seeking, people may refuse to talk to you; if you choose too public an interview venue, you may put your interviewee in danger. Think twice before you decide to ambush an interviewee for example, asking for an interview on one subject and then bringing in another, or door-stepping an executive (trying to interview them as they leave their home or office). It might look good on someone elses television programme. It might go horribly wrong for you. A media-savvy public figure will know how to duck the unexpected question, or make you look like a crass bully, and your effort and preparation could come to nothing.

2 Different context

There are three possible strategies for an interview. In an informal or simple background or fact-finding interview, questions stay at a similar level of intensity throughout. They dont become bigger, or tougher as the interview progresses. In interviews for a profile, however, questions begin with quite a narrow focus on the individual. Where did they go to school? Whom did they marry, and why? How do they begin writing their poems? These are sometimes closed questions, filling in important facts about the subjects life. But your readers are also interested in the subjects views. So the interview will broaden out as it progresses: what do they think of the state of the modern novel? Do they believe in literary prizes and what do they think of this years crop of nominees? Like a trumpet, this type of interview questioning starts narrow and becomes wider, with more open questions. An investigative interview often follows the opposite strategy. It starts with the bigger, more general issues: what is the process for awarding government tenders? Is the process satisfactory? How does government monitor it? And, as the questions progress, they become narrower and more precisely focused. The final, hardest questions in an investigative interview are quite often closed or even leading: Did you ignore tender processes in the case of this particular contract? ; Why did you ignore the tender processes in this case? This is because you need though you will not often get that yes/no answer to clinch your case or record the interviewee uttering a clear lie. You ask these questions last, because that is the point at which you may be thrown out of the office. The interview is structured like a funnel: it starts broad and ends narrow.

3 Different strategy

Two words that are very often used about investigative interviewing are forensic and adversarial. These words are borrowed from the world of crime and the courts. Your story has been mapped, your evidence has been assembled, the contradictions in the findings have now convinced you that the culprit is indeed a wrong-doer. At this point, you need to be able to sum up precisely what this person or structure has done, or neglected to do, just as a prosecution lawyer would do in court. The term forensic simply means relating to, or like, the law-courts. Adversarial means that you are in a contest with the person, to uncover his or her guilt. So, at this point you need to be able to say On the 12th of September you agreed to this decision or Your name is here on this list of shareholders. If you cannot do this, your target will find it very easy to get away with vague denials, long-winded explanations on side issues, or a simple No comment.

4 Different questioning technique

As we have seen, this situation is very different from the more neutral task of interviewing someone for their personal experience or expertise. An adversarial interview is intended, like the prosecutors questions in a court room, to secure evidence of wrong-doing from the possible wrong-doer. Its a contest of wits with your interviewee. And against a thoroughly prepared interviewer who has the key facts and a thorough knowledge of the subject, most interviewees will find the going tough. But dont misunderstand the word adversarial it does not mean aggressive in terms of your behaviour. In the interest of good journalism (fairness) the person or institution against whom you are making allegations will expect to have the opportunity to disprove or deny them. A good journalist will want to be seen offering this opportunity to put the other side of the case. In addition, there are important psychological reasons for not presenting yourself as a hard-boiled detective, barking a relentless succession of bullying questions. If you can persuasively ask: Sorry, I have to ask, because I am just so puzzled your more low-key approach may lead to a more detailed response. And details can be checked. We tend to be impressed by TV journalists doing interrogation-like interviews of supposed wrong-doers, and to assume this is the approach all professionals should take. But very often this technique is adopted because of the demands of the medium. A

5 Adversarial and forensic questioning: detecting deceit

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dramatic head-to-head confrontation makes good TV. But it does not always produce proof, and sometimes both parties (particularly if the interviewee is media-savvy) are quite consciously playing to the cameras rather than really engaging with the issue.

Preparing for the adversarial interview

Take half an hour to pick a leading individual in your community or city, and data-map them. Put together everything that is known about them and the views and statements they have made on the record. Look, too, at the rumours and issues of reputation. Dont choose someone too well-known, such as the President: there will be too much information to make this exercise manageable. Then look for gaps and contradictions. (Perhaps the person is now a pillar of his church, but during his exile years in Paris he had a reputation as a drinker and womaniser? Perhaps the person speaks out in public on womens rights, but forbids his wife to work outside the home?) Turn these gaps and contradictions into pinning-down questions that have to be answered with a simple fact or yes/no response. Of course, the person may be a very honest and outstanding citizen. If you can find not a single gap or contradiction in their life story, that may be the case or they may employ a team of extremely talented spin doctors! The point of the exercise is to work out ways of phrasing questions from which an interviewee cannot wriggle.

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zz zz zz zz

Some of the question phrases you came up with may have been: Is it true that you? You diddidnt you? (This is a leading question, but a denial is as useful to you as an admission) Where were you when? Did X happen?

On some stories your approach will be the first time the person or organisation will know that questions are being asked. Some will simply refuse, on the advice of their PR advisors, to agree to an interview. More likely they will offer a spokesperson or press officer rather than the person at the top, or the person you want to challenge, and we deal with interviewing these spin doctors in the next section.

Before the adversarial interview Prepare a list of the key questions, based on as detailed as possible a data map. Think about the answers you hope to get, and how you will respond to different possible answers. Essentially, you are doing the exercise above, but for a real story. If necessary, rehearse the interview with a colleague. This may help you order your questions, and plan responses to evasive answers. If your colleague is also prepared, he or she may be able to think up the evasive or obscuring answer for which you need to be ready. Sequence your questions so they move from soft to hard and broad to pinning-down. A few soft questions will ease the start of the interview, for yourself as much as for the interviewee, but in this case it is very likely that conversational ice-breaking could be perceived as two-faced. Keep it businesslike. Start by confirming the correct title and name of your interviewee, the name they want to use for the interview, correctly spelt, and their job title, plus any other routine matters of fact. Then get to the point. Against an experienced politician or businessman, no amount of softening is likely to have an effect. Remember to include confirming questions to get answers you already know confirmed in the interviewees own words.

Phrase your questions precisely. A difficult interview may be totally undermined by a vague, ambiguous question.

Avoid multi-part questions: break them up, take each part in turn.

Avoid double negatives they can confuse. Isnt it true that you didnt pay the money back? can prompt either an answer about the money, or the truthfulness of the statement. Is it true that you did not pay back the money? is much simpler and clearer; Did you pay back the money? is even better. Avoid loaded language in questions. Dont use words that indicate how you feel about the issue which means most adjectives get cut. Your interviewee may refuse to meet you, but provide a statement. Youll have to consider with your editor the appropriate way to deal with this in your story. The CIJ suggests the standard BBC formulation: We asked for an interview but no-one was available, although the following statement was faxed to us, followed by the statement in full. During the investigative interview

This depends on the purpose of your interview. If you are told an interview is for background only, then it is always off the record. But have recording equipment/ notebook with you, and ask permission to go on the record if something you consider important is said. Respect it if your interviewee refuses. Likewise if you have agreed the interview is on the record and the interviewee asks to go off the record while it is underway, you must note this or make it clear on your recorded material, and respect the request. Off the record means you may use the information, but must not use it in such a way that it can be traced back to the source. Having heard the off-the-record comment or information, you can try to persuade your interviewee to go on the record with some or all of it, and ask an appropriate question. Or you can use it as unattributable that is, your interviewee becomes an anonymous source. If you fail to conceal the source, you will gain the reputation of an unreliable reporter, and your source may

1 On or off the record?

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risk unemployment, arrest, or murder. Writing about an interview with the Finance Minister and then attributing one quote to a source close to the Ministry or an informed Ministry insider is a very weak form of concealment that any intelligent reader will see through. In addition, there is some information that only one source holds; if you use it, you advertise that you have talked to that specific source. Off-the-record comments can also inform a question to someone else, but again the source of the information must be hidden. In a long interview, you can re-confirm the status of information more than once: I assume were still on/off the record here? The risk in an on-record interview is that you may alert your interviewee to the need for discretion just when he has relaxed. On the other hand, as time passes, an off-the-record interviewee may decide you can be trusted and decide to go on the record. Dont become emotional Your aim is to get the story, not to win. Adopt a cool, unflustered stance, taking as much time as you need. The point about an interview is to get an answer your questions are just a means to an end. Any emotional signal you emit raised eyebrow, shrug, smile will be picked up by your interviewee. You are human, so this may reflect your response. And on TV, a wooden face makes boring viewing. But be careful and know the boundaries: any outburst from you reminds the interviewees their words are on trial and will make them more guarded; provocation may lead to a dramatic row or a fruitless walk-out; your aggression may be presented as so inappropriate it makes you look bad. Try to keep your responses deliberate rather than spontaneous. Remember, if someone provokes you into an argument, it saves them having to answer your questions.

Get to the point An experienced politician or businessperson has probably done this many times before; their time is precious, and if they want to avoid the question they will. They understand that if you succeed in exposing them they will lose face, position, money and sometimes everything. Read the situation and the person, and if your attempts to wrap up a question softly or approach it indirectly dont seem to be working, just come straight out and ask it.

Get a complete answer Words like recently, a few, many, or decisive action wont do. Follow up with: When?; Give us the number; and What exactly will you do?

Follow up closed answers Yes or No can be used by an interviewee to put an end to a line of questioning. You will have to open it up again: Did you sign the contract? Yes. Can you explain your motives for doing so?

Analyse each answer before you move on A skilled interviewee may give you an answer that sounds like what you want to hear. Only when you reread your notes, or listen to your tape you will see how they have ducked the question with clever words. You ask: Have you sent drugs to the clinic in X District? They reply: Of course all appropriate procedures for that clinic have been followed. This sounds like a yes, but it isnt. You must follow up with: What drugs were sent?; On what date were they sent?; What confirmation do you have that they were sent?; Do you have confirmation they arrived?

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

Good pinning-down questions are: What do you mean? Lets be more specific. Are you saying..? To recap, do you mean..? Can you give me an example? Exactly how much? Better than what? Worse than what? What do you mean by empowerment? This month? How much less? Exactly how much money? Who will be responsible? When will it be done? How will it be done? Where will the money go? How will you monitor that?

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If you dont understand the answer, say so Its better than pretending you do out of embarrassment. You can say Our readers/viewers might not get that. Can you explain it again in simpler terms. Alternatively, use the rephrase technique: If I understand you correctly, Minister, you are saying.Is that the case? Dont interrupt, unless they have gone into a long irrelevant ramble Make a note to ask the question again and, if necessary, make it clear that you want a shorter, more pointed answer. Say: I hear your explanation, but perhaps you could rephrase your response. Im reluctant to edit all that into a short clip/quote.

Dont fall for flattery This is an interview, not a friendship. You are there to discover things, not to be patronised. When someone tells you: Thats a very perceptive question, they are not offering you a compliment, but rather buying themselves an extra few seconds to think about their answer.

After the investigative interview

zz The last questions. Always ask: Is there anything else I should have asked you? or Is there anything youd like to add? It gives

zz

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them a chance to vent and, surprisingly often, adds insight. Then ask them if theres anything theyd like to ask you, which is both a courtesy and provides a final opportunity to explain how/when the story will be used. Beware of being door-stepped yourself! Media-savvy interviewees will use these last, rushed minutes to slip in a commitment You did say youd let me see the story before publication, didnt you? Dont be so preoccupied with packing up and going that you agree. Stop and clearly explain your understanding of any such conversation: No, actually I said you should contact my editor if you wished to discuss that. Here are her details again. Paperwork and referrals. Make sure you have copies of any press releases, documents, studies or photographs referred to during the interview. If the interview is a backgrounder, or has been friendly in tone, ask if they can suggest other sources who may add insight. Being able to use this persons name as a reference may open doors for you. Dont neglect final thoughts. There is often a moment at the end of the interview when the interviewees guard goes down, and he or she will say something unexpected. Keep your tape recorder and your brain engaged. They are still on the record. If appropriate ask permission for a follow-up question. Dont neglect final courtesies. Thank them for their time. If you didnt check titles and name spellings at the beginning, do so now. Check any terms, titles or names that came up during the interview itself. Always ask for a phone number/e-mail in case you want to check something and leave your phone number/e-mail or card for them. Check your notes as soon as you leave. Fill in gaps, and note where you may have to do follow-up interviews or confirmation checks while your memory is still fresh.

Spin doctors (official spokespeople and PR officers) play an increasing role in the interactions between reporters and public figures. Sometimes, they will even sit in on an interview and/or provide an advance list of topics that must not be raised. Dennis Barker, a former reporter with the UK Guardian newspaper, got the following insights into the attitude of spin-doctors from a British government spokesman (who, not surprisingly, preferred to remain anonymous!) zz Very often, the authority you are questioning may be under orders from above, may not have been given certain information, or may not be permitted to reveal it. (In other words, the excuses they give you may be true. But theyre still excuses, and you are still entitled to challenge them. If you cannot tell me, who can? is a useful question here.) zz Governments cannot allow themselves to be criticised even when they are at fault, except in very exceptional circumstances. (In other words, when I stonewall or defend, I am only doing my job.) That is the spokespersons problem, not yours. zz Give the spokesperson a chance to put a positive message alongside the negative one and he or she may be more open with you on this and future occasions. (This is where your Is there anything else youd like to tell me? question becomes useful.) zz The reporters priorities may not be the governments priorities. Government may have larger concerns. (This appeal to a sense of proportion is a smokescreen. The reporter is concerned with things that civil society feels should be important. If they are not important to government, that is a very legitimate concern. Ask: Why cant you discuss this?; Why is government not more worried about this?) zz What makes spokespeople most uncomfortable is being asked about specifics; they see their job as avoiding these. (See our points above about follow-up questions.) zz Spokespeople hope that reporters will not have the knowledge to follow through and will be satisfied with generalities. Aggressive, less-informed reporters are easier to satisfy than well-informed, low-key journalists. (See our points above about research and data-mapping.)

1 Figuring out the attitude of spin doctors

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zz The minute they think: There isnt a headline in this, you can see them consciously lowering their level of interest. (In other

words, an important spin technique is to downplay news to deflect reporters looking for sensation. Reporters who focus on simply finding out and persevere even if the facts sound boring may well get a good story.)

2 If you are told your information is incorrect, dont assume it is 3 If they return the question, bounce it back

Be prepared: If I am wrong, I apologise but and ask the follow-up question containing the facts to back up your point.

Some spin doctors will deflect your enquiry with a question of their own: Is it true that the Minister is still married to both women? Why are you journalists so obsessed with this issue of polygamy? Ms Spokesperson, you must know that nobody is interested in the views of journalists. Im here to ask the questions our readers need answered. And we have been flooded with letters about the Ministers marital status, so?

4 If you feel your question hasnt been answered, persevere

zz zz zz zz zz zz

Im not sure you have answered my question fully. (A polite way of saying it hasnt been answered at all.) I dont fully follow that answer. Would you go through it again? Do you prefer not to answer that question? Whats stopping you from answering? What might happen if you told me? Who can give me that answer?

Sometimes the best way to ask a tough question is simply to ask it. But if you are fencing with a skilled spokesperson, you may find that more subtle approaches sometimes work where the direct question will simply be refused. Here are a few suggestions: Warn them, and give them a platform: zz Help me to set the record straight (so over-used it rarely works these days) zz I know this is an unpleasant issue, but our readers expect me to raise it zz Perhaps youve read the reports suggesting.Did you? zz In parliament, the opposition said youWould you like to comment? Distance the controversy: zz Many governments have become involved in renditions of terrorists. How do we handle this? zz My interviews so far have produced conflicting views on whether..? zz My editor insists I dont leave without asking you..? Shake the tree (but dont lie, or identify other sources): zz It might interest you to know that another source told me he saw you zz Theres a rumour youvebut we all know how unreliable rumours are. What are your proposals for?

5 Think of varied ways to approach a tough question

If the interviewee is not willing to answer at all, and says so, you should have prepared and rehearsed for this eventuality. In a sound recording for television or radio, their refusal to answer, whether directly said or indirectly implied, will be heard and can be skillfully used in your edit. On paper you can write: So and so declined to answer questions about such and such. What you write should not interpret the failure to respond just report it. The meaning of the refusal is for your audience to judge. A point-blank refusal to answer questions that are being legitimately put might prompt you to abandon the interview. Sometimes this can be effective: I am really sorry, Mr Minister. I had not anticipated that I might not have input from you on these issues, which are at the core of my story. I will now only have my observations and the experts and witnesses comments to work with. Shall I just say that there is no comment from you? (At this point an intelligent interviewee may decide it is better to say something than to be cut out of the story.) But leave gracefully and politely: never let your own exasperation with the interviewee show by slamming out. If youre told in advance that certain questions wont be answered, it may still be better to put all your questions regardless, and make this clear. This is especially true in broadcast. Both your interviewee and your audience know that you did at least ask. If you dont, you are open to the criticism that the question was never put. Your interviewee may well claim later that he would have answered if only he had been asked. This makes you look bad.

6 Use their refusal to answer as part of your story

7 Your network may be your most useful tool

Keeping your scoop to yourself and mistrusting colleagues who might steal your story is often counterproductive. There

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are more than enough stories in this world to go around. A colleague who regularly steals the ideas of others will find him/herself without helpful colleagues the next time around; the losses from trusting too much are small and temporary. And they are risks worth taking. In situations where spin doctors (be they pharmaceutical companies, police chiefs or political party agents) attempt to manipulate journalists, networking and comparing notes may be the only way to expose and end such practices.

Interviewees have many reasons for resisting your questions. Weve dealt above with defensive spin but often, people have real and good reasons to fear talking to the press. In many countries, disloyal media and their informants face harassment and worse. In addition, your interview subjects may have undergone trauma that they are reluctant to re-live, or fear stigma in their communities from what they tell you. Gentle persistence may pay off but often, the best way to persuade a reluctant source to meet you is to use a door-opener: someone in the community, or in a similar position to the person you want to interview, who knows you and can vouch for your ethics and sincerity. That is why it pays to build wide networks of contacts, and to behave responsibly with everyone you deal with.
zz Have an explicit conversation about safeguards, protection and identification

Find out what their fears are, and give what reassurances you can. This may mean confirming any safeguards with your editor before you have the interview because you must not make promises you cannot keep.
zz Obtain informed consent to publication

Informed consent does not simply mean asking Do you mind if we publish what you say? It means that your interviewee understands the potential consequences of publication, the risks, and the safeguards that can (and cant) be put in place, and agrees to publication fully informed of this context. Dont scare people, but dont conceal possible consequences from them either. Your story becomes stronger the more people who go public in it; these conversations help you to cement your relationship with sources and have truthful conversations even if, in the end, some identities need to be concealed.
zz Use empathy, not sympathy

Comments such as: Oh, how dreadful. You poor thing! simply disempower your interviewees and make them feel weak and helpless all over again. Provide a safe space for the interviewee to tell the story; a neutral, open listening style, and time for the person to gather their thoughts or master their emotions where needed. Give regular, encouraging feedback: nod, say Yes, go on... or Tell me more. If its culturally appropriate, there is nothing wrong with reaching out a reassuring hand to pat the persons arm. Be guided here by your human instincts.
zz Stop writing

Sometimes the awareness that you are taking notes is oppressive. If the questioning enters sensitive territory, just listen. You can make the notes later.
zz Show respect

Dont rush the questions and dont exploit the answers by sensationalising. If you are asking a question you wouldnt be happy for someone to ask you, you have gone too far. And dont ask stupid questions. A moments thought will tell you why the question Tell me how you felt when the soldiers raped you is both disrespectful and stupid.
zz But still be rigorous

You do still need to ask difficult questions, however. Just because someone tells you they have been a victim of torture, it is not necessarily true. Be wary of people who exaggerate. Make it clear that you cant advance their case if you are not sure of the truthfulness of their story, and dont neglect the cross-checks you would do with other types of interview.
zz Be aware of denial

Some people lie, or tell half truths for many different kinds of reasons, not necessarily bad ones. Denial is a recognised psychological state, where people bury some truth about themselves because it is too harsh to face. So, for example, someone in denial may be unable to tell you they were raped as well as observing the rape of others. Ask yourself what the evidence is for what they are telling you. Imagine retelling this story when you get home or back to the office what will people ask you? Will they be easily persuaded that what they hear is true? What could devalue the story if it only emerged later?

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Under apartheid, the journalists of the Rand Daily Mail in South Africa ran a series of exposs of the mistreatment of black prisoners in prisons. They drew much of their evidence from interviews with Harold Jock Strachan, who had been a political prisoner. Despite the sympathy Strachan deserved and the trauma he had already undergone, his story could not merely be taken on trust. Raymond Louw, who worked on the story, recalls that before using Strachans testimony: [A media lawyer, Kelsey Stewart, said] the only way to deal with it would be for him to cross-examine Strachan as if he was in the witness box, and put all the possible questions that he could think of, to try and break him down, to see whether his story was accurate or not.

If your culprit is very powerful and dangerous, you may want to avoid a personal confrontation and opt for faxed questions to the office concerned. It may be better if you dont enter their territory, or make your face too familiar to their thugs. The interview will not be as good, but you will remain alive to write the story. Find out, before you embark on such stories, what support or protection your paper or journalists organisation can offer you. If you are a freelancer, ensure that you set up some support structures of your own. Asking a powerful person or entity for comment on a grave issue can lead to legal as well as physical threats. Legal threats may be designed to make your editor drop the story and s/he may do so. But if your facts are sound, try convincing him/her that villains often do not launch the defamation suits they threaten. First, they often already have bad reputations which will weaken their case in court (this applies, for instance, to companies involved in the arms trade) and second, a court case could bring out, in a privileged context where you are free to reprint it, all the evidence they are trying to conceal.

Threats and intimidation

Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis faced multiple threats and intimidation when they tackled a major series of stories on corruption in prison tender processes. The stories eventually won them the Taco Kuiper Award for investigative journalism in South Africa. They say: We succeeded in getting the stories by convincing people it was in the public interest to speak out and by persistently looking for more proof even when you are accused of being liars, agenda-pushers or even racists (as happened) by the subjects of your investigation. Feelance Congolese journalist Eric Mwamba and colleagues began investigating the vast personal wealth amassed by their countrys politicians. After publication, the paper Le Rebond which published the story was charged with insult to a Head of State by the chief prosecutor and was also hit with a civilian charge for defamation by a parliamentarian close to the presidential family, joined for the occasion by the first lady herself Most of those who hold important documents and firsthand information have advised us to remember our obligation to treat information in a particular way in times of war. But we had to continue the investigation However, the weapon of pre-publication litigation is being increasingly used to draw media to court even before the article has been published. This is costly and cumbersome and a lot of editors would rather drop a story than go through this. You will have to stick to your guns and call on professional and media freedom organisations and funds to help you. zz FAIR has assisted in getting work published in other countries, when publication was not possible in the country where the journalist worked. zz The Committee for the Protection of Journalists often funds legal assistance. zz The Media Institute of Southern Africa also has a media defence fund.

Most media outlets have strict rules on covert recording, and it is illegal under some countries legal codes. Nevertheless, it may sometimes be the only way to get the evidence you need. See again what we say about going underground in Chapter 2, and about the ethics of making this decision in Chapter 8. Practice is vital if you have a secret camera strapped to your chest, the pictures wont be much use if you can see only sky or pavement. If the sound is muffled and inaudible, you have wasted your resources.

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Covert interviewing is by no means as easy as TV crime dramas make it appear. As well as technical expertise, you need a questioning style that will encourage the people you talk to, to utter the words you need. This can sound so stilted and artificial that it will reveal your strategy. If your subject suspects you might be secretly recording and asks you outright, you are probably bound to say no to protect yourself. But that will lead to difficulties in using the material. If you answer no, you can legally be held to have induced the person to continue, in the belief there will be no record of the conversation. British media lawyers would be reluctant to agree to the use of the material, unless there was an overriding public interest; media lawyers in many other countries would agree. Recording phone calls is a grey area. Please refer to Chapter 8 on ethics for some guidance on this issue.

Case studies
Kenyan reporter Joyce Mulama stumbled on a very sensitive story in the course of her researches into Aids-related news. The story would not have succeeded had she not been able to interview effectively both specialist sources and poor people reluctant to come forward because they were selling their drugs. Note how she convinced sources that she was trustworthy. The story was published on 2 June 2006 by the Inter Press Services wire service. Please give us a brief outline of the story: Using ARVs to Fill Empty Stomachs brings to the fore a big gap in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Kenya. While the government has made some progress in providing free ARVs to Kenyans who urgently needed them, nutrition, a critical element in ensuring the effectiveness of the treatment, has been overlooked. My story exposed the gross indignity of poverty that forced sick people to trade their crucial medicines for a simple meal. How did the story get started? The story followed a tip-off from one of my sources working in the area of HIV/AIDS. In the midst of a conversation about something else. I picked up on the concern expressed by my source, who is an HIV/AIDS counsellor, about the new twist to the AIDS war, in which some patients on ARV treatment had resorted to selling their drugs in order to raise money for food. I got stirred up and pleaded with the source to lead me to the places where this was prevalent. My contact further confirmed that some members in her support group had registered in more that one treatment centre so that they could obtain drugs from one centre, and sell the ones from the second centre to buy food. Further, my source encountered patients who would lie to her that they had lost their medication, or that their bags containing the drugs had been snatched away by muggers. Upon pursuing the matter, she found out that the patients had indeed sold their drugs, and needed more. I developed a strong conviction that this was a matter that warranted investigations and extensive coverage. Which experts and authorities did you interview? I consulted non-governmental organisations actively involved in championing rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. My investigations further led me to talking to Dr Omu Anzala, a senior expert in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Nairobi Universitys School of Medicine. His insight and vast research in HIV/AIDS added great value to my story. He spoke eloquently about the danger of sick people tampering with their medication, which could lead to acquiring resistant strains of infection and complicate treatment further. I also interviewed government officials, pressing them for details about what efforts were in place or at least being planned to ensure that nutrition went hand in hand with ARV treatment. What difficulties did you encounter and how did you deal with them? Getting people to accept that they were trading off their medication for food was the greatest challenge. It required tact to win the trust of these people and even to identify them at the entrance of the health facility where they are registered for treatment. I had to do a lot of convincing. A breakthrough occurred when I won the trust of a security man, who then became instrumental in linking me with the trader. I had to promise the trader that I would hide his identity in the story. He agreed to two things; have an anonymous status in the story, or give him a different name. I opted for the latter.

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What kind of responses did you get after the story was published? I got correspondence from organisations as well as individuals from different parts of the world expressing shock and sympathy at the grim situation facing HIV/AIDS patients in the country. In a country where a great percentage of the 30 million population lives in poverty, and where about two million people are infected with the disease, the prospect of stopping the sale of drugs for food remains most unlikely. Some of the readers called to ask me to identify a few people who were in extreme need and link them up for purposes of sending them relief aid and other materials. The story also reawakened campaigns by AIDS organisations as well as human rights activists, calling on authorities to include nutrition as key component in the HIV/AIDS comprehensive care package. The campaigns are on-going. In addition, the story won an award: The 2007 Red Ribbon Media Award, on November 29, 2007. The award was jointly organised by UNESCO and the National Aids Control Council (Kenya). How long did the investigations last? It took me more than a month to conduct the investigations and piece up the story. The most consuming part of the investigations was locating and identifying the traders of the drugs. I made endless trips to and from health centres just to get people who would accept that the ARVs-for-food trade was indeed a reality. What follow-up stories related to this investigation have been done? I have not seen a follow-up story since. However, it is in my interest to pursue the matter further and get to know whether there are any notable efforts by authorities to provide basic nutrition together with ARVs to people who urgently need them. I am looking at taking the matter up again. What lessons did you learn from doing the story and what advice would you give to other journalists? It pays to be in constant contact with your sources. In the case of this story, a casual conversation simply to catch up on other matters gave birth to this powerful story. Socialising with people in positions of information is a necessary function of investigative journalism. Often, leads to such kinds of stories come up in casual talk. The other lesson from this story is the importance of patience, and ability to make friends and sweet-talk people who may hold the key to access some crucial information. I am convinced that had I not befriended the security man referred to in the story, I would not have managed to identify and convince a trader to talk to me.

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Key points from this chapter

Lets begin by looking again at Gideon Rufaros interview with his Minister for Public Service. You may have made some of the points below as you considered it in the light of advice given in the chapter.

A critique of Gideon Rufaros interview with the Minister

Gideon: Mr Minister, good morning, thank you for agreeing to see me. Now, youve told the state broadcaster that there was nothing untoward in the contract Sirdar Motors got for replacing the government fleet. But our sources say that you considered only the Sirdar bid, even though their prices were high. Would you like to comment on that? (Theres not even the tiniest attempt here to warm up, establish ground rules, confirm known details such as names or in any other way reach out to the Minister. Even on short time, with an irritable interviewee, this feels discourteous: the man is very senior and a little respect might soothe him slightly. And he starts with something that should be part of his pinning-down interview phase, closer to the end of his time.) Minister: Who are these sources? Name one! Gideon: Youll understand we cant reveal our sources. But I have certainly seen the official limousine youre buying priced in showrooms at 30% below what Sirdar is charging you per vehicle Minister: If you are suggesting I am lying, there is no point in this interview. Government vehicles have all kinds of extra features for security, you know. What is your paper doing anyway, sending a young boy to interview someone of my stature? Gideon: Really, Mr Minister! It may interest you to know I got my Masters in Journalism at Columbia University (Gideon takes the probably deliberate bait of the Ministers insult. A neutral answer such as: My paper has tasked me with this interview, Minister, so if we could just get on would have been far better. As it is, he gives the Ministers paranoia more fuel.) Minister: Aha! A lackey of American imperialism! No wonder you are trying to trap me! Gideon: If we could just get back to the topic in handis the government at least going to look into these allegations? Government tender procedures require three bids to be considered, so how did you make the decision when you did not even advertise the tender? (Gideon now realises he shouldnt respond to the insult, and evades it nicely, but his follow-on lacks strategy. These big questions should have been asked at the start of the interview, and bundling them together in this way allows the Minister just to deal with the aspect hes prepared to respond to.) Minister: I can assure you we are not swayed by malicious rumours. Every step of the process was followed according to specified procedure. We Gideon: So who (Gideon really has interrupted rudely here. The Minister has hardly had a chance to begin waffling. And this doesnt need a who? but a how? Since he did not establish basic procedures for tenders at the start of the interview, Gideon needs to take the Minister a step back, and go through these neutral specified procedures, which would also have the effect of cooling the temperature slightly since it does not reflect personally on the Minister and so perhaps prolonging his time.) Minister: Dont interrupt me. I am at least entitled to basic politeness, you little hyena Gideon: Minister, you are not being very polite to me (No! No! He falls for it again! The Minister is clearly trying to end the interview and has detected that Gideons sensitivity offers a way out. And hes also right to resent being interrupted. It would not hurt Gideon to apologise. He should ignore the insult and say: Im sorry Minister, I was anxious about our limited time. Please go on.) Minister: How dare you! Anyway, you should have been informed we only had five minutes, and that time is now up. My time is too precious to waste on this nonsense. (Rings bell) My secretary will show you out. Gideon: But Minister..! (And, of course, this conclusion is very predictable. The Minister would probably not have given Gideon very much, but a more strategic approach and a thicker skin would have helped the reporter to stay longer and find out at least a little more.)

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Interview preparation is key. Devote as much time to research, collecting primary documents, question planning and rehearsal as you can. Set up the interview in a way that suits the story and circumstances. Lose the attitude. Even in interviews that may become adversarial, a calm, neutral demeanour and questioning style will produce better results. Have a strategy for the whole interview. Always move from warm-up and broad, less threatening questions towards more precise, focused questions that will allow you to pin the interviewee down on key aspects. Use data-mapping techniques to pinpoint the areas of short information and contradiction your interview needs to deal with. Keep questions clear, simple and direct. Establish ground rules (e.g. on/off record) and confirm basic information at the start of an interview. Follow-up, re-phrase or reflect back to get answers that are equally clear and direct. Take your time and dont be scared of silences. Understand and strategise in relation to the motivations of spin doctors. Handle reluctant or fearful interviewees kindly and carefully but dont let them off the hook. Establish support structures and strategies to help you deal with threats and intimidation. Use covert interviewing techniques only after careful, ethical decision-making and be sure you have the technical skills to carry them off. Never take interview answers out of context.

Glossary
zz Adversarial interviewing interviewing where the nature of the story puts you and your interviewee on opposite sides.

The term does not mean you need to behave aggressively, though you sometimes may.
zz Background only interviewing convention. If you agree to this, the information you are given is only to inform you

better; you must not use it in the story or ask other interviewees about it
zz Body language expression, gesture, posture, tone of voice, gaze, the distance between you and your interviewee: all the zz zz zz zz zz

zz zz zz zz zz zz

non-verbal signals that happen during a conversation Closed question a question requiring only yes, no or another one-word answer Contacts book does not have to be a book, but the list you keep of past, current and potential sources Cultivation plan your strategy for turning someone you meet into a regular reliable source Forensic interviewing interviewing as though you were in a law court, focused on details, with questions steadily narrowing to get the admission you need Fourth Estate in pre-revolutionary France, aristocrats, the church and the small tradesmen and scholars etc. were each defined as an Estate with three fixed places and sets of representatives in the Assembly. Estate meant social standing. Some commentators have suggested that the media are so important to contemporary society that in any such set-up they would form the Fourth Estate in other words, that they play a role in governance. Hard question question that gets to the point of an issue Leading question question that suggests the answer it wants, such as You do support the death penalty, dont you? Multi-part question question that combines several different, shorter questions into one utterance Off the record interviewing convention: you can use the information, but must not attribute it to this source. Opposite of on the record. Open question question that invites a wide-ranging answer Soft question question that does not challenge or confront

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Glossary (cont)
zz Taking [an answer] out of context using an answer when you write up your interview in a way that does not reflect

the question asked or the true sense of the answer given, or which juxtaposes the answer with other material to give it a misleading impact. zz Warm-up initial phase of an interview where you use a little social conversation to relax the interviewee and establish rapport

Further reading
zz Read Joyce Mulamas full pills for food story at:

http://acw-food.blogspot.com/2006/06/kenya-using-arvs-to-fill-empty.html
zz For a broad, basic introduction to all aspects of interviewing skills (including investigation), see Introduction to Journalism

3rd edition by Gwen Ansell (Jacana 2007)

zz The best new book on interviewing is The Art of the Interview by Martin Perlich (Los Angeles: Silman-James, 2007). While

not specifically about investigation, it has wide-ranging advice on various types of interview conversations and on the perils of dealing with PR.

s l l i k s h c r a e s Basic re and tools

Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you should be able to:
zz Understand the meanings of following a paper trail and data-mining and apply

these techniques in your own countrys context, however information-poor

zz Have a basic grasp of computer-assisted reporting (CAR) zz Understand the principles of database-management tools zz Use Access to Information procedures to inform and strengthen your investigative

stories Identify when a story requires figures as well as facts Identify what type of numerical information is required Carry out basic mathematical operations with numbers Understand how statistics are gathered and compiled Understand what statistics can (and cannot) convey and how they may mislead Identify story ideas from numerical and statistical information Ask essential questions about and conduct essential checks on numerical information provided by others zz Develop relevant interview questions from numerical and statistical information zz Convey numerical and statistical information clearly and accurately to readers.
zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

NOTE: This chapter collates and develops themes and skills dealt with in earlier chapters of the IJ handbook. We therefore recommend you read Chapters 1-5 first and, because of the important ethical aspects of investigative work raised here, also read Chapter 8 on Law and Ethics.

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The nuts and bolts of investigation

I
nvestigative journalism has to be founded on an understanding of how systems work or are supposed to work. So, you will ask questions such as How is this process or system supposed to work? Who is supposed to do what, and when and how? What documentation is supposed to exist to record and track the system? What standards are supposed to be in place, how were they established and who enforces them? The more comprehensive the answers you can build up to these questions, the more likely it is you will build up a picture of the points where things could go wrong and identify exactly where they did go wrong. Mapping any area of knowledge has two aspects: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative mapping is about people, events, reasons, motivations, feelings and arguments. Quantitative approaches put the numbers onto the map: how many quality checks does a medicine need to undergo; how much pollution is in the dam; what have been the trends in city crime over the past five years? Very often, it is the figures that can turn a small local story into a major national investigation, by providing hard evidence that, for example, school dropout figures in your community are typical of a problem that is affecting the whole country. This chapter introduces you to the basic tools and approaches for investigating number-based information and introduces you to some of the key concepts you will encounter when dealing with these kinds of information.

Figuring out where things go wrong

In 2008, the US government estimated the cost of the Iraq War so far as US$600 billion. Economist Joseph Stiglitz and investigative writer Linda Bilmes have written a book arguing that the real cost of the war will be closer to US$3 trillion. Some of this argument is based on different predictions, and different ways of categorising available information: the kinds of things economists are likely to continue arguing about. But, the core of the argument is based on their detailed knowledge of how the war funding system actually works: where money comes from and the way official budget presentations dont show everything. For example, US Defense Department accounting is done on a cash basis; unlike most other types of business accounting, it does not include future spending commitments in its presentations. Stiglitz and Bilmes could not have completed their investigation without this detailed knowledge of the system.

Databases
In many places in Africa, it is impossible to access written records simply because there arent any. The municipal office may have some papers stacked in brown paper in a cupboard, but even the mayor probably does not know what they are. There is a phonebook for the region, but it dates from 1993 and nobody seems to know where it is. The local police or jail authorities dont keep a precise log of who they arrest, for what, or for how long they detain them. There are two ways to investigate issues in such a document-poor environment: zz Your own observations zz Structured interviews of others with relevant memories and observations Firstly, everything begins with your own observation: seeing and experiencing something (often when you are conducting consumer research, for example, sitting as a patient in a hospital waiting room, or working undercover as we have previously described). But after you have experienced, seen or heard something that you define as a priority issue, you need to go the second way: ask other people.

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Doing structured interviews This does not merely mean talking to people in the normal journalistic interviewing style although you will have those kinds of conversations too. But in addition, you must develop a systematic process for building your own databases and statistics, derived from what people themselves have experienced or witnessed. You need to use structured interviews that is, compile a list of the same questions that you will ask all your interviewees (although youll also add extra questions flexibly if something new comes up in an individual conversation). Precisely because there are no written records against which you can compare the oral statements it is vital that you compile information that is statistics-like in nature. Youre actually doing a mini-survey. Compile a comprehensive list of questions that can establish likely facts for example, asking everyone if they can remember when something first happened. In this way, you can assess when a certain problem started (rapes and pillages by strangers; crops dying; people with machines conducting excavations; road deterioration; disappearances of local people); its possible causes (people will say things like: It was at the time when X also happened); and peoples responses (We decided to move to town X).

2 3

Ask these same questions of a lot of people. In the statistics section, we discuss samples. Here, you are compiling your own sample: be sure it is big enough to carry weight and representative enough to express all interested voices.

Ask the questions precisely, seek concrete detail and record the answers accurately. Look at the chapter on interviewing for hints: this is one kind of interviewing where closed questions can be useful for getting definite answers, although you need to seek more expressive, nuanced responses too.

Your answers can them be used to build your own database.

The value of structuring your questions

You want to know how the disappearing forest has affected peoples lives. Asking How has this affected you? will provide the human, emotional answers: great for including in your story. But adding something more structured will give you database material, for example:

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

Before they began cutting the trees, why did you visit the forest? Gathering wild plants and fruits Hunting Collecting honey Collecting traditional medicines Traditional worship Collecting firewood Collecting wood for building Collecting wood for crafts Other (say what) Which of these was your most important reason for going into the forest? Which of these can you still do? How has this affected your diet/ your daily life/your income/ the culture of your community?

2 3 4

These answers will allow you to build up a land-use database on the role the forest played in the village economy, as well as assessing precisely which areas are now suffering. But, of course, youll also want to ask: How does losing access to the forest make you feel?

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Exercise #1

Creating your own database

Draft five structured questions that will help you establish a mini-database on how a remote rural village has been affected by the influx of construction workers who are converting a nearby lake into a dam. Youve heard that they have money to spend, and so can pay higher prices for fruit & fish, but also that there have been many more incidents of assault, rape and fights at the beer-hut. Questions

COMMENTS There are many ways to do this. But ideally your questions should focus on a before/after framework, focusing on economic and social life. So five starter questions might be:

zz zz zz zz

Do the dam workers come to the village: To buy food? To buy drink? To socialise? Other? (For village traders) What business are you in? Since the dam workers started visiting the village, has trade at your business

2 3

zz Gone up? zz Gone down? zz Stayed the same?

4 5

Can you estimate roughly the value of this change? Since the dam workers started coming to the village, would you say
zz There is friendliness between workers and villagers zz There are tensions between workers and villagers zz Can you give me an anecdote to illustrate your judgment about this?

and so on

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When dealing with accusations, or issues of responsibility This land developer from overseas was given our land by the government and now we are landless it becomes even more important to have very precise statements from a large group of people. (After all, the land deeds register is in disarray). Interviewees will have to give as much detail as they possibly can (The land that stretches from the edge of this rock formation to the river in the South was given to my family by Governor X. Great-grandfather often talked of his grandfather meeting the Governor, a man with a big moustache). An internet search on the history of colonial times in the country may yield a description or picture of the governor with the big moustache: an indication that there is truth to the claim. (Thank goodness for the internet, which reaches even where there are no papers!) Interviews with this large group of now landless people will add up to a long list of similar stories, showing that at a certain point in time they were visited by people from a certain company, showing them papers to say that they were now evicted. Even if they were not given the papers, some will know the name of the company. The rest is easier. If the company is an overseas land developer, it will have a recorded existence. Even if the national company registry is in as much disarray as the land deeds archive, international websites will yield details. Many Western company registries are accessible on line; the South African registry can be accessed through FAIR, and in white or yellow pages and also online. You can then phone the company and ask for comment and also ask the countrys Land Affairs Ministry why they allowed the rightful owners of the land to be evicted. And theres the story. If its a local land-grabber, ask employees in the area, now in charge of fencing off the land and preparing it for development, to identify the Big Boss, if not by name then by physical appearance, language, accent, or car number-plate. Relentlessly bothering local (licensing) authorities and phoning the Land Affairs Ministry will eventually turn up a name.

Case study: Food scarcity in Zambia

No matter what issue attracts your interest, local people have a lot of knowledge in their heads to start off a hypothesis. Agricultural editor Chali Mulenga in Zambias southern province, for instance, already has a fair idea of the reasons why his province is no longer producing so much food, although at one time it used to be the countrys breadbasket. He sums up his hypotheses: Development programmes not working, HIV/Aids unaddressed or badly addressed, cattle disease unaddressed, free food help from charities. All these elements have made farmers either unwilling or unable to continue farming. Without municipal or even national paper records, the statements of the people (Mulengas observation and own minisurvey) provided sufficient substance to create a hypothesis around the causes of the present food crisis. Mulenga continues: To do a story, Id visit a number of previously agricultural areas in my province to observe and investigate, through interviews with former farmers, the correctness of the hypothesis. Then, in case the government hasnt any documents to give me, Id get the documentary records from development organisations and charitable donors. Id then question government officials and the donor agencies. I would have enough to go on to produce the story. Mulengas only problem: lack of funds to travel to test his hypothesis in the various provincial areas he has in mind

The phrase paper trail is a metaphor, derived from the school racing game where a leader ran through countryside dropping bits of paper, and the following group tracked him as fast as they could by finding and following the bits of paper. If you think about the metaphor, you can see in your head what a paper trail means in investigative journalism too. Following a paper trail is the process of
zz Identifying where the documents you need to back up your investigative hypothesis are zz Developing a strategy to access them zz And then using one document to lead you to the next relevant document.

For example: You are trying to track down someones reputation but all you have is a birth certificate and a CV zz You search more widely for records about the person. This is called profiling. Specific databases can help you to profile a person: the company registry, where you can find out which companies, if any, someone is a director of, which then can lead you to this companys shareholders and shareholders annual reports the (land) deeds registry, where you can find out which houses, properties or lands someone owns court records that can show whether someone has been involved in a court case licensing authorities, where you can find what car they drive tax authorities, where you can find out if a businessperson is registered for VAT and if you want to see if the street addresses belong to posh villas or more modest abodes, theres always Google Earth, which allows you to zoom in on an address from a satellite photograph.

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zz Then you follow the paper trail back to look for links between your findings and what you know of their work record. zz You jot down everything in these starting documents that might be relevant. This could be the fact that the persons CV says he

was employed as a security officer for a mining company in an area that was affected by civil war (involving conflict diamonds) in that period. Or it may be that a few years are not covered by any information at all. (This is where basic number skills come in. Add up the years worked at various jobs, add up the total years reflected in the employment record, and see if there are gaps.) zz You may find that the work or company records indicate the person left one position very suddenly. This would lead you to look for more documents about that person at that workplace or company. You might find that the human resources department recorded a complaint of theft or fraud against the person. You could follow that bit of paper to look for police/court/prison records about that person and so on. In other words, you use one document to lead you to another, and provide reinforcing confirmation zz So you can distinguish between relevant and irrelevant documents, you will need to exercise empathy again. Put yourself in the subjects shoes and picture possible scenarios: what might he have done then? Why might he have done that? Would it make a difference if he chose option A or option B? This will help you avoid wild goose chases. If, straight from having been abroad (under a bit of a cloud) for five years, someone is appointed as a consultant to the President, it doesnt make sense to look for papers about the persons history in the Presidents office. The appointment probably happened at high level and behind closed doors, based on, at most, a simple, short-term contract with few details. Instead its likely to be more productive to look for information in the overseas country where the person purportedly stayed, or to try to track their cross-border movements during their absence. Much of the paper trail can often be followed through public-record documents, though you will have to use your source-cultivation skills to access privately-held papers. A useful description of a technique known as parellel backgrounding can be found in the Investigative Reporters Handbook (IRE). Parallel backgrounding is the method of comparing paper trails for instance one on a company and one on a manager at the company to find interesting facts. For example: the managers records wont show you that a building that he managed for that company was closed down by the city council for illegal gambling, or that he headed a questionable tender bid. You find those facts when you compare the companys history with the managers personal career. Libraries and local newspapers Many journalists think that using libraries and archives is simple. They are indexed alphabetically. You just look for the persons name. However, it often is not as simple as that. If you work with computerised records, entering a name will very often pull up relevant results although often alongside a lot of irrelevant ones. But in many African countries, public records are simply filed boxes of papers stacked in a dusty room. As well as negotiating with the gate-keeper who controls access to this room, there is another basic principle you need to grasp: Before you search for a document, find out how the documents are indexed, and how to use the index! This can save you hours. Dont neglect news databases. Very often searching for public-record documents such as birth certificates or driving licences seems like the best way to start. But on-line news databases can also be surprisingly useful even for searches about a person. If someone is using their real name, a news search can turn up court cases they have been involved in, or even apparently trivial information like their attendance at a university function. Each of these fragments of information provides a piece of the jigsaw puzzle of their lives you are solving. An excellent news database that will churn out international reports on keyword search is http://newslink.org. You can also try www.topix.net. Nowadays, many local newspapers are also available online. Dont ignore them and dont ignore your own local newspapers. They often contain massive amounts of profiling and paper trailing information, such as: zz information on local structures like banks, companies, government offices; zz information on individuals and their social networks, from reports on marriages, funerals and obituaries to family relationships; zz paid legal notices on wills, name changes, foreclosures, auctions, tenders, seized properties, unclaimed property, new construction projects; zz arrests and convictions of law breakers: you may find the name of your school bus driver in a drunken driving case, or the name of a school governing body member in a rape case. Profiling character When profiling a person, our newshound instinct will hope for the best, which is often the nastiest, story. But real facts are what you need. How do we get a feel for the human being? zz Start with what assets he owns. Very few hardworking honest African citizens have mansions in Monaco. zz Then examine his personal history. Did he forego personal enrichment opportunities to stay with an institution, like an inner city hospital, that needed him? Do his children attend state schools? zz Finally, talk to people who know or have worked with him. Do people who know him describe him as a good man? Faced

Basic research skills and tools

with such evidence, you may begin to doubt if you are on the right track with the nasty headline. (But beware of inner circle superlatives: many big crooks are surrounded by sycophants, who will gush relentlessly about his intellect, his love for the people and his many good deeds. That is not the kind of character reference you should immediately trust.)

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Keep in mind that starting with an issue often leads you to a person or group of persons, and profiling databases work the other way too: a piece of land or a street address can lead you to the owner. To sum up, you follow a paper-trail by:
zz Web-searching, visiting archives, and persuading sources until you have assembled whatever public-record, open or easily

accessed documents you can find about the person

zz Mapping these, using the data-mapping techniques we describe in earlier chapters zz Looking for gaps, contradictions and inconsistencies zz Then thinking about what documents could fill the gaps or resolve the contradictions and start looking for these.

Exercise #2

Follow a paper trail

Take some easily-defined and clear government or local government function for example, providing school meals, or awarding hospital supply contracts and map what paperwork needs to be done at each stage of the function. zz What forms have to be filled in? Who signs these? Where are they lodged? zz Are they available for public inspection? Whats the procedure for accessing them? zz What rules govern the process? What counts as breaking the rules? zz Whats the budget for this function? zz How has that budget been spent over the past couple of years? zz Who has got the contract? Is it the same company in successive years? zz If the supplying company has changed, why? zz If there was misconduct or unsatisfactory service, what was done? Was there a penalty? You may find a story. Even if you dont, you will have become familiar with the processes and rules that govern one aspect of local government in your area.

If you have access to a good computer and software, there is an electronic project management tool that enables you to create a database of interviewees, knowledgeable contacts, informants and their area of expertise. It also contains a catalogue of questions to put to them, fact-sheets to help you record established facts as well as assumptions that still need to be proved, plus hyperlinks to relevant documents, facts, statistics, databanks, minutes and interviews/talks. If you are dealing with highly sensitive material and are concerned that state security or other hostile agencies must not get hold of this information, you need either to use code names and keep your key to the codes in a safe place, or keep your electronic copies of the tool on flash drives which can be kept safe in bank safes and which do not need to be saved on installed hardware. But if you dont have such high-tech resources, you can establish a similar system using hard-copy documents. It is best to keep separate notebooks for each story and even for certain aspects of the story. Sensitive documents need to be kept in safe places. Some journalists store multiple copies with friends and in other safe places, but others are cautious about doing this. The more copies you keep, the more likely it is that one of them will fall into the wrong hands. A filing system helps to keep track of facts and information and enables you to access them quickly when needed. Keep a summary of the filing system in a safe and separate place. Chronology building Keep an eye on the chronology in your investigation. This does not mean that you have to present your story in a chronological way, but that you pin found facts on a timeline of the events you are researching. This will help you to build a clear picture of what came before and after what, and what happened simultaneously. An example from Brant Houston: X says he wasnt in the country when a certain event happened, but, months later, you find minutes of a neighbourhood committee meeting that took place during that time, and which X attended. The inconsistency could easily escape you if you didnt pin the statement from the interview and the meeting date from the minutes at the same point on the events timeline.

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Computer assisted reporting (CAR)

C
omputers and the internet have dramatically increased the scope of information available to reporters and the ability to organise, retrieve and analyse it.

Search programmes have revolutionised finding data on the web. The best known is Google (www.google.com), but there are others, such as Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) and meta-crawlers which do the same search on four or five search engines at the same time. The trick to efficient web searches is to choose your search keywords and phrases with enough precision to exclude the masses of results that are irrelevant to what you are interested in.

1 Set your preferences to return the maximum results

The Google page has a link marked preferences. This allows you to set some search preferences (to search only English language pages, for instance) but the most useful preference to change is the number of results shown for each search. The default setting is for 10 results which means you have to refresh the page each time to get the next ten. Set preferences for the maximum 100 results which allows you to scan much bigger chunks of data to see if it is relevant. Keywords provide a simple way of narrowing down your focus, but, often, keywords alone are not enough. Say you are looking for John Smith. Simply typing in John and Smith in the search bar is going to give you every document where both of those names appear: hundreds of thousands of documents. To avoid drowning, you will need to find relatively unique features that identify the John Smith you are looking for.

2 Use quotation marks

John Smith will return only those results where the words appear together. If you have a middle name you can add that, for example: John Sylvester Smith You can combine options using the OR command written in capitals, which Google uses to distinguish from the word or. John Sylvester Smith OR John S Smith OR JS Smith

3 Add facts that you know or suspect

Say the John Smith you are interested in is alleged to be involved in drug smuggling and operates out of Zurich. You would add to your search bar: John Smith Zurich or perhaps John Smith Zurich drugs Which would return only pages where all those words occur.

4 Country-specific searches

You may not be certain that Smith operates out of Zurich, but you are sure he is based in Switzerland. Using the site: command, Google allows you to search only pages with a specific country domain designation. The Swiss domain designation is .ch So you might type in the search bar: John Smith site:.ch which would return all Swiss pages containing the name John Smith; or John Smith drugs site:.ch The domain designation for South Africa is .za, for Britain .uk Not sure of the country designation? Google: domain by country

5 Organisation-specific searches

Many commercial websites end with .com; many NGOs, developmental organisations sites and activist groups end with .org. So if you are researching wind turbines, and want the companies, you might use wind turbines site: .com. If you want to find criticism about wind turbines, you might use wind turbines site:.org. If you want data on activist groups in South Africa, you type wind turbines site: .org.za.

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6 Use the net to find sources

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Drug smuggler John Smith may never have appeared on the net in that context (as an accused drug smuggler) so the next best thing is to find an expert on the drug trade in Switzerland who might have heard of John Smith and be able to give you more information. drug smuggling in Switzerland or drug smuggling site:.ch should give you access to newspaper or academic articles giving the names of such experts. You can then google their names to find their telephone numbers or email addresses and make contact.

7 Using automatic translations

Your articles from Switzerland may be in German or French. Google results offer an automatically translated version which can give you a good sense of what the article says (click on the note translate this article under the result), but note that this is a very inexact process and you may have to struggle to make sense of the machine-generated translation!

8 Using Google cache

Web pages change or are shut down. You may get a result on Google and find the page has gone. Then click on the cached link on the specific result. Google saves a copy of the pages that it catalogues as it searches the web, and that is the cache version: the snapshot of the page as it was when Googles computer looked at it. That copy is often still available long after the original page has disappeared from the net. This is very useful for tracking companies and individuals who have disappeared: they often still exist in caches.

9 Finding databases that are not covered by search engines

Many useful databases are not covered by Google. This includes many newspaper archives and municipal property databases and (in some countries, such as the USA) court archives. In looking for traces of John Smith, it might be useful to access Swiss newspaper sites and search their archives. Most archive searches work the same way that Google does. You can also type in the URL of the archive you are searching in the domain box that appears when you click on Google Advanced. In that way you can get Google to search that specific archive.

10 Use the internets phonebook

Nearly every country has an extensive telephone database, usually under the term white pages (even many non-Englishspeaking countries list white pages of their phone directories in English). So, for example, to try to look up John Smiths Swiss number, you would Google white pages site:.ch and find the sites that offer Swiss telephone directories. Generally, directories require that you specify at least the town/city as well as the name.

11 Download long articles for later reading

If you have limited opportunity to go online, then save pages that look useful for background research so you can go through them carefully later.

12 Build up your own database in a structured searchable way

When you save documents from the internet, or save transcripts of interviews or notes, do so in a way which will allow you to find information again easily, or your virtual desktop will end up like many journalists actual desks: a vast, widely spread pile of assorted data where it is difficult to find anything at all, let alone quickly. There is a great free internet tool, called Google Desktop, that searches and lists your computer files for you. Simply key in John Smith and the tool will give you a list of all the files you have saved, even many years back under you cant remember what name, with John Smith in it.

You can also be more efficient by doing these four things: zz Date your documents and notes in the title, beginning with the year e.g. 20070327 zz Change or add to the title of the document to include keywords that will be easily searchable and tell you something about what is in the document. So, to take our example, the academic study on drugs traffic in Switzerland which describes someone you have identified as John Smith might be 20070527 john smith swiss drugs backgrounder zz Organise your research into folders. Create a John Smith file into which you can put all your gathered information. zz Build a chronology. Taking these steps adds a bit of time in the beginning, but means documents are easily retrieved and you can roughly tell whats in them without having to go through them all over again. In the long run its a time-saver. A digital template for database management can be found at http://www.luuksengers.nl/training/login/. Though this is a

Basic research skills and tools

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site from the Netherlands, and in Dutch, youll find a useful example (in English) of a digital filing system if you click on digital file template. A click on Manual will give you a good idea of how to use it. Lastly: Remember that for many of your readers, computer-researched information is a mysterious field they may not be able to explore for themselves. For this reason, bear in mind the following ethical points about stories based on CAR: zz be transparent about the data you find and use. Where it is possible, publish detailed references, or links to sites where original documents can be read zz verify your data very carefully, including checking the date of the information zz draw the correct conclusions from statistical and numerical data; your readers may not be able to do the calculations and have to trust your maths.

Data-mining is arguably the most objective process to help you arrive at a story choice. Think about it: which lead is more likely to put you on the right track: a complaint from one hospital patient about thieving nurses, or a database from the Health Ministry on how many disciplinary hearings and dismissals were the result of complaints about theft by state hospital workers over the last five years? As with all information, we should always be mindful that even statistics can be manipulated and used to misinform, rather than inform (more on this below). But efficient mining of databases has generated immensely important stories in the last ten years.
zz The Danish CAR institute Dicar analysed payouts of state farm subsidies in the country over a certain period of time, and found

inconsistencies and indications of favouritism that made headlines. Google search farm subsidy.org to see the results.
zz The Washington Post collected freely available data on donations received by political parties and was able to headline the story

Super rich step into political vacuum http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38722-2004Oct16.html.

zz The Society of Environmental Journalists in the USA collected and compared pollution data in California and discovered that

pollution in a certain area had become much much worse over a number of years. The SEJ has published a detailed report on what they did, how they did it and how they used a spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel, to calculate the results. Find the online tutorial on using spreadsheets by Russ Clemings on http://www.sej.org/resource/tools.htm#online and http://www.sej.org/resource/ tools.htm#online2. Of course, to have data to mine, you need a data-rich environment. In the USA, many institutions routinely file figures, statistics and graphs on what they do. For example, the flight safety authority will publish figures of complaints, alerts, near accidents and real accidents every year. You only need to combine and analyse these figures, using a spreadsheet to find, for example, how many accidents happened in 1998 as compared to 2008, and already you have a story: US airspace as safe as never before, (or, depending on the findings, US airspace more dangerous than ever before). Census statistics, when mined, can give incredible results: The following towns now almost exclusively inhabited by Hispanics, for instance, or No African-Americans left in Mississippi (OK, we made that one up!) In Africa, we can only envy all the resources our US colleagues have at their disposal. But we too can sometimes use data-mining. There is more data available than many journalists realise. Journalists anywhere can sign up for regular email alerts from Stats SA: www.statssa.gov.za or look at www.sairr.org.za International data can give results that are relevant for Africa For example, development aid donors will publish reports on how they spent their money in any given year. By collecting these data from the donors that are most active in your country, putting them in a spreadsheet and analysing them, you can achieve results that can make headlines in Kinshasa Donors (to our country) spent most aid money training our civil servants, for instance. And it doesnt always have to be about money either. Collecting reports on French official visits to your country might give you a name of a well-known arms trade middleman, who always tags along. Focus on social networks Social networks can be members of a certain profession, members of a geographic community or prominent people in a certain political party. You can combine data on how much they earn, who they work with, who they have public meetings with, and end up with a social network picture that tells you something about their influence in society. Social network analyses have produced stories on terrorist networks, political party supporters, and the most influential or richest people in a certain geographic community. Find a free downloadable manual on http://www.ire.org/sna/#links. Compile the neccessary data yourself You can, for instance, check all the tenders offered by your government over the past year, or three, or five years, and check which

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companies received them. Were they the cheapest? The best? Or the ministers friends?

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Use the databases of journalists and other organisations In the USA and Europe, investigative journalists have established centres that produce databases for mining by journalists. Nicar in the USA, for example, collected data on Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspect detainees and compiled a database that can be accessed online http://www.nicar.org/downloads/ It will probably still take some time before archives in African countries are properly maintained, let alone become available online, but investigative journalists in countries where donors are active in the digital media and information field can lobby these donors for database projects for important archives.

Access to information
n many countries, especially in Africa, government information, or private sector information that impacts on citizens, is still kept away from the public, shrouded in Official Secrets Acts or simple unwillingness. Governments and the private sector in the rest of the world are not always that much more willing to open up. It took seven years, from 2000 to 2007, before a number of European governments finally succumbed to freedom of information pressure on the issue of business subsidies. In order for the European public to find out where state subsidies for businesses were going, committed journalists in six countries had to work together, and support each other through court cases, to secure the release of the information. The results were more than worth it. The list of main recipients of state subsidies turned out to be headed by captains of industry and members of royal families. They, rather than small or struggling businesses, had received millions of pounds and Euros worth of taxpayers money to subsidise their already highly profitable enterprises. Find the story on http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/ jan/22/mondaymediasection.freedomofinformation. The fact that even in the West, where open records laws now do exist in almost all countries, it remains a struggle to use these laws effectively, shows that journalists will always have to work hard to get the information they need. A law only means that a door can be opened: you still have to find your way to the door and knock on it until it actually opens. And you have to know the relevant laws in detail in order to do that. In Chapter 8 we look at the general effectiveness of freedom of information (FoI) laws for journalists. If you dont have an open records law, and are possibly still plagued by the existence of an Official Secrets Act, you probably struggle every day to get any public or private sector information at all. You may also be pestered by civil servants who will only give you documents in exchange for money, knowing that you wont otherwise be able to access them. Paying sources for interviews or documents is not good journalistic practice. Most ethics rules and guidelines forbid it. The reason is clear: you can never be sure if the information was given in the public interest, since somebody had a financial reason for wanting to pass it on to you. If documents and interviews are worth hard money, people are encouraged to say or photocopy things for monetary gain or even fake evidence for money. This is not how good journalism is supposed to work. We discuss these issues also in Chapter 8. Yet how do we avoid paying for documents if there is no other way of getting the information that we need? The long, hard way is through struggle for access to information legislation and practice. The SADCs Windhoek Declaration, The African Declaration on Human and Peoples Rights, and various African Union statements all advocate press freedom and the need for transparency in democracies. The majority of African governments have aligned themselves with these lofty ideals. The struggle for journalists and in fact for all ordinary citizens who want to know what the powers that be in their countries are doing is to exert pressure until these powers are forced to put, so to speak, their information where their mouths are.

Arguing for access to information

In 2005, the Zambian government rejected proposed freedom of information legislation, on the basis of two arguments
zz that access to state information would compromise state security zz that there is press freedom in Zambia already.

These two arguments are not difficult to counter. As MISA Zambia at the time protested: how do countries like the USA, who have access to information legislation, protect their state security? Arent their security interests bigger than Zambias? Any access to information law protects, for example, military secrets. The argument that all information needs to be secret because some information necessarily has to be, is therefore false. The second argument, that there is press freedom, holds even less water. With a government and a public sector under no obligation to facilitate information to the public, what is press freedom? What are media free to publish?

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Journalists and members of the public in Zambia, continue to engage the government and government officials and private sector representatives on this issue. Many press freedom organisations, media institutes and journalists are engaged in such struggles all over Africa. FAIR closely monitors their efforts and facilitates networking between access to information activists in the various countries. On behalf of its members, the FAIR help-desk also lobbies governments and companies directly to provide access to their records. FAIR also encourages its members to join committees of access to information activists and to publicly request information, and document the responses to such requests. The FAIR websites Access to Information chapter reports on the progress made in the African struggle for access to information as well as on existing information laws and how journalists can make (better) use of them. A report card on the Most Secretive Government is also envisaged.

Using access to information laws

Using countries with free information access Article 32 (1) of South Africas Constitution states that everyone has the right of access to any information held by either public and private bodies that is required for the exercise or protection of any right. The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) gives legislative expression to this right, although private companies have been given an extended timeframe to come into conformity with the act. The South African History Archive (SAHA), located at the University of the Witwatersrand, has built up impressive experience in using this law. Many journalists battling to gain access to government and private sector information have been helped by the archive. Studying the South African experience may be helpful to the struggle for access to information in other countries. SAHAs Freedom of Information Programme is dedicated to using the South African Promotion of Access to Information Act to extend the boundaries of freedom of information and to build up an archive of materials released under the act for public use. This is relevant to other African countries, too: South African government departments and SA businesses hold a lot of information that impacts on the southern African region, and even further north. For instance, the SA headquarters of Checkers has information on the supermarket groups activities in Zambia; the SA military holds information on SA military activities in other African countries, past and present. By getting information relevant to your country from a South African archive, you can start a paper trail that you can follow up in your own country. It is therefore useful to remember SAHA when you follow a story with more than strictly local links. (The same applies to general investigations of foreign companies or institutions active in your country: their headquarters might be located in a country that has an access to information law, and you can use the FAIR network to ask a colleague from that country to access information on your behalf.) Dedicated organisations in the USA, the UK and elsewhere will also help if approached to use FoI legislation existing in their countries How to work with SAHA SAHA wants to develop its work within the region and is willing to work on joint projects with individuals and organisations seeking access to records that might be in the SA archives under its very broad mandate of documenting and researching struggles for justice (historical or contemporary). SAHA will assist non-South African nationals in such research. There may be certain costs attached to specific investigations, but generally, SAHA does not charge unless there are costs involved in securing the documents (for instance, copying costs). If the project is large-scale, SAHA may look at trying to raise specific project funds, jointly or independently. This will depend on the request made and on any discussions held about it. SAHA believes it should be possible to secure documents from the SA Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs departments as well as other ministries dealing with Trade and Industry. To ask SAHA for help on line, go to www.saha.org.za.

1 2 3

Select INFORMATION REQUEST at the bottom left of the screen, or on the homepage and fill out FORM B: PAIA REQUEST. Fill in the necessary fields, being sure to provide both your I.D. NUMBER and your CONTACT DETAILS. Click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page.

Basic research skills and tools Using access to information laws (cont.)
4 5
The Programme Manager will respond to your request and if necessary have further discussion about it. SAHA will then draft and submit a request on your behalf to the relevant body.

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Results in South Africa After four years of experience using PAIA, the programme has built up a comprehensive archive of released materials and has put considered effort into spreading awareness of the importance of access to information in a transparent and accountable democracy. There are now new initiatives to spread the lessons of this experience and knowledge about it, so that ordinary citizens are empowered to access information that has a direct impact on their daily lives.

If your country does have FoI laws, the following general principles should guide your attempts to access information by these routes: zz Always check first whether the information is already out there. Limited-circulation published papers sometimes contain summaries and even extracts from supposedly secret documents. Find out what has been published in semi-official or specialist contexts on the subject, and try to find a mole who will let you see the relevant paper. zz Use FoI provisions as a last resort. If you can demonstrate that you have genuinely tried every other channel, this strengthens your case for demanding the paper. zz Plan ahead: FoI procedures can be slow and youre very unlikely to get a paper you need tomorrow! zz Identify and approach the right information-holder. zz Make precise requests for named (or numbered) documents. Asking for everything youve got on will not get results. zz Document your requests and the responses you got very carefully. You may need these records to prove that the authorities are deliberately flouting FoI laws and have something to hide.

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Basic number skills

uch investigative journalism is qualitative: it looks at why and how things go wrong and who might be responsible. But almost every investigative story has or needs an underpinning of numbers: how big was the deficit; what are the statistics on illegal fishing; how many patients are turned away from clinics and how do we know? So you need to know how to tell a big number from a small one, how to make sense of numbers, and a few simple things like how to calculate a percentage. No one becomes a journalist because they really love numbers, on the contrary. But they are not difficult and are essential. Many people who believe they have no skill with numbers actually use numbers in quite a sophisticated way every day: budgeting for living expenses; working out whether a season train ticket represents good value; negotiating for a pay increase, for example. The way many schools teach number skills has contributed to the fear of mathematics in perfectly numerate people; they have learned to disconnect the practical applications of numbers from the apparently abstract science of maths. The good news about number skills for journalists is that they focus mainly on application, and have a strong qualitative slant (for example, in understanding who collects statistics, and how and why). But you need to start by grasping the basics of numbers.

Exercise #3

Numbers and statistics

Look at the story ideas below. Decide for each what kind of numerical or statistical information is needed to strengthen the story.

1 2 3 4 5

A government minister has outraged nurses by making a speech in which she alleges: Too many nurses are lazy. They spend their days drinking tea, while patients wait outside the clinics. Local shopkeepers are complaining that a major construction site in the city centre is polluting the air and threatening the health of their workers and customers. A prominent church minister has started a national campaign against what he describes as the highest levels of teenage immorality in our history. Your national broadcaster has issued a press statement claiming that a recent TV series on family life got the whole nation engaged with the issues. The maize farmers national organisation announces it will be raising prices because of unprecedentedly adverse weather conditions this year.

Comments

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1

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This is a story about a value judgement and attitudes, so numbers may not change minds. But if you can get a clinic nurses official job description, and the help of experts who can put times on each task, you can create a typical day timetable. Then, via observation and interviews you can find out: zz Are nurses faced with too many tasks to fit into their working day? zz What tasks occupy most time? Do the nurses use short-cuts? How? zz How does their job description relate to the average numbers of patients a clinic sees? (Go to your local clinic and count the people in the queue. Get the agreement of a patient to accompany her through the clinic processes. Time how long this takes and multiply by the number of people in that days queue.) None of this is rocket science or even difficult arithmetic but the figures you get will anchor your story in reality. You need to get an air sample analysed (see if your local college can help if you are not close to high-tech facilities). Find out what pollutants are in the air, then ask a medical expert whether these are dangerous and what levels of exposure will damage health. Match the levels against any air purity regulations your country has. This is a story where figures can prove that the shopkeepers do have a justified complaint.

What does the minister mean by immorality? You cant look at this story in number terms until you can get a definition. But, once you find out (for example, he tells you: teenage criminals in prisons) you can look back at statistics on prisoners under the age of 18. You may find that this problem started a long time ago and that the figures havent changed much over time, or that similar peaks in the figures seem to occur fairly regularly or even that the figures are lower now than they used to be! This is a trend story: somebody creates a stir about something, alleging that it is worse than it has ever been. The journalists job is to interrogate the assumption, because very often all that has happened is that for some reason the problem has become more noticeable, rather than actually bigger. You need figures to unpick the assumption. But that isnt enough, because the context why is the problem more noticeable (or noticed) now? may be where your real story lies.

Press releases are not designed to be placed under statistical scrutiny or at least, thats what their authors hope! (See the Joe Hanlon case study at the end of this chapter.) And this is another trend story, although in this case inspired by self-publicity. But if you want to test just how influential the public broadcaster really is, select a sample group of typical viewers, and ask them some questions about whether they watched the series in question and whether it did get them into sustained discussions on the issues. Present your mini-poll results alongside your story.

Weather statistics have probably been kept in most countries for longer than almost any other types of figures. In Africa, they were among the first statistics the colonial authorities recorded, and can be traced back even further by community oral history traditions on floods and droughts. You cant just take what the grain growers announce at face value, because they obviously have an interest in justifying higher prices. So you must find out if the weather conditions really are unprecedented. If they are, of course, you may also have a bigger global warming story about your countrys agriculture.

Look at the story below. It was written by a freelance reporter on a South African paper in the KwaZulu-Natal region, who read the publicity on a new credit card scheme aimed at lower-income families, and wondered exactly how the figures added up. (We have edited the story for context and length.)

Getting rich by helping the poor

GETTING RICH BY HELPING THE POOR Banks make more than a billion rand a year lending money from the poorest-paid people in South Africa. By Tom Dennen The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) arrived on the scene in the wake of the semi-demise of the so-called micro lenders to help the poor with a South African banking product called Mzansi, launched in October 2004. Mzansi means south, which is where some more South African money is apparently heading. Remember the micro lenders? Those bad guys who sprang up everywhere, operated from sometimes shoddy offices, charged enormous interest rates and have now been mostly bought or driven out of the temple by the commercial banks? Absa, First National Bank, Meeg Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank (as well as Postbank, which administers the product) now offer the Mzansi account which opens a potential customer base in South Africa of an estimated 13 million people earning under R5 000 a month the erstwhile micro lenders old clients. This group of poor people was previously cut off from the banking mainstream because banks believed it was unprofitable to service them (and publicly said so). They were wrong. And it took them just one look at the old micro lenders to see the light. According to Business Day, (30 August 2006), finance minister Trevor Manuel confirmed that the number of Mzansi

Basic research skills and tools Getting rich by helping the poor (cont.)
accounts opened since launch had grown to 3.3 million in just two years. No management fees are charged on Mzansi accounts, the website and brochures claim. Mzansi Account (from official website): Amount R1 - R499 R500 - R999 R1,000 - R1,999 R2,000 - R4,999 R5,000 - R15,000 Credit Interest (% pa, uncompounded a one-off.) 0.25% 0.75% 1.00% 1.25% 1.75%

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EXAMPLE: Mzansi Money transfer costs at the Standard Bank: Amount R0-R100 R100.01 - R500 R500.01 - R1,000 R1,000.01 - R2,000 R2,000.01 - R3,000 R3,000.01 - R4,000 R4,000.01 - R5,000 Cash to cash R13 R26 R30 R40 R60 R80 R100 Account to cash R13 R21 R25 R35 R50 R60 R80

A sixty cent charge is levied for deposits made after the first free deposit. This means you get to lend Mzansi your money once a month (make a deposit) for free. But only once. After that it costs you sixty cents every time you lend them (deposit) more of your money within the monthly period. But there are no administrative charges. At the time of writing, in January 2007, the average consumer of this new banking product was female, approximately 90% were black and each held, on average, R300 in her account. Thats an average of R300 times 3.3 million accounts 300 times 3.3 million is voil: R990 million close to a billion rand from the poorest-paid people in South Africa! Just to round things down, 10% interest on a billion is a R100 million that a little over three million people are generating. And at the princely sum of 0.25% interest per annum, (75 cents on your average R300 balance) that money only costs the banks a little over R2 million yielding a R98 million gross profit. Well, not really: the first withdrawal for each customer at the minimum withdrawal cost of R4 from an automatic cash machine (ATM) wipes out not only the (uncompounded) 75 cent interest earned for the whole year but immediately adds more serious money to the Mzansi coffers: R3.25 times 3.3 million = R10,725,000 for the first month when the 0.25% interest is wiped out. In English: add nearly another R11 million profit to the R98 million so far. After the first withdrawal, theres no more interest, so if our 3.3 million people each make just one withdrawal a month for the next eleven months (R4 x 3.3 x 11) you can add another R140 million profit. R990 million at 11.5% is a cool R113,850,000 profit, at a cost of only 0.25% or R2,475,000.

Basic research skills and tools Getting rich by helping the poor (cont)
Gross Profit: R 113,000,000 on lending R 11,000,000 on one withdrawal R140,000,000 on one withdrawal a month x eleven months. TOTAL: R 260,000,000

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This of course assumes that each of the 3.3 million subscribers makes only 12 withdrawals a year and sits on the average R300 deposit, never asks for a statement or makes any other transaction such as a transfer. These figures are basic minimum, but just about guaranteed. And we havent taken into account the cash to cash and account to cash transfer costs to customers yet. But say we do: if each of the 3.3 million customers uses the account as it is intended to be used and makes one minimum transfer from or to the Standard Bank once a month money home to family, perhaps - 3.3 million customers x 12 months x R13 transfer fee = R514 million. Add that to what weve got R260 million and heres over three quarters of a billion rand gross coming in every year. Cheap money. Shows thought and initiative. Buy shares now! I wonder what the Mzansi CEO makes a year? Things change, I know guys used to wear tattoos, girls wore earrings and banks paid you (interest) to borrow your money. But there you have it: Mzansi borrows money from the poor at a miniscule interest rate and lends it out at around 11.5% to the rich. The bottom line is that now even poor people can make money for banks and borrowers and according to the CGAP, these new micro finance institutions (MFIs) are out-performing the commercial banking sectors Return on Assets Managed (RoAMs) by more than 50%. Globally. The whole world has discovered the poor and is taking 50% more from them in RoAMs than commercial banks are from the rich! Here I would normally cry Foul! or For shame! but there is a big advantage here for the poor which is, of course, access to their own money. Nowadays the poor can transfer money to relatives without worrying about it being stolen in the mail, pay retail accounts with what is essentially a debit card and generally carry on as if their money actually counted and real interest was being paid for it, as normal banking allegedly does. Id also like to get rich helping the poor but Ive read somewhere that in Christian and Muslim societies usury is a no-no.

Interview with Tom Dennen What questions were you trying to answer in the story? The story is an examination of both a so-called credit card system and the nature of financial communication in South Africa. How did the story get started? The story came about when I had to get banking details to one of the publications I write for I had been running on a joint account. One of the cards on offer was the Mzansi. In terms of benefits, it seemed streets ahead of the competition until I learned about the no interest part they charge very little, relatively speaking, but dont really pay anything. What research did you do? I looked at the Mzansi brochures from the Post Office, their website, the Post Office site and other bank sites offering cards. We also wrote to banks to try and confirm the figures and their profits. We received the following response from one: We thank you for your query to which we kindly respond as follows. Mzansi is an entry-level first order bank account that has been priced on the margin and, after including the costs associated with providing the service, does not contribute to [this banks] profitability as yet. Gross revenue is but one side of the picture. The reality is that the average monthly cost to the Mzansi customers based on their behaviour is less than R10 and customers only pay for the services they utilise. We also offer free cellphone banking options adding to the customers convenience for non-cash transactions. The credit interest rate is a factor of the market and is higher than for traditional transactional accounts. Savers will experience capital preservation and appreciation meaning that R100 deposited will be worth more than R100 after a year. The banks offer significantly more savings and investment options for customers to earn more investment revenue. Mzansi remains an entry-level banking account. For any planned article, please quote We didnt buy that spin for one nanosecond and published the article in the Natal Weekend Witness on the opinion page (p.20). What difficulties did you encounter, and how did you try to solve them? There were no real problems, just a routine investigation as the cops say.

Basic research skills and tools Getting rich by helping the poor (cont.)
How long did the investigation take you, and what were the most time-consuming and/or expensive aspects? The story took about three months and most of the difficulty was in getting the figures right.

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What lessons have you learned from doing this investigation and what advice would you give to other journalists attempting similar investigations? Plod. My father-in-law taught me one of the best lessons of my life how to plod. We were building at the time and he asked me: See that pile of bricks over there? They have to be moved over to the other side of the property. Take two bricks in each hand and carry them over. Dont think of anything much and pretty soon youll have those bricks on the other side of the property. Its called plodding!

Dennens story took a piece of bank advertising, and a concept cheaper banking for the poor that most people would instinctively support, and with some simple but painstaking maths, exposed that while it might have some benefits, it both did not offer full banking benefits to its customers, and helped the already rich to get richer at their expense. It shows why every investigative journalist needs at a minimum some basic skill with numbers. Ideally, you need more than basic skills, but a good alternative is to know how to access these more advanced skills from others, either via a web resource, or by having a good relationship with a numbers expert in your locality. This part of the chapter looks only at basic number skills. The resource list at the end of this chapter also recommends additional resources.

This seems easy enough. Most of us know the whole numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. and what quantities they stand for. You also need to understand what a minus (negative) figure is. Think of a thermometer where 0 is freezing point. Minus 3 (-3) is three degrees below or less than freezing point. You need to be able to recognise fractions (1/2, , 1/3 etc.), percentages (number out of every hundred: 50%, 25% and 33% for example) and decimals (fractions of numbers expressed in tenths and hundredths: for example 1 1/4 is equivalent to 1.25). When writing about numbers, its also useful to be able to translate these for readers into natural frequencies: in other words, rather than telling your readers that 25% of the population does something, its far more vivid and clear to tell them that one person in four does it.

You also need to be able to calculate a percentage. A percentage is a number out of 100. If a factory employs 200 workers and takes on another 50, that is an increase of 25%. Percentages allow you to compare change over time (trends). Its a simple formula to work out percentage change: (New figure old figure) x 100 = Old figure

Apply the figures from our example: (250 [200 old workers + 50 new workers] 200 [old workers]) x 100 = 25% 200 [old workers] Try this again using these figures:

Basic research skills and tools

The population of Port Elizabeth was 834 000 and has increased to 989 000 989 000 834 000 x 100 = 18.6% 834 000

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What if the population has decreased? The formula is the same, but the result will be different, because the base is different. The population was 989 000 and has decreased to 834 000 834 000 989 000 x 100 = -15.7% 989 000

Keep this example, but all you need to remember is the formula: new minus old over old times 100.

If you are going to investigate in fields that use numerical and statistical information, you also need to be able to understand the concepts of: zz Rate zz Average

Rates allow you to compare like with like, apples with apples. The most well known are the inflation rate and the per capita rate. The inflation rate means how fast costs are rising over a given period of time. When government reports that the inflation rate has fallen this quarter it is not saying that costs have fallen, or even that they have stopped rising. It is announcing that costs did not rise quite so fast over the last three months as over some other three-month period: perhaps the previous three months, or perhaps the same three months last year. Per capita takes population differences into account. For example, in 2002 the deaths from tuberculosis in South Africa was 53 per 100 000 people. By comparison, it was 117 per 100 000 in Somalia, the worst rate in the world, while in Swaziland it was 94.

1 Rate

These are ways of reducing a set of figures to one figure that can be used as typical. The Blue Football team has 11 players, some of whom earn more than others. Their top striker gets R21 000 a week, the goalie R10000, four players earn R2 000 and the remaining five R1 000.
zz The mean. This is what most people think of as the average: we add up the 11 salaries and divide by 11 to get an average salary

2 Averages

in this case R4 000. Its obvious what the problem with the mean is: it masks the real spread of salaries and isnt particularly close to what anyone actually earns. The mean is useful for certain mathematical operations; it is often less useful for journalists whose stories come from what is going on inside the aggregated figures.
zz The median (mid-point). This would be calculated by listing all the figures in order, and selecting the middle one:

R21 000 R10 000 R 2 000 R 2 000 R 2 000 R 2 000 R1 000 R1 000 R1 000 R1 000 R1 000 On a small sample like this, the median of R2 000 is fairly accurate as representing most peoples salaries.
zz The mode. The mode is the most frequently occurring value in a set of figures. In this case, again, this is R1 000 and is reasonably

useful as a representative figure. It is a real salary that also carries useful information: that most people in the group actually earn this amount. What it still doesnt convey is that one salary (the stikers?) is very much higher. And it would be helpful to know the sample size and just how big a section the most frequently occurring represents. Look at this example:

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A factory employs 500 people: 350 very low-paid labourers; 100 clerical and administrative staff and 50 specialists and senior managers up to the highest-paid boss. Each of the top 50 earns a different salary but so does each labourer, because they are paid according to complicated piece-rates. But all the clerical and administrative staff earn the same wage, because it happens that this year they are all on the same grade. In a wages survey, theyd be the mode, because their salary figure occurs most frequently despite the fact that the very low wages of the labourers actually dominate the pay landscape of that factory.

The range of our footballers salaries was between R1 000 and R21 000. The range of salaries in our imaginary factory was, say, between R80 000 and R800. The second set of figures is far more widely spread-out (dispersed) than the first. And sometimes understanding the significance of a figure depends on knowing how widely the set it comes from is dispersed, or understanding the normal dispersion of such sets. The simplest way of expressing dispersion is the one weve just used: describing the range (from R80 000 to R800: a range of R72,000). Statisticians, however, use a calculating tool known as standard deviation to describe dispersion. They establish the mean of the set of numbers, and then calculate the average distance of all the numbers from this mean. There is one regularly observed shape to the pattern of dispersion in sets of figures, whatever their range. It is referred to as the bell curve because of its shape when the figures are plotted on a graph (a frequency distribution graph below left). As you can see, there are fewer results at the lowest value, they curve upwards towards the highest concentration somewhere around the middle values, then tail off again towards the highest values. This pattern happens so frequently that mathematicians describe it as a normal distribution. When they dont see it, they ask questions. So if, for example, a set of school-leaving exam results looked like the graph (below centre), they and we as journalists would be asking why such a high rate of failures occurred because the bell curve tells us that under normal circumstances, the bulge should be much closer to the middle (below left). Was the exam too hard? Was marking too harsh? Was teaching bad? Were teachers inadequately prepared or resourced? Likewise, if the bell curve looked like the graph to the right below, the relevant questions would be the opposite: was the exam too easy; was marking too slack?

3 Dispersion

Number of students

Number of students

Exam scores

Exam scores

Number of students

Exam scores

Both these sets of questions rest on two basic assumptions. The first is the general assumption that statistical science is reliable: that we can reasonably expect to see a normal distribution bell curve when we look at the pattern of school-leaving exam results or any other set of data. The second assumption is far more education-specific and far less often held up to the light: that the purpose of examinations is to filter people so that some pass and some fail. If it were not, why would we worry when too many do pass or fail? These two assumptions are closely plaited together: what is twisted up with how and why. This is because the science of statistics itself is very hard to separate out from the collection, presentation and analysis of statistics all essentially human activities. The next section will try and untangle the different aspects.

Basic research skills and tools

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Exercise #4

Check your number skills

This short quiz is used by Derek Luyt, a lecturer at Rhodes University, to illustrate why journalists need to think about figures rather than simply quoting them unquestioningly. Take 20 minutes, read the information supplied for each question and try to answer.

The murder rate in South Africa in 2007 was 40 per 100 000. In 2007, Tsoko had a population of 10 000 and 5 people were murdered in the town. In 2007, East London had a population of 1 000 000 and 300 people were murdered in the city. zz Was the murder rate higher in Tsoko or East London? zz Was the murder rate in Tsoko higher or lower than the national rate? By how much? zz Was the murder rate in East London higher or lower than the national rate? By how much?

1 Murder rates

There are 42 000 people living in Dolo. 43% are under the voting age of 18, and 16 000 of these registered to vote in the last local elections. On election day, 12 000 people voted. zz How many people in Dolo were of voting age? zz What percentage of the people of voting age registered as voters? zz What was the percentage turnout on election day? zz Of those of voting age, what percentage voted?

2 Electoral turnout

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Exercise #4 (cont.)

Check your number skills

The table below was received in a press release from the national Department of Land Affairs: Province Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Mpumalanga Northern Cape Limpopo North West Province Western Cape Total Hectares 36 200 37 320 8 115 27 957 19 786 43 251 23 591 21 430 19 180 262 520

3 Land Redistribution in South Africa, 1995 2004

zz Which province redistributed the most land? zz Which province redistributed the least land? zz How much more land was redistributed in the

Northern Cape than Gauteng?

zz How much land was redistributed nationally on

average in each of the ten years between 1995 and 2004?

Five journalists are discussing their monthly salaries. Jabu and Thembi each earn R1,200 per month, Bongani earns R1 600, Joyce earns R1 200 and Sipho earns R6 800. zz What is their average monthly income? zz How many of the journalists earn more than the average monthly income?

4 Average salaries

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Exercise #4 (cont.)
Here is Derek Luyts commentary: The main aims of Question 1 are:

Check your number skills

zz First to discuss why crime stats are normally given as a ratio of 100 000, and not as a percentage partly because it is

difficult to envisage 0,03 percent of a murdered person;

zz Second, to introduce the idea of ratios, which is expanded on in following questions; zz Thirdly to introduce how to work with decimal system (all the questions can be very easily answered without a calculator -

you dont have to answer the second and third questions as percentages, higher/lower by 10/100 000 is fine). Answers: Tsoko; higher by 25%; lower by 25% The main aims of Question 2 are:
zz First to go into greater detail on percentages and zz Second to consider which angle to choose/investigate, since the numbers dont speak for themselves.

Answers: Voter turnout was 75% (true) but the number of people eligible to vote who actually voted was 50,1% (true). Which is the stronger angle; a high turnout among those who actually registered, or the far lower registration rate among people eligible to vote? The main aim of Question 3 is: To check your ability to work out a simple average, but more importantly to stress the importance of checking your sources. The average amount of land redistributed each year was not, as you might total up, 26 259 hectares, since the number of hectares in column two does not actually add up to 262 520, but to 236 830 (hence average redistribution was 23 683 hectares/year). Lesson: check your facts and sources. This exercise is based on a real experience I had with the Department of Land Affairs. The main aim of Question 4 is: To consider the different measures of central tendency and distribution (average): mean, median, mode. Most people take the average to be the mean (add up all the salaries then divide by the number of people). Problem is, there are very rarely average people, nor does the mean always tell you anything meaningful about social conditions. In this example of income, the mean cannot tell us anything about income distribution. Most people in this sample earn less than the average (mean) salary of R2400. How did you score? Did you spot the number traps in the questions?

There are some additional ideas about numbers that are slightly more complex. The first is that certain things we count such as people, or anything else from potatoes to jet fighters that exists as a single separate and countable unit are called discrete variables. That is, they move from one value one potato directly to the next value two potatoes. Thats why journalists regularly make a joke of the statistic that the average Western family has 2.4 children. What would 0.4 of a child look like? Rather than explaining these unimaginable parts of units to readers, its far more useful to round up or round down in other words, to express the number as the nearest whole number. If the decimal is below 0.5, round down (so the average family has 2 children); if it is above 0.5, round up (if the figure were 2.6 children, youd express it as 3). However, when we are dealing with things that can be precisely weighed or measured rather than counted for example, the weight of a loaf of bread, the distance between two cities or the volume of water in a dam even our most accurate measurement is already only approximate. Water doesnt naturally exist in neat litre units; were already rounding up or down (approximating) when we say a dam can hold 2000 litres of water. Be far more careful in further rounding off the figures relating to these kinds of things, which we call continuous variables. Be sure that how you handle such figures reflects the degree of precision your story needs to make sense.

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Sometimes, expressing numbers as words or realities readers can visualise (one person in four) helps readers. But sometimes assigning numbers to words can also help. If youve done a snap vox pop poll, it is quite heavy for readers to grasp in the middle of a story that Of 48 people surveyed on the streets of Lusaka, 12 said they had no opinion as to whether SADC should discipline undemocratic member states, 18 believed the SADC Secretariat should take action, 13 believed it should not and seven said it depended on the circumstances. A far clearer way of expressing this would be with a chart or simple ranking order, like this: Depends [7] Yes [18] We asked 48 members of the public, Should the SADC Secretariat take action against undemocratic states? Heres what they said: zz 18: yes zz 13: no zz 12: dont know/ no opinion/ prefer not to answer zz 7: depends on circumstances.

Dont know [12]

No [13]

Its important that you ask precise questions about numbers which means that you have to research and calculate in advance. These are the ground-rules for asking about numbers: Wherever possible, quote the precise figures and their source in your question. Mr Minister, you say that grain stocks are adequate. But the Agricultural Union say that we have only 7 million tons of maize and that this is two million tons less than the country needs. Whats your comment on this? Use the pinning-down technique: closed questions that demand precise answers. Bigger than what? How many babies died at the hospital? Is that an accurate figure? Ask questions in stages, not in groups, or your interviewee will only answer some parts. How much of the missing funds has your audit accounted for? Thank you. Please tell me where they traced the funds to? Were these payments authorised? And the money that has not been traced: what plans do you have for tracking that down? So when will this second investigation report?

Basic research skills and tools

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Exercise #5

Writing up numbers

What comments would you make on the following account of a survey? How could the story be improved? Line 1 JOHANNESBURG Yeoville remains one of the most crime-ridden areas in Johannesburg, according to a survey by consultant Martin Wessels for the Johannesburg Development Agency. Crime had fallen from its 2003 high but remained problematic, the survey found. 5 Public confidence was similar to the past two years but respondents were more optimistic. Most worried about soaring assaults and burglaries, with 86% saying they did not feel safe outdoors in Yeoville compared with 55% in 2005. 10 More than 80% said policing could not root out crime and 70% felt crime hadworsened.Business confidence had changed little. Compared with the rest of the city, 17% of the respondents said crime levels were the same, 32% saw improvement and 51% reported an increase. More than 70% said Yeoville had a dirty, unsafe image. Only 6.7% felt there was not enough entertainment. A total of 56% expressed a need for larger retailers, 78% said street and pavement lighting was inadequate and 70% said that littering was a big problem.

15

18

The first thing to say about this story is that, although short, it is really hard to read. So many figures are crammed into such a small space that the reader is likely to get confused. But there are technical problems in the reporting too. We dont know how many people, and whether living inside or outside the suburb in question, were interviewed. So we have no context for their answers. We also dont know what questions were asked. Were people asked whether crime had fallen (Line 4) or is this information from another source? It seems to be contradicted by findings in lines 8 and 11. What does public confidence was the same (Line 6) mean? Which answers does this relate to? Did the earlier survey question the same population and ask the same questions? If not, we cant compare them. Is the business confidence finding (Line 11) linked to the answers on crime with which it is grouped, or was another question asked about this? In Line 14, does the fact that only 6,7% felt there was not enough entertainment mean that the other 92,3% felt there was enough or too much? And what do these answers mean? Theres no attempt to either contextualise or analyse them, and the trends (difference from previous surveys) are not consistently noted.

Weve seen that figures (especially if they go to several places of decimals) may be very hard for readers to grasp. And numbers often slow down a news lead or headline so much that it loses all impact. But inaccurately conveying numbers is actually lying to readers. Look at the tables below for a broadly accurate way of expressing figures in words. Be especially careful of the distinction between most (which means a majority: more in this category than outside it) and many (which simply means a significant number, but not a majority). More is completely meaningless unless you say more than what. And be extremely careful with at least and at most. The first means no less/fewer than. So if you say at least four people were killed in a car accident you are saying that you know for certain four were killed, and you are implying that there may be more. If you say at most you are guaranteeing to readers that this is the highest possible figure. Dont use such expressions where there is uncertainty about answers.

Basic research skills and tools Expressing numbers

Percentage 100% 99% 95% 90% 80% 70% 60% 55% 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 1% 0% 0.something% Summarised or re-expressed All Practically all Almost all Nearly all/Nine out of ten The greater part or number/Eight out of ten The greater part or number/Seven out of ten More than half/Six out of ten Just over half Half/Five out of ten Nearly half A large partor number/Four out of ten Quite a large part or number/Just over a third Roughly a third/Roughly one in three (remember a third is precisely 33.3333 recurring) A quarter/One in four A fifth/One in five A small part or number A tenth/One in ten A twentieth/One in twenty/A very small part or number A hundredth/One in a hundred None A minute number or part/Fewer than one in a hundred In one or two words All Most Most Most Most Most Most Most Half Many Many/A significant minority A significant minority A minority (significance here will depend on context) A minority A small minority Few/a few Not much/many/Few/a few Few/very few Very few/A tiny minority None Almost none/none

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Expressions and metaphors of number (get these right too!): Metaphor or expression Legion (comes from the numbers in ancient Roman army divisions) Myriad (comes from the numbers in ancient Persian army divisions) A horde/hordes A few Several A dozen/dozens A bakers dozen A score/scores Hundreds A handful A bucketful Meaning in real numbers 4 000 5 000 10 000 or a huge host. Myriads would have to be at least 20000 Huge numbers has a negative and sometimes racist connotation Usually under 5 69 12/approximate multiples of 12 below about 50 13 exactly 20/approximate multiples of 20 below 100 More than 100, fewer than 1 000 Vague: usually below 20 Vague: usually above 20 and below 100. Used only of things, not people.

Basic research skills and tools

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Statistics
Damn journalists and statistics
Damn journalists and statistics by Peter Wilby

The Guardian, Monday November 5 2007

(This extract shows how important it is for journalists to get their figures right. Find the full story on the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/05/mondaymediasection.pressandpublishing) Over the past week, we have learnt that ministers have underestimated the number of migrant workers entering Britain during the past decade by 300,000 (or 700,000, depending on which paper you read) and that, to reduce your chances of getting cancer, you should stop eating bacon and ham. Both these stories depend on statistics. So do many other newspaper stories. In five recent issues of the Daily Mail, I counted 19 stories that relied almost wholly on statistical data. They revealed, for example, that women treated for early signs of cervical cancer are at double the risk of contracting full-blown cancer 25 years later; the UK population will rise to 81 million by 2074; people who try to stop thinking about chocolate eat more of it; more than 1.2 million people have been on sickness benefits for more than five years; the sex lives of up to 15 million Britons are affected by stress; and eight out of 10 dog owners are relaxed compared with three in 10 of those who do not own pets. I have no reason to believe these findings were inaccurately reported. But when I read such reports, I want to ask questions. What does double mean? From what to what? From one to two? What does increased risk mean? How big a risk? How does it compare with other risks? What does up to mean? In the example above, it could, taken literally, mean anything between zero and 15 million. Journalists are not very good with figures. The great majority come from an arts or social studies background. [] Basic statistical concepts confidence intervals, standard deviation, probability and so on are alien to them. Most journalism training courses do not have modules on how to handle numbers. Literacy is considered essential for reporters or at least their subeditors but not numeracy. This can cause newspapers to miss good stories. Look carefully at the statistics-based stories in any newspaper and you will see that few are the result of original journalistic research. The press challenges official figures only after think-tanks, pressure groups or MPs have done the work. But perhaps more important, innumeracy leads newspapers into comical error. A couple of years ago, the Mail and the Telegraph reported that one in five men and one in eight women who reach 65 will die before 67, thereby missing out on a state pension if the retirement age were to rise to 67. The two papers were relying on a table, but had muddled the figures. The true figures were one in 29 men and one in 48 women. That was a simple error. The reporting of medical risks raises more complex questions. It is not an error, to take a prominent example from 2005, to report that ibuprofen, a painkiller, increases the chances of a heart attack by almost a quarter. A paper to this effect was published in the British Medical Journal. But again, I want to ask: a quarter of what? Unless we know something about the general incidence of heart attacks, the statement is almost meaningless. In fact, the increased risk amounted to one extra heart attack among every 1,005 people taking ibuprofen.[] Other statistics should be treated with even greater scepticism. The Mails story about the benefits of owning a dog looks less convincing when you learn that the research was sponsored by a dog food brand. [] Newspapers print this spurious nonsense more often than they should. Much of this, you may say, is harmless fun. A story about chocolate is just a talking point. Nobody is going to change their behaviour because of it. But that is not true when newspapers report high risks in taking a painkiller. Moreover, reporting every figure as though it deserves equal credence brings statistics an essential tool for understanding our world into disrepute.

tatistics do not exist somewhere out in the universe as great and unquestionable truths. Somebody, somewhere, has decided that a question, worded in a particular way, should be asked, via a certain methodology and at a certain time, of a group of people defined and selected in a specific way. To understand the significance and meaning of any statistic, you need to know all of this context. zz Who commissioned and paid for the research? (They might have an interest in obtaining certain results.) zz Who did the research? (They might have an interest, or might be unqualified for the task.) zz What question was asked? (The wording or options might limit or bias answers. Alternatively, if respondents were allowed to give long, free-form answers, researchers interpretations might have been selective.) zz By what method was it asked? (People may respond differently to face-to-face, phone and e-mail surveys, or the method may make the sample less representative because, for example, some sections of the population dont have phones or e-mail, or a

Basic research skills and tools

survey location largely populated by one type of person was chosen.)

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zz How was the sample population (the people who were questioned) defined and selected? (Was the selection representative of

the group and large enough to have statistical significance? Bigger samples, even when not truly representative, can make more accurate predictions about the general population than smaller ones.) zz How recent or old is the research? (Maybe important context related to the question has changed since then. And over what time period was data collected?)

Bad Science
Ben Goldacre, who writes the Bad Science column in the UK Guardian newspaper picked up the following headline and story from another UK newspaper in his column in January 2008: Doctors say no to abortions in their surgeries Family doctors are threatening a revolt against government plans to allow them to perform abortions in their surgeries Four out of five general practitioners (GPs) do not want to carry out terminations He asked questions about it similar to those above. Heres what he discovered. zz This was an informal online poll on a doctors chat site, accessed by clicking the abortion link on the site. We dont know exactly how many doctors regularly use this particular site (or who they all are); it is one of several. We can assume that some doctors using the site self-selected in to the poll because they already had an interest in the topic perhaps biased towards anti-abortion attitudes. And we dont know how many doctors self-selected out by reading the survey and deciding that for whatever reason they didnt want to fill it in. zz The question asked was GPs should carry out abortions in their surgeries. Tick Strongly Agree; Agree; Dont know; Disagree; Strongly Disagree. There is no explanation of carry out abortions in their surgeries in particular, no indication of whether this means with existing facilities or with extra, improved facilities, with or without extra training or staff. So the doctors responding could each have made different assumptions about the circumstances surrounding carry out abortions and answered accordingly. On this basis, the figure of four out of five GPs is meaningless, because the sample certainly doesnt represent all GPs. And threatening a revolt is a lie invented by the newspaper because the poll question does not even ask GPs what they plan to do.

Do the results of the research indicate an absolute number, a proportion, or a rate? Bald numbers tell you very little. You need to know the size of the whole population they are drawn from before you can say whether they are significant and how significant they are. The four out of five doctors figure above looks impressive. But supposing only 20 doctors filled in the survey, out of the thousands of GPs practicing in the UK. Sixteen doctors isnt very impressive, and cant possibly tell us anything about how thousands of doctors might think or behave. Likewise, proportions (fractions or percentages) should have us looking at the size of the whole population, and how it was defined/selected. With a rate, you need to understand the context and the meaning of the terms used, including what the direction of the change (up or down) actually means. As weve already explained, the inflation rate means how fast costs are rising over time. You need to understand that, because of this definition, so long as there is a positive inflation rate, some rise in costs is happening, even if the term is attached to words like falling.

Basic research skills and tools

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Always read the words! With graphs, you need to look at the scale, and the starting point. It is easy to make a tiny change look dramatic by increasing the scale and starting only with the section of the figures that show the change (see below).

February 08

March 08

April 08

10 000

11 000

12 000

13 000

14 000

Number of new infections

February 08

March 08

April 08

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000

12 000

14 000

Number of new infections

You also get a very different picture of change from a graph showing real frequency (how often something occurred in separate time periods) and one showing cumulative frequency (adding up all the changes over time). See the charts below.

4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0

15

Number of viewers (x 100 000)

Number of viewers (x 100 000)

12

3 0.5 0.0 0

Mo nd ay

sda y

sda y

ay

ay

era

We dn e

Tu e

Fri d

rsd

era

Op

Th u

Op

ap

ap

So

Daily viewership of three soap operas

Soap Opera A Soap Opera B Soap Opera C

Weekly viewership of three soap operas

So

So

ap

Op

era

Basic research skills and tools

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When something is represented with a symbol or in a pictogram (a chart using little drawings), its easy to misread the real change if the artist has not respected the maths. Look at the example below:

Volume A The dimensions of this cube = 2 x Volume A Doubling the dimensions = 8 x Volume A In an attempt to indicate a doubling of the volume of something, in the central cube (above) the artist has simply increased the size of the cube two-fold. The effect of this is that the cube has been doubled in size in each dimension (length, width and height) and this means the volume is not doubled, it is eight times bigger (2x2x2) which looks much more impressive. The cube on the right is in fact an accurate reflection of the doubling of the volume of the original cube.

Just because two sets of figures follow the same pattern, this does not prove that they are really related to one another or that one is a cause or effect of the other. Children get bigger as they get older. Their language skills also improve as they get older, at around the same rate. But that does not mean that getting bigger improves language skills! Again, you need to read the words to find out why a relationship is being suggested. Are there precedents (valid research that has been done before on a similar or comparable area) that support the relationship being suggested? Likewise, just because something happened after something else, this does not automatically prove that the first event caused the second. Research needs to look at the context, rule out other possible causes, and point to the precise mechanism by which the first event caused the second.

A research sample is supposed to be representative of the bigger population the research is investigating. Supposing you were researching the attitude of parents to the latest revealing teenage fashions. First, your sample would have to include parents. But the parents of children younger than teenage may have different attitudes and also have far more control over what their children wear. If the research included parents with children of all ages, its results might be different from a survey of the parents of teenagers. Surveys done via telephone land-lines exclude households who do not have them. Surveys conducted in upmarket shopping malls exclude people who cant afford to shop there. Government HIV prevalence figures in South Africa are based on the test results of mothers attending state ante-natal clinics. The statisticians then make assumptions about how these figures relate to other population groups and do projections (calculations based on mathematical assumptions) to assess the prevalence in people in categories other than expectant mothers. This gives a generally accurate broad picture, but we know from other surveys that it led in the past to an under-assessment of figures among older people, and among people from higher socio-economic groups who dont generally use state clinics. And young women who want to have babies will not, by definition, be condom users, so this group may have other characteristics that make it unique. All of these examples illustrate that, if you are writing about research results, its vital to find out how the original sample was defined, how results were collected, and what assumptions any projections were based on.

Basic research skills and tools Figures are not neutral

Reuters recently published a story by journalist Ruth Gidley on how humanitarian statistics are collected. These extracts show just how human and controversial the business of collecting statistics is. Find the full story on the Reuters Website.

6-31

LONDON To count the dead they ride motorbikes, charter planes and wade through snake-infested rivers. The precious statistic can help aid agencies convince a weary world there is a crisis in the jungles of Africa or forgotten corners of Iraq where death comes from hunger and disease related to war as well as from war itself But pinning down precise, and credible, numbers is difficult and often intensely political. To prove its point, the IRC and other agencies have to go to where the dead are [] Their Congo surveys havent been particularly controversial, but researchers trying to pin down a death toll for Iraq know their findings will come under intense scrutiny. People who oppose the war usually cite the highest death toll they can find, and people in favour of it tend to cite the lowest, said John Sloboda, who co-founded Iraq Body Count to collate reports from the media and mortuaries. The Britishbased Web site set up in 2003 before the start of the U.S.-led invasion seeks to commemorate those who have died with entries that give the persons name whenever possible. Its just an act of humanity to record and memorialise the dead, Slobada said. Weve done it for soldiers for centuries. [] The Iraqi Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation said this year they calculated 151000 violent deaths between 2003 and 2006. A team from Johns Hopkins University in the United States estimated as many as 654000 deaths beyond the norm in Iraq during the same period. A much simpler survey by British pollsters Opinion Research Business (ORB) put Iraqis killed by the war at approximately 1.03 million, based on a finding that 18 percent of the 2414 adults they interviewed cited at least one death in the household due to the war. ORB calculated its number using Iraqs last census in 1997, which documented 4.05 million households. The International Red Cross reports highlight the fact hunger and disease caused by a conflict often kill more people than the violence itself. In Congo, for instance, intentional deaths count for less than 10 percent of the total. Most people die when they are cut off from food supplies or medical facilities, or because the health system has been nearly eliminated by the conflict. The IRC findings from Congo appear to mirror experiences in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone; all still struggling to recover from brutal conflicts. (For more information on humanitarian issues visit www.alertnet.org)

Are loose general terms such as positive developments used in reporting the research? Are they explained or defined? What does the researcher mean by terms like possibility, probability, likely or unlikely? There are mathematical ways of tying down probability, and even providing precise odds for how likely some event or causation is. But without these, you have to look for a relationship between the analysis and the figures given, and check whether the researcher has been consistent in how they use terms. The key question to ask about statistical and numerical research is always: could the same figures be interpreted to mean something else, or processed differently (i.e. by changing the categories or definitions) to come up with different results? If you dont have the know-how to determine this, you need a tame numbers expert in your contacts book who can help you.

Figures are very rarely proof of anything. As we have seen, the assumptions on which research is based and interpreted can create very different spin on the bald numbers. zz Data detailing only which NGOs in your country received donor aid do not tell us anything about how well or badly that aid was used to achieve its goals. You could interpret it to support a call for aid to be increased or to be cut, depending on which examples in the list you selected. zz Data proving that a food additive does not cause cancer do not remove the possibility that it may cause other illnesses. Nor do the data provide evidence that the additive does good, or is necessary in food production.

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Figures, or course, are only one sort of data. They are called hard data, and this implies that they are more solid and reliable. They often are. But soft data research into attitudes and other social aspects, may provide more useful information on some topics. And while expert knowledge is vital, local knowledge (from, for example, old people in your community who have watched developments over years) can also provide valid insights. When the media consistently privilege hard over soft and expert over local, they weaken their own role in democracy. As a journalist, you should be working with all types of data from all sources, using skilful contextualisation to help your readers weigh up the merits of each. Data in areas of uncertainty perhaps because the field of study is new, and controversies have not yet been resolved are the hardest for journalists to deal with. Interested parties can exploit journalists ignorance in such areas by making the topic sound even more uncertain. This was the strategy used by the tobacco industry worldwide to exploit the medias lack of specialist knowledge. Before the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer had been definitively proved, they paid researchers to generate alternative research, making it look as though the argument about the role of cigarettes in cancer was evenly balanced. The energy industry has done the same thing very successfully in the debate about global warming. The weight of peer-reviewed, credible scientific research has for a long time been that human activity has changed the climate and the environment in damaging ways. But any journalist simply Googling the topic will find an equal number of articles arguing the opposite, many of them generated by impressive-sounding research institutes financed by the energy industry. Finally, research is often used by those in power to limit policy options and debates. Suppose the government finances a research project to discover Should we pay people individual compensation for a new dam which will flood their farmlands, or would it be better to pay for a relocation scheme that resettles everybody? It doesnt matter how hard the data are in favour of one option, key questions about other options including should we build the dam at all? have not been asked. So dont feel you must always limit your story to the terms of other peoples research questions. Remember the following
zz Many specialist areas are still being explored. You need an expert (preferably more than one, and from different sides of the

debate) to help you read through the spin of what sounds like a definitive answer, even if it has hard figures attached.
zz How people collect and interpret data may be influenced by context, including social, political and cultural factors, the history of

debates in the area, and who is funding the research.

Exercise #6

Spotting the story numbers

In a press release, your government claims that measures to restrict cheap Chinese clothing imports have been successful and have boosted growth in the local and neighbouring African clothing industries. It cites the following figures but what do they REALLY tell you? (And what do they conceal?) CLOTHING IMPORTS TO OUR COUNTRY ($m value) Country of origin China Rest of Africa Other (main countries: India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam) 2006 (before import legislation) 980 80 20 2007 (after import legislation) 700 220 60

zz Did you notice the quantity of imports hasnt changed which suggests your own countrys clothing industry is still facing

tough competition from imports.

zz Imports from the rest of Africa have nearly trebled. But are these from African-owned factories, or from overseas-owned

factories based in Africa?

zz Imports from other non-African countries have trebled. Two of those countries (Vietnam and Myanmar) are in the Far East,

and there is significant Chinese ownership of factories in Vietnam. In addition, Myanmar is a country currently ruled by a repressive military dictatorship, and many campaigners have suggested that buying their exports is actually providing support for the regime. So where, really, is the story? In the official figures, or somewhere else?

Basic research skills and tools

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Case studies
by Dr Joseph Hanlon This case study illustrates a range of important points about research technique and the use of figures. Hanlons jumpingoff point was a glowing World Bank press release which did not actually contain any useful figures. Hanlon had to obtain the precise figures and do the calculations in order to prove that the press release was misleading. The investigation was published as a series of press releases and web articles 23 April, 5 May, 6 May and 4 June 1998. The main article was published in Metical on 22 April 1998, but there were various follow up articles and IMF replies. It had a massive impact. Both on Mozambiques debt burden, and on the policy of international financial institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have immense power over poor countries and they seem unchallengeable because they claim to have the best and most highly paid economists in the world. How can an individual investigative journalist challenge that power? But the media has a place keeping even the international financial institutions in check. A story that I wrote showed the World Bank to be dishonest, and helped to force it cancel some of Mozambiques debts. That research showed three key points: zz Absolute power breeds arrogance and sloppiness in all institutions, including the IMF and World Bank, and leads to gross errors which can be discovered by investigative journalists. zz Spreadsheets, publicly available data, and patience can be more important tools for the investigative journalist than secret sources. zz Pressure groups can be an important route for investigative journalism their special interests sometimes mean there is more time and space to do the necessary research. I am based partly in Maputo, Mozambique and partly in London, England, largely as a free-lance journalist. But I have also used my investigative journalism skills in other ways, directing the Commonwealth Independent Expert Study on Sanctions Against South Africa in the late 1980s, as a policy officer for the Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel poor country debt in the late 1990s, and more recently as a Senior Lecturer in development studies at the Open University in the UK. But in parallel to my work in these posts, I have always continued to write books and articles, and a decade ago I was writing regularly for the Maputo faxed daily Metical. A decade ago the issue of unpayable poor country debt was just coming to prominence. The Jubilee 2000 campaign was promising a massive demonstration at the meeting of the leaders of the G8 the group of the eight richest countries in Birmingham, England, 16 May 1998. (50,000 people formed a human chain around the conference venue to symbolise the chains of debt.) The World Bank and IMF were anxious to show they were doing something, and on 7 April 1998 announced the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Mozambique was one of the poorest countries in the world and was spending more on debt service payments than on health and education, so it was a priority country. In a press statement on 7 April 1998 the World Bank said that the HIPC debt relief would free budgetary resources and allow Mozambique to broaden the scope of its development effort. In other words, money that had been used to repay debt could instead by used for health and education. The only problem was that the statement was false. I began my investigation because the World Bank press release did not feel right. At that time, the whole HIPC process was surrounded by secrecy and confusion, and the World Bank press release (http://go.worldbank.org/6QYFWXCP60) gave no useful figures. But through another campaign group I was able to obtain a copy of the 31 March 1998 HIPC Final Document which had been approved by both IMF and World Bank boards. (Such documents are now public, making what I did then easier now, but no less essential.) The first shock was that the Bank and Fund staff had also not told their own directors how much Mozambiques payments were reduced, and had not even provided sufficient information for the directors to calculate the figure. All the directors received was a bland statement similar to the press release; they approved the package because staff told them it was good, but they had no way to make an informed judgement. I had recently written a book on Mozambique development, called Peace Without Profit: How the IMF Blocks Rebuilding in Mozambique (1996, Oxford: James Currey) and I had obtained quite a range of IMF and World Bank documents from sources in Mozambique, both in government and in the donor community. Putting data from the HPIC Final Document and from one of the other IMF documents into a spreadsheet, I was able to actually calculate how much Mozambique had been paying and how much it was going to pay after HIPC debt relief. And the answer was $107 million dollars a year before HIPC, and slightly more after HIPC debt relief. In other words, World Bank and IMF staff had not only been dishonest in a public statement, they had misled their own boards. I wrote an article for Metical published 22 April 1998 and issued a press release for Jubilee 2000 on 23 April 1998. At first, the IMF disputed my calculation. Then, just days before the Birmingham G8 meeting and demonstration, on 12 and 14 May, the IMF took the unprecedented step of releasing two different sets of figures on Mozambiques debt service payments. The two sets of figures disagreed but both sets showed that my figures and press release had been right. Under HIPC, the Bank and Fund were only cancelling debt which Mozambique was not repaying anyway, and the Bank press release had been wrong and misleading.

Basic research skills and tools

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What was the outcome? The G8 in Birmingham accepted that HIPC was not sufficient, and called for further debt cancellation. A year later, on 2 April 1999, Bank and Fund staff admitted to their boards that I had been right: debt service payments after HIPC debt relief are not dramatically different than before because HIPC only cancelled debt that was not being repaid and never would be repaid. Then, on 30 June, the Bank and Fund recalculated and made a real cut in Mozambiques debt service payments to $70 million a year and later made another cut to $50 million a year. This did mean that $1 million a week was made available for additional health and education spending in Mozambique. I have done many investigative stories, including work on the murder of a friend, Metical editor Carlos Cardoso. But I have chosen this story, even though it is older, because I think it had more impact than any other article I have ever written it proved the World Bank and IMF were lying about debt relief. Of course, one story never changes the world, but this one helped to change the mood of the G8 leadership, helped to push for a change in Bank and Fund policy, and helped to save Mozambique $1 million per week not bad for a single investigation. I have also chosen this story because it illustrates a series of key points about investigative journalism: zz The importance of specialisation. I had worked on books about Mozambique and had substantial economic documentation, including IMF reports. I then began to specialise in debt, giving me other contacts and access to other reports. My investigations usually start from that intangible sense of feel something in the back of my head told me the World Bank was wrong, and that came purely from experience of having worked on Mozambique and debt. Specialisation also gave me access to documents. zz The middle ground between public and secret is often most useful for journalists. IMF and World Bank reports, for example, are often supposedly confidential but they are distributed to so many people that it is easy to get copies. Many more things are now on the web. zz Investigation can often just be a lot of reading, a lot of patience, and some experimentation with a spreadsheet. This investigation had no secret sources. Rather it involved pulling together material from a range of different documents and using it in a way that World Bank and IMF staff had not expected part of the arrogance of power is the assumption that if information is not handed out on a plate, journalists will not bother to look elsewhere. zz The importance of accuracy and trustworthiness. My press release for Jubilee 2000 was taken seriously by economic journalists and by the IMF and British Treasury because we had established a track record of always being able to prove the statements we made. One error or exaggeration can destroy the reputation and credibility of an investigative journalist. But the other side is that a journalist with a good record is trusted by both sources and readers. zz Investigative journalism often takes place outside the mainstream media. I used these techniques for Jubilee 2000 press releases and for research leading to academic articles published in prestigious journals. That also means that reporters should never ignore pressure groups and academics, because they have the time and motivation to do serious investigation. Of course, they often have vested interests as I did when I worked for Jubilee 2000 but if the results can be backed up, they can be explosive. Investigative journalism is hard work. But it can bring about real changes.

Key points from this chapter

Use data management tools either via computer software or a good secure filing system to build up your paper trail and keep the detail of your investigation under control. Develop your CAR, profiling, paper trailing and data mining skills. If your country has Access to Information laws use them. If your country does not yet have such laws, join the campaigns to secure them. Remember that by working with and through organisations in countries that do have such laws, you may be able to create a back door to access information. Look for ways you can use numbers and statistics to strengthen even social and ideas-based stories. Look into numerical data to spot story ideas and angles. Master basic number skills. Always interrogate numbers and statistics to discover their source and how they were compiled.

Basic research skills and tools

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Always re-check figures your own, and those supplied by others to ensure that they have been calculated correctly. Remember statistics are compiled by human beings; they are not unquestionable and very rarely provide proof on their own. Ask questions about numbers by means of short, closed, staged questions to ensure you get precise answers. Make numbers accessible for readers by rounding them or explaining them, but do not distort them when you put them into words.

Glossary
zz Access to information/Freedom of information (The need for) legislation that allows the public access to government

and private sector records that are in the public interest

zz Computer Assisted Reporting using the internet to find and analyse information zz Chronology building- placing events found from records on a timeline in order to find what happened (and who was

where) at any given time of the (series of ) events you are researching
zz Database and database management a set of statistics, recorded or found facts that are kept by an institution that

manages it to make findings and keep track of developments. A journalist can establish and manage his/her own database
zz Data-mining searching databases methodically in order to make findings zz Paper trail the trail that appears when one record leads to another zz Parallel backgrounding using records from different entities and comparing them to make findings about one

particular event or individual

zz SAHA the South African History Archives, who use the South African Access to Information legislation in order to access

SA government and private sector records

Further reading
zz Read Stiglitz and Bilmes investigation of the costs of the Iraq war in their book The Three Trillion Dollar War (Norton 2008)

zz

zz zz zz zz zz zz

zz

or read a short summary of their work at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/ article3419840.ece, Feb 2008. For more information on database management and different tools with which to map out statistics and databases, check www.ire.org and www.nicar.org. These sites are also useful for tutorials and free tips on various aspects of research techniques The UK CIJ has a good links page for search engines and useful websites and databases: http://www.tcij.org/links The FAIR website www.fairreporters.org provides (under resource centre, library and links) a list of websites that assist with on line research (like encyclopedias, translation services and a search engine for old web pages) For the current state of media legislation in African countries: KAS has published, in PDF, on its website, outlines of media law in Mozambique, the DRC, South Africa, Malawi, Botswana and Namibia. Find a list of organisations involved in the access to information struggle, as well as a list of specialised websites, at the end of Chapter 5. The best book on understanding statistics, although now more than half a century old, remains Darryl Huffs How To Lie With Statistics (1954). Good on line profiling tools are the SA company registry (accessible at www.sacompany.co.za, at an affordable subscription rate, or through the FAIR Helpdesk; www.deedsearch.co.za; and Google Earth at http://earth.google.com. The FAIR Helpdesk also offers assistance with searches of company registries internationally. An excellent book Numbers in the Newsroom, by Sarah Cohen, can be ordered from IRE (www.ire.org).

Learning objectives
By the time you have read this chapter and worked through the exercises, you will know how to:
zz Sort and organise information

before you write

zz Structure a story to

zz zz

zz

zz

zz

present the results of your investigation clearly Build arguments in your story that are credible and logical Use various writing techniques mat as most low exactly the same for including narrative journalism h This chapter does not fol a worked example, throug to engage readers nd ou ar sed ba is it , ad others. Inste Discuss the uses and limitations writing a story, from data of s ge sta e th all low fol which we of different writing approaches al version for publication. for investigative stories map through drafts to fin Discuss differences in story presentation and packaging between print, broadcast and online media Apply appropriate checklists for revision and self-editing.

y r o t s e h t g n i t i r W

This chapter does not deal with information-gathering or reporting. To revise these aspects, go to:
zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

Chapter 1 for definitions of investigative journalism Chapter 2 for guidance on generating story ideas Chapter 3 for pointers on planning and investigative project Chapter 4 for guidance on handling sources Chapter 5 for help with forensic interviewing techniques Chapter 6 for guidance on research tools and techniques Chapter 8 for discussion of the legal and ethical aspects of investigation.

Writing the story

7-2

Starting points
ouve been working on an investigative project dealing with crop-spraying in your area, and allegations that a spray used to kill pests ( called green bugs) on banana palms has been damaging the health of farm-workers and other residents. Bananas are the main crop in the area, theyre exported to neighbouring states and to Europe; farming bananas provides most local employment. There is poor warning to plantation workers about when spraying will happen, especially since wind can carry the spray far beyond designated areas. Often, the spray goes on to other food crops in village smallholdings. Some plants die, and many insects, including bees. The pilots who do the spraying have been warned that the chemical they use, Killyt, is toxic. Safety leaflets are distributed to workers and in the village, but they are in English, not the local language. The local clinic says that every year, after the spraying, they treat huge numbers of people for skin rashes and asthma. This does not happen at other times of the year. Your hypothesis: the crop spraying is bad for peoples health and for other local food crops; better safeguards should be in place and possibly the chemical should not be used. Now you have to sit down and write.
zz Whats the best way to approach the task? zz What should the final story look like?

Planning and outlining the story

Youve interviewed several people: in the village, at the banana company, in government and a science expert. Youve also researched the chemical on the web. Your final interview was with the Agriculture Minister in the capital. She says that of course she is concerned about the health of villagers and farmers but she would need to see proof. She also points out that Anane (the company owning the banana plantations) has been discussing investment in other districts and a public-private partnership for a banana-processing plant and it would be a pity to jeopardise our governments good relationship with these benefactors on the basis of alarmist rumours from peasants who do not understand science. You take that as a hint that shed rather you didnt do the story and a warning that youd better write it as carefully as possible. But your editor is willing to go ahead, and gives you space for not more than 1 500 words, which hell use as a centre-spread with the pictures you brought back from the village. Your first step is to return to your initial hypothesis. Have your interviews and research turned up anything that will change, or add to your initial idea about dangerous crop-spraying? As we saw in Chapter 3, its not unusual at this stage to find that the focus of your story has changed quite a lot, and that you need to revise your hypothesis completely. But here, your basic idea seems sound. You add all your interview and research information to your data map of the story.

Writing the story Creating a data map of your story

Villagers
Mama Amina Kiruki Woman farmer, chair of village food-growers co-op Interviews Friday June 3 That was where my sunflowers were. When they sprayed the crops, all my sunflowers died. In the forest, other plants are dying too To be a farmer is good! Im proud that I have always been able to feed my family. Even since the end of the Civil War, when there was nothing, my family has not starved because of these gardens. We want the spraying stopped. We went to the District council offices. They made us wait a whole day but nobody came out to see us. I dont read English. I saw the leaflets but I cant understand them. Use sacks to cover the crops? That would be a waste. We need sacks to store our food in! Anane owns this village. Thats why the council and government arent interested in us.

7-3

Experts and insiders

Prof Henri Soren, National Chemical Research Institute. Research Scientist specialising in agricultural chemicals. Interview Monday June 6 his lab 9am Gindrin is a corrosive chemical. It eats away at skin tissue. Its sprayed on banana plants before the fruits form for that reason. People exposed to it for long periods (3-5 years) in the US have shown a higher than normal incidence of skin and lung cancers: that is why the US FDA has suspended its use. As for wildlife, in some areas of Florida the same depletion of the bee population has been noted where Gindrin was used. What should we do? We should do an environmental impact study. I would not recommend that anyone breathe it in or eat food that has caught the spray and I am highly concerned that it is being used here. Chemicals used here are supposed to be registered on our permitted list and Gindrin does not appear there.

Government
National Agriculture Minister Penelope Farawa-Holiuki by phone Tuesday June 7 2:00pm The company has had good relations with our government since the end of the civil war. We are at present in discussion over its expansion into three more districts, as well as about the construction of a banana-processing plant as a public-private partnership. This would empower our economy by allowing us to add value through processing: a longterm aim of our economic renaissance. I do not know of problems relating to crop spraying. I have never been informed that Gindrin is not an approved chemical here. We would look into it if that turned out to be the case. I cant tell you when. Such enquiries would probably have to happen only during the next session of parliament. We are very overstretched for technical manpower and have not budgeted for such a project. Before I close this interview I must state that it would be a pity to jeopardise our governments good relationship with benefactors such as Anane on the basis of alarmist rumours from peasants who do not understand science.

Own research, notes and observations

Plot is lush and green but the place where sunflowers grew is black & rotting. Mama Amina wears traditional dress. The hoe shes using, and leaning on as we talk, has been mended at least half a dozen times. USA Food and Drugs Administration website: Gindrin was approved for use 1999 but was suspended in 2005 pending an environmental enquiry no results yet published. Approx 1 000 litres of Killyt are sprayed from low-flying planes to kill greenbugs on the banana plantations every Spring. Last Christmas, Anane catered a lavish reception for the District Council at its staff Community Centre. It also offered the community centre free for ruling party rallies during the recent council elections. SOURCE: COMPANY NEWSLETTER EDITION Vol 4/ No 2 p.13 Plantations employ 300 people at various times of year as casual labour: picking, cleaning and packing all by machine. Banana exports 45% of all income coming into the district, SOURCE EU Agricultural Projects Survey Group June 2007. Tourism, 10% of district income. The rest: 12+ other crops and activities NB: Food growing for domestic support not part of these calculations -- but the only means casual plantation workers have of surviving when laid off by Anane.

Company
Anane Spokesperson Miriam Kiruki-Lafitte by phone. Friday June 10 The complaints are overstated. Killyt is a relatively safe chemical sprayed very carefully. Occasionally, wind-drift may cause small problems for nearby gardens and we regret this, but we give adequate warning and make sure everybody is informed of safety precautions. Our spraying permits are completely in order. They were issued by the Kuru District Council, and I was not made aware of any requirement to register the actual chemical. But if it is needed, we will, of course, comply. I dont think I could estimate the exact value of offering meeting facilities to the politicians, or catering the function. Of course, you must understand the welfare of the district is important to us, and we help out where we can.

Writing the story Creating a data map of your story

Villagers
Job Kiruki hunter. Mama Aminas father You dont see bees any more. When we used to go out hunting we used to collect honey. Now its rare.

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Experts & insiders

Captain Aaron Mendez Anane crop-sprayer MUST NOT NAME HIM! Interviewed Wednesday June 8, La Bella Bar. They would sack me if they knew I had shown you this. LEAFLET SAYS: Wear masks at all time when spraying. Do not handle the Killyt tanks, hoses or nozzles with bare hands. Do not touch spills. In the event of exposure you may experience a burning sensation in eyes, mouth, nose or throat, or skin eruptions. Rinse skin immediately with copious cold water. Return to base immediately, shower, change your clothing and consult the staff medical centre at once. Do not fly another spraying mission until cleared by the medical centre.

Government
Amos Minuki, Administrative Permits Clerk at Kuru District Council. Interviewd Friday June 3 11:30 Spraying permits were issued in June 2006. The form, does not require specific chemical to be named. Perhaps we should look into that. But in fact we are not aware of any problems or complaints with the spraying. No-one has told us of this. It is a blue lie that we are beholden to the company or uninterested in Kuru Village. We will look into all legitimate complaints. We get no personal benefits from Anane, although they do benefit local development and revenue which of course is used for the good of the inhabitants.

Own research, notes and observations

Job wears a hat made of animal skins. Looks about 90 but probably much younger. Sounds like hes drunk. Spends most of our interview sleeping, but comes out to make sure he says something to us. Capt Mendez is about 60s Portuguese I think? Seems reliable sober, very neatly-dressed. Feels like ex-army of some kind. But very nervous he needs this job and is terrified hell lose it probably too old to get another flying job? VILLAGE LEAFLET SAYS: There is no conclusive scientific evidence that any of the spray materials used to control greenbug on banana plants are the cause of disease in humans when used correctly. But since health impact remains under study, we recommend that persons who need not be in the spray areas , and particularly those who may be susceptible, stay out of the area or indoors during spraying, and cover food crops with sacking. Persons who are concerned about health impacts may wish to consult their physician. About 40. Round glasses. A bit shy and soft-spoken. Gleaming white uniform I dont know how she keeps it so clean in this dusty village! Clinic admissions book shows: August- 20 skin rash patients, 10 asthma attacks September after spraying 45 skin rashes 28 asthma Carbon copy of letter 24/10/06 seen

Company

Sister Sara Wahuki clinic nurse Cases of eczema and other rashes double in September when the spraying happens. I see many babies with coughs who cannot breathe. It is not like this at other times. Yes, I went with Mama Amina to the council offices. We wasted a day there but nobody wanted to see us. I helped her to write a letter afterwards. Weve never had a reply.

This type of data mapping is only one option. Other approaches may be to mark up your notes with coloured highlighters or numbers to link material on the same topic together; do computer cut and paste to move linked material into sections or even, on

Writing the story

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a long, complex story, physically cut up and staple bunches of notes that belong together. Do what suits your personal working style best. What matters is that you group together all the answers and information on each aspect of your story. This is the foundation of a well written story: it gives you paragraphs and sections that hang together, allowing you to make your analysis and line of argument clear. You see the following contradictions/questions on this data map: The European company that owns the commercial banana plantations, Anane, says that the spray is relatively non-toxic BUT The warning leaflet for pilots is much stronger than the warning leaflet for villagers and farmers, implying real danger. Youve seen clinic admission figures that peak at spraying time, and have anecdotal and observed evidence from the village of crop damage. A research scientist in the capital says that long-term exposure for 3-5 years (spraying with this particular chemical has only been going on for 2 years so far) could cause illness. Youve also done research on the chemical via the web and found that its use has been suspended in the USA because of health fears. The District Council says that it has received no complaints about the spraying. It says that European investment in bananagrowing is vital for village development, BUT Both the clinic nurse and the head of the village food-growing co-op say that they have written a letter and even visited the council offices to try to get the spraying stopped. Your research scientist says the chemical is not approved for use in your country. District and national authorities say they arent aware of this, AND When you check the spraying permit form, it doesnt even ask for the name of the chemical. Villagers say the authorities are in the pockets of the company, AND You have discovered that the company has promised national expansion, a new plant, and has held parties and made facilities available to the district council and for ruling-party electioneering. So, it looks as if your story has four aspects: 1. The damage that spraying appears to do 2. The harmfulness and non-approved status of the chemical 3. The failure of authorities to respond 4. The relationship of the company to district and national authorities. Go back to your notes, and organise every fact, quote and detail into these four sections, to make sure you dont miss anything.

Now you need to spend some time thinking about what you have. The ideal in an investigative story is to have absolute proof the smoking gun that the wrongdoers you are pointing at have caused the wrong you allege. What would count as absolute proof for your hypothesis in this story? Your best proof would be to wait until the next crop-spraying, and, immediately afterwards, send a sample of damaged plants and a person with skin or breathing problems for further tests to establish that the chemical in question is the cause. This means delaying the story, and will involve costs. But it will give you the smoking gun: it will establish a clear, scientifically-supported connection between the cause (crop-spraying) and the effect (sickness and plant deaths), that will link to your broader evidence about the status of the chemical. And it is the only way to get this. Its hard to do it merely through clever writing. Writing an investigative story means you are zz Suggesting causes zz Suggesting results zz Suggesting links zz Putting things in categories zz and doing other things that require you to use logic.

Writing the story

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Look up the word logic in the dictionary, and youll find several linked definitions related to reasoning. In everyday speech, logic simply implies reasoning that makes sense. But very often, we find investigative stories that sound convincing, but actually dont make sense, because writers have been loose in their use of words, their use of evidence or in how they link things together. And some of these poorly constructed implications are also likely to be defamatory. You cant get a smoking gun for this story by doing any of the following: Sliding between different definitions Gindrin (known locally as Killyt) is dangerous because it has been banned in the US. The FDA has suspended the chemical. (Suspension is not the same as ban; it is more often a measure to allow time to study something.) SOLUTION? Make the abstract concrete by explaining or using examples. Define your terms when youre writing, and stick to the same definition throughout. Using unproven generalisations Our country is horrified by the use of this unregistered crop spray. (What about the people you interviewed who approve, or who dont know? And those who dont care? Arent they also part of your country?) SOLUTION? Be sure you understand the meaning of (and differences between) terms such as most, many, some, few. Use them accurately. Be very careful with the distinction between most and many, and even more careful about saying all or none. Is something the reason or one of the reasons? Always, or often? Make the general specific by citing concrete instances, and quoting named individuals. Using unsupported arguments The council has been bought by Anane and that is why it refuses to act against the company. (Every District Councillor? How do you know?) SOLUTION? Support all your statements and make them more detailed, carefully defined and cautious. Show, dont tell: let readers make up their minds whether favours have motivated action or inaction. Attacking the person when you ought to be looking at the idea The Agriculture Minister favours Anane because she despises the poor. (Even if she is a snob, there might still be strong economic arguments in favour of co-operation with the company.) SOLUTION? Just dont do this. Stick to discussing facts and arguments. Quoting authorities as proof of arguments Gindrin is dangerous because a professor at the National Research Institute says so. (This is evidence, not proof. He could be wrong, particularly if he is your only source.) SOLUTION? List pros and cons and deal with all of them in a balanced way. Focus on reasons: why, not who says it. Talk to, research and quote a range of relevant sources, not just one. Appealing to prejudice, stereotypes or emotions The peasants of Kuru Village are hardworking and honest, so it is unlikely they would lie about this. The council, on the other hand, is corrupt. (All of them? Or is that just a stereotype?) SOLUTION? Just dont. Avoid stereotypes, positive or negative, keep your language neutral and treat all sources and subjects with the same healthy scepticism. Cite evidence for what you say. Finding false cause (After X therefore caused by X) Gindrin is dangerous, because after crop-spraying, plants die and children get sick. (Crop-spraying still may not be the cause of these effects. The timing merely suggests a possible connection. This is what the courts call circumstantial the timings match up, but you have no other link. You have to find some other connection than simple timing. Day comes before night, but it doesnt cause night.) SOLUTION? See if it was really possible and likely that X caused Y. Did X come before Y? What did X do to cause Y? Are there other possible causes? Can you rule them out? Can you find other similar examples where X caused Y? That final point sounds like really bad news. If you cant afford to wait for lab tests next spring, and you cant use the argument that the negative effects follow the spraying and are therefore caused by it, wheres the proof for your hypothesis? But there is good news too. It is possible to write an accurate and convincing investigative story based on the weight of evidence, rather than a single, clinching proof. Proof is better if you can find it. But solidly-assembled evidence can do much the same job. And you have a lot of evidence:

Writing the story

zz zz zz zz zz

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the evidence of your eyes anecdotal evidence from villagers expert evidence from a local scientist the actions of the US authorities in suspending the chemical the very strong warning of dangers in the crop-spraying leaflet.

What you may need to do is make this evidence more tight and explicit, perhaps by going back to some of your sources to get them to say things more clearly. Well look at this as we follow the writing process further. You may also need to establish context more firmly. Context gives you information about the environment in which actions and consequences took place. It builds up information about whether those involved had zz Means; zz Motive; and zz Opportunity to do the things you allege. As in all other types of writing, it is better to show than to tell. Lay out the evidence in a way that lets the reader see how it piles up against your villain without adding possibly defamatory interpretation. But in investigative writing, you sometimes have to show and tell. To be crystal clear about your message (and to avoid other, possibly even more defamatory interpretations by readers) lay out the evidence and then add a summing-up sentence: The pilots leaflet shows that Anane was aware of the dangers posed by Gindrin.

Writing paragraphs
Reporters working for daily newspapers often quickly discard the schooldays habit of planning and writing stories in paragraphs. This is because newspapers rarely print their stories in the original paragraphs as set; sub-editors break up paragraphs to create extra lines, or merge them together to save space. Dont worry about that. The paragraph is an essential building-block of every story. Plan and write in paragraphs, and let subeditors deal with layout issues later. Each paragraph is a mini-story. It takes one aspect of your overall investigation and explores it fully, breaking down the big theme into parts that are manageable for writer and reader. It starts with a topic sentence that tells the reader which aspect you are dealing with, or how it links to what has gone before. Then, the paragraph provides zz evidence (details, quotes, facts and figures) zz definitions or explanations zz context, history, comparison or contrast zz cause or effect zz arguments for or against zz analysis or suggests consequences. (No single paragraph will try to do all of these!) Heres how it works. Suppose you want to write about the relationship between the agri-company, Anane, and the local and national government. You have the villagers asserting that the council is in the companys pocket, official denials, and your own research on the issue. Anane owns this district, asserts Mama Amina. That is why the council and government arent interested in us. [Topic sentence stating villagers belief] District council official Minuki vehemently denies this. We will look into all legitimate complaints, he promises. We get no personal benefits from Anane, although they do benefit local development and revenue which of course is used for the good of the inhabitants. [Official denial] Last Christmas, Anane catered a lavish reception for the District Council at its staff Community Centre, which it also made available for ruling party rallies during the recent council elections. [Your research evidence] Ms Kiruki-Lafitte declined to estimate the exact value of these events and facilities, commenting, Of course, the welfare of the district is important to us, and we help out where we can.[Official comment] Anane is likely to be helping out more widely in future. [Topic sentence for next paragraph, linking from local to national and from now to the future]

Writing the story

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National Agriculture Minister Penelope Farawa-Holiuki spoke to this reporter from the capital. The company has had good relations with our government since the end of the civil war, she said. We are at present in discussion over its expansion into three more districts, as well as about the construction of a banana-processing plant as a public-private partnership. This would empower our economy by allowing us to add value through processing: a long-term aim of our economic renaissance. [Official confirmation of investment advantages] Youll notice that in this example, the topic sentences are abstract and general: the district is owned by the company; the company will be helping out more in future. The evidence and quotes you add help to tie this down. They make the abstract concrete and the general specific, by talking about actual events and things that can be seen or checked. This is very often how you structure a paragraph. Your topic sentence uses an idea as its skeleton, and then puts the flesh of hard evidence, real quotes and verifiable research on to those bones.

Use quotes to make a point, not to tell the complete story, and to add to information, not merely repeat it. Dont use quotes to convey basic information. Use them to give the flavour of your conversations with people, but not as a substitute for your analysing what theyve told you. Especially in an investigation, it is important to use the exact words people gave you. The exceptions are: zz Errors that make what someone has said hard to understand, hold them up to ridicule and do not add to the flavour of speech zz Profanities and obscenities if your house style does not permit these zz Longwindedness and repetition. For example, villager Mama Amina may actually have said, Look, you know I think Anane owns this district. The words look, you know, I think are unnecessary; they add nothing. zz Information you can simply tell the reader in the story, or that everybody knows for example, an Environment Ministry official saying My ministry is responsible for the health of land, water and air. Attribute all quotes carefully (and, indeed, give a source for anything you did not observe yourself ). In an investigative story, you will be even more careful than usual about attribution, because readers will judge the worth of your evidence partly by its source. Where a new speaker enters your story, make that clear. Where you cannot attribute, explain why: The company would fire me if they knew I had shown you this, said the crop-sprayer pilot. Make quotes flow, by ensuring that you introduce them properly. zz The line preceding a quote should help the reader understand what is coming next, as in The Minister said Anane was important to the economy. They plan to invest zz Where your introduction to the quote sends a different message, you confuse readers, as in The Minister said Anane was important to the economy. Peasants know nothing about agriculture. zz But dont be repetitive, as in The Minister said Anane was important to the economy. They are important to the economy Quotes have to add value; dont choose words that add nothing. Stick with he/she said to describe speech. Other words (asserted; claimed; argued) may add unnecessary spin, or (refuted; rebutted) may be misunderstood by readers. But if its accurate, you can use a term that adds flavour. If the District Clerk said accusations of obligation to the company were a blue lie, it is accurate to say he denied vehemently. When you paraphrase, do not spin. Keep the sense and tone of the original. If the spokesperson says We do not have a budget, do not paraphrase into, She said her company was not prepared to spend on this, which implies attitude, not merely the financial situation.

Checklist for using quotes

zz Are quotes used only where needed? For emphasis For change of pace As evidence or extra detail To reveal character or add colour To emphasise an important point zz Are words inside quotation marks the speakers exact words? zz Are the words clear and do they do the job? (If not, rather paraphrase) zz Are the words repetitive? (If so, cut either the quote or the repeated information)

Writing the story Checklist for using quotes (cont.)

zz Have you used quote marks correctly to indicate the start and end of the quote? zz Have you attributed quotes fully and correctly? zz Have you avoided loaded words (he argued; she sneered) and stuck with neutral descriptions of speech?

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By this stage you should have sorted all your material into sections of the story, and assembled all the quoted matter and research information. Now is the time to write your first draft. Many people misunderstand the purpose of a first draft. It isnt the complete story as it will finally appear, but a sketch, which will allow you to see how the story looks and identify any further work you need to do. So you dont need to worry about elegant introductions, neat conclusions or polished language. At this stage, youre writing, not editing. All you are doing is putting your material together on the page. Where you do have a section that feels finished, write it like that; where you simply have information, slot that in where it seems to belong.

First draft
This is what a first draft for the crop-spraying story might look like. Since 2006, when Swiss-based multinational agri-company Anane began spraying its banana plantations with the chemical Gindrin known locally as Killyt villagers claim many of their own crops have died as a result. They say not all crops are affected, but that also bees and other insects are are dying out. Clinic nurse Sister Sara Wahuki says: Cases of eczema and other rashes double in September when the spraying happens. I see many babies with coughs, who cannot breathe. It is not like this at other times. The clinic admissions book supports her claim: in August, she saw 20 patients with skin rashes; in a single week in late September, after the spraying, 45 skin cases were reported. In the same period, the number of asthma admissions rose from 10 to 28. Anane spokesperson Miriam Kiruki-Lafitte describes the complaints as overstated. Killyt is a relatively safe chemical sprayed very carefully. Occasionally, wind-drift may cause small problems for nearby gardens and we regret this, but we give adequate warning and make sure everybody is informed of safety precautions. Ms Kiruki-Lafitte says that spraying permits were issued by the Kuru District Council, and that she was not made aware of any additional requirement to register the actual chemical. But if it is needed, we will, of course, comply. We obtained a copy of the leaflet distributed to the village. It is in English, not the local Seuki dialect, and reads in part: There is no conclusive scientific evidence that any of the spray materials used to control greenbug on banana plants are the cause of disease in humans when used correctly. But since health impact remains under study, we recommend that persons who need not be in the spray areas , and particularly those who may be susceptible, stay out of the area or indoors during spraying, and cover food crops with sacking. Persons who are concerned about health impacts may wish to consult their physician. Covering crops with sacks would be a waste: the only sacks we have we must use for storing food, says Mama Amina Kiruki, who chairs the local food growers co-operative. The leaflet given to the pilots of crop-spraying planes is very different, says an Anane pilot who preferred not to give his name in the interests of preserving his employment. They would sack me if they knew I had shown you this, he said. He showed us his safety instructions, which read: Wear masks at all time when spraying. Do not handle the Killyt tanks, hoses or nozzles with bare hands. Do not touch spills. In the event of exposure you may experience a burning sensation in eyes, mouth, nose or throat, or skin eruptions. Rinse skin immediately with copious cold water. Return to base immediately, shower, change your clothing and consult the staff medical centre at once. Do not fly another spraying mission until cleared by the medical centre. Those second, stronger warnings are more appropriate, says Dr Henri Soren of the National Chemical Research Institute based at Capital University. Gindrin is a corrosive chemical. It eats away at skin tissue. Its sprayed on banana plants before the fruits form, for that reason. People exposed to it for long periods say, 3-5 years in the US have shown a higher than normal incidence of skin and lung cancers, and that is why the FDA has suspended its use. I would not recommend that anyone breathe it in, or eat food that has caught the spray, and I am highly concerned that it is

Writing the story

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First draft (cont.)

being sprayed in this country. Chemicals used here are supposed to be registered on our permitted list, and Gindrin does not appear there. In some areas of Florida, the same depletion of the bee population has also been noted where Gindrin was used. There should be an environmental impact study done here. Amos Minuki, Administrative Permits Clerk at Kuru District Council confirmed that spraying permits were issued in June 2006. He showed this reporter the permit form, which does not require the specific chemical to be named. Perhaps we should look into that, he said. But in fact we are not aware of any problems or complaints with the spraying. No-one has told us of this. Mama Amina and Sister Sara say this is not so. They visited the District Council offices in October 2006 after the first spraying cycle, to raise questions about the crop damage and health complaints. They waited a day, but no-one was available to see them. Subsequently, the growers co-op wrote a letter to the council on the same issues. This reporter saw the copy, dated 24 October 2006. No-one ever replied, they say. Commercial banana growing is valuable to the Kuru District. The plantations employ 300 people at various times of year as casual labour: picking, cleaning and packing are all mechanised. zz Banana exports account for 45% of all income coming into the district, according to a study done by the European Union Agricultural Projects Survey Group in June 2007. By contrast, tourism, including trips to the small Munu Falls Game Reserve, brings in only 10% of the district income. A dozen other crops and activities make up the rest. zz Food growing for domestic support is not factored into these calculations, although it is the only means casual plantation workers have of surviving when they are laid off by Anane. zz Gindrin use has been suspended by the United States Food and Drug Administration, pending an inquiry into its long-term safety. zz Around Kuru Village, approximately 1 000 litres of Killyt are sprayed from low-flying planes to kill greenbugs on the banana plantations every Spring. Anane owns this district, asserts Mama Amina. That is why the council and government arent interested in us. Minuki: We will look into all legitimate complaints. We get no personal benefits from Anane, although they do benefit local development and revenue which of course is used for the good of the inhabitants. Last Christmas, Anane catered a lavish reception for the District Council at its staff Community Centre, which it also made available for ruling party rallies during the recent council elections. Ms Kiruki-Lafitte declined to estimate the exact value of these events and facilities, commenting, Of course, the welfare of the district is important to us, and we help out where we can. Anane is likely to be helping out more widely in future. National Agriculture Minister Penelope Farawa-Holiuki spoke to this reporter from the capital. The company has had good relations with our government since the end of the civil war, she said. We are at present in discussion over its expansion into three more districts, as well as about the construction of a banana-processing plant as a public-private partnership. This would empower our economy by allowing us to add value through processing: a long-term aim of our economic renaissance. The Minister said she did not know of problems relating to crop spraying, or that Gindrin was not an approved chemical here. We would look into it if that turned out to be the case, she said. When pressed, however, she said such enquiries would probably have to happen only during the next session of parliament. We are very overstretched for technical manpower and have not budgeted for such a project. It would be a pity, she concluded, to jeopardise our governments good relationship with benefactors such as Anane on the basis of alarmist rumours from peasants who do not understand science.

What are you comments on this draft?

What reads well, what is boring? Are there gaps in the information? Does it flow? Is it interesting? Take 10 minutes to think about it and note your ideas.

Writing the story What are your comments on this draft? (cont.)
Take 10 minutes to think about it and note your ideas. Comments

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zz It jumps around between different topics, and obviously needs work on paragraphs and links. In particular, all the research

zz zz

zz

zz

information is blocked together, as is the whole of the interview with the expert. The two extracts from the different safety leaflets make for long, hard reading put together like that. Youll need to cut and paste, so the pros and cons of the arguments are supported by the relevant evidence at each stage. There are some clumsy and repetitive phrases: you dont need to talk about the pilot losing his job in both the attribution and the quote. Wind-drift will need explaining. The story feels cold and theoretical, because we dont have much sense of the human impact of the problem. In fact, villagers views are often summarised and paraphrased, while officials are quoted in full. (Perhaps you were too worried about official reaction?) Putting the Ministers interview in one piece as the final conclusion perhaps lends her views greater weight than what others say, and affects the storys balance. Maybe there are protocol requirements about how you deal with her words? If not, break up that long speech! And there are some holes in your investigation: The clinic nurse talks about asthma, but your expert doesnt comment on this.

Writing the story What are your comments on this draft? (cont.)

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You havent asked the company about the different messages in its leaflets (youd have to do this carefully, so as not

to expose your source: Weve heard pilots are warned to shower?), or why it does not produce warnings in the local language. You could also ask the company whether it is prepared to assist poor villagers with protective coverings for their crops. You havent asked the District Council about the specific letter the villagers allegedly sent. Do they just claim they sent a letter, or can they prove it? Was it signed for at the council offices? zz Your story cannot just blame the authorities without finding out what their response or attitude is to the problems. A couple of follow-up interviews are needed. When you do these interviews, you discover the following: Dr Soren is happy to comment about asthma. He says, Respiratory problems are also very common and could be life-threatening in vulnerable children. You cant afford another trip to the village, but you phone the local headmistress, who confirms that she often has to send children home from school with breathing difficulties in September. The clinic nurse says she personally delivered the letter to the reception desk at the council offices, but was not given any receipt for it. So you cant prove it reached the relevant person in the district council. The company spokesperson denies absolutely that Anane gives different safety information to employees and villagers. We may phrase it differently, obviously our employees are more sophisticated and knowledgeable, but the information is the same. She demands to know where you heard this, which you cannot tell her to protect the pilot. She says there is no budget to print safety leaflets in a million different little dialects but says the company would consider redesigning the leaflet if it is hard to understand. And she says there is no budget to provide crop coverings for the village: We cannot go distributing materials to every back garden that would be ridiculous. Now you have this additional information, you can begin to work on your second draft, which will look a lot closer to the final finished story. Its time to think about structure, shape, and the ways you can bring the story more alive through the writing.

Story shapes and styles

There are two basic types of story content, whether investigative, hard news or feature:
zz chronological in which the story unfolds through time, and sequence and actions are the material of the investigation

(narratives; following a situation through a period of time; following the actual investigation as it unfolds); and
zz topical in which the story revolves around issues and arguments (depending on the specific story, these may be systems,

processes, trends or explanations). The crop-spraying story is clearly the latter: its about issues and arguments. As weve seen, you start sorting your material by doing a fairly crude division into sections: the issue; whos affected; the conflicts and discoveries you make. On a relatively simple, short investigative story, these sections, with an introduction and conclusion added, may make a perfectly satisfactory plan for the final story. In investigative writing, literary flair takes second place to making the issues and facts crystal-clear to readers. So a sections structure, without any frills can work well. On our crop-spraying story, the sections are: zz The issue: the damage that spraying appears to do zz Whos affected: villagers, company, government zz The technical background: the harmfulness and non-approved status of the chemical; the regulations zz The villains: authorities who dont respond or fail to issue warnings zz The motives: the relationship of the company to district and national authorities zz The end: where this leaves us or what might happen next. But you may feel that this bald outline of the story could be made more interesting for readers if you worked it more. There are a number of different ways to shape your material into a story; a number of recipes and approaches that writing coaches suggest for investigative stories. Your material is longer and more complex than a normal hard news story, and imposing shape and structure gives your reader a pathway through complex information. The three most common investigative story structures are:

Writing the story

1 The Wall Street Journal formula
This involves
zz starting with a person or situation to set the scene zz broadening out from that individual case to deal with the bigger issues, by means of a nut graph that explains the link

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between the case and the issues, and then

zz returning to your case study for a human, striking conclusion.

2 High Fives
zz zz zz zz zz

This is a model developed by US writing coach Carol Rich. Her five suggested sections are: News (whats happened or is happening?) Context (Whats the background?) Scope (Is this an incident, a local trend, a national issue?) Edge (where is it leading?) Impact (Why should your readers care?)

This structure needs the ability to write good links and transitions, so that the five elements fit together. Otherwise, it can feel like five shorter stories one after the other. But it can make an excellent structure for a long story on the web, where you need to break an extended narrative into manageable sections so readers can browse (see Writing for the web, page 7-21).

3 The pyramid

Whereas the traditional approach to a hard-news story was the inverted pyramid (main points first; less important supporting material added later ) the pyramid turns the structure right-way up. You have the length in an investigative story to build up to the punch, leading the reader with you through the discoveries you make. So, you zz Start with a summary of the storys theme zz Foreshadow some of what youll discover zz Then walk step by step through your investigation, keeping the suspense alive and building the story towards the most shocking or dramatic discovery, just as if you were writing the story of a scientific breakthrough or a mystery novel zz Save the most important, dramatic information for last.

Each of these recipes borrows a little from the toolkit of the fiction writer. You are not making anything up but you are employing techniques from literature. And this makes sense because every journalist is a storyteller. Putting your role as a teller of good but true stories in the foreground is the basis of the modern approach to news-writing we call narrative journalism.

Narrative journalism
According to Mark Kramer, director of the Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism at Harvard University, narrative journalism involves: zz Writing with character zz Action that unfolds over time zz The ... voice of the teller with a discernable personality zz Some sense of relationship to [the audience] zz Leading the reader to a point of realisation or destination. According to author Susan Eaton: Narrative writers carry the authority of all the work theyve done. They have considered the sequence and the puzzle pieces. Theyve considered everything from several perspectives. Theyve read the academic literature. Theyve crafted the story that puts all this together in a way that makes sense for readers. Theyve put the pieces together in a sequence and created a meaning Doing this is what grants you the authority not necessarily to say which policy is better but more specifically to name the heart of the matter This is very different from editorialising you envision yourself as a guide helping people navigate through confusion.

Both of the descriptions (in the box above) make it sound as though the narrative approach was made for investigative journalism. One caution, though. American investigative journalist Danny Schechter, in his film about US coverage of the Iraq War, Weapons of Mass Deception, noted a problem with the storytelling approach. By focusing on individuals tales, the narrative approach made it possible for some US news media to ignore highly contentious bigger issues and arguments. This doesnt devalue the narrative

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approach. Its just a reminder that, like any other writing technique, it needs to be used consciously and skillfully, with care and adequate context. Some of the tools narrative journalism employs include:

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Portraits and scene-setting If you choose the Wall Street Journal approach, youll need to have a good eye for detail when you report. Your key person or scene must feel real and convincing for readers. This doesnt mean describing everything in painful detail you dont have space simply picking a few authentic, telling details from what you have noted. This is why in Chapter Five we suggested you note how the person and setting looked, and what their physical response was to your questions, as well as their answers. So, in the crop-spraying story you can go back to your notes and find your description of Mama Amina, your woman farmer, and her garden. Look for a few details: the worn hoe she leans on, the blackened, rotting rows of chemical-blasted sunflowers, and think how you can work those into your story, like this: KURU VILLAGE - Leafy green lines of maize and the scarlet flowers of bean plants fill Mama Amina Kirukis small food plot. Mama Amina, who chairs the Kuru village food growers co-op, is proud of her crops, which have fed her family since the end of the Civil War. But one quarter of her garden is scarred by an ugly patch of withered leaves. That was where the sunflowers were, she says sadly, leaning on a much-repaired hoe. After they sprayed the banana plantations, all my sunflowers died. And in the forest, she gestures around, other plants are dying too. Mama Aminas father, hunter Job Kiruki, sees changes in the surrounding forests too: You do not see bees any more. We used to collect honey when we went hunting. Now, its rare. Since 2006, when Swiss-based multinational agri-company Anane began spraying its banana plantations with the chemical Gindrin known locally as Killyt villagers claim many of their own crops have died as a result. Youve noted that the agri-companys slogan is Anane: bananas that smile with health. Thats ironic, in view of your topic. How could you use it? Foreshadowing This means giving hints or clues at the start of a story about what will emerge. Youll use it if you adopt the pyramid structure. You give just enough detail to keep readers interested, until you unveil the final findings. Pacing Every narrative moves; the structure and words you choose decide how fast or slowly. Short sentences and words speed things up. Longer sentences slow them down. Giving a large amount of technical information in one solid paragraph will force readers to go more slowly, even if the sentences are short. Unnecessary, overloaded background and context will bring the story to a dead halt, long before youve finished the telling. Always ask yourself: does this add value, or merely extra words? Cut what the story doesnt need. Voice If you read your story to yourself, you will feel the pace and flow of the narrative. But youll also feel where the story becomes not merely slow but daunting and difficult. You ear is your best editor, and will tell you when you have lost your natural human voice as a writer, or where your language is long-winded, complex, incorrect or in other ways causes your reading to stumble. Write the story conversationally, as you would speak it, so readers can identify with your voice. But since speech involves elements like tone, gesture, eye contact and expression, which are not written down, youll then need to revise your work. Correct grammar and punctuation add the tone, emphasis and nuance to writing: they do the job on paper that our hands, eyes and face muscles do when we speak.

One way to find the images and dramatic moments you need for a narrative journalism approach is to think visually: to consider the images and illustrations youll need for the final story even if layout and design are not your responsibility. Like developing a provisional headline, (even where sub-editors write the real headline) such activities help you to focus on your story theme and write better; if you plan for a chart of diagram of certain facts, this will allow you to leave the rather boring list of the same facts out of your story. However, thinking visually can also help your writing and the final story in other ways: zz It helps with pitching your story, because it gives advance warning of any maps, charts, graphs or images that might be needed. zz It helps with teamworking by alerting layout people and those who place stories on pages. zz It especially helps your teamworking with photographic colleagues, laying the basis for conversations about what the best

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images for the piece would be, where you can draw on their expertise.

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zz It puts images in your head which you can then paint with words for, for example, a scene-setter intro. zz It helps you to communicate better with readers, who often learn far more from a well-chosen image or a striking chart than

from wordy writing. An image, says the proverb is worth a thousand words.

Every story needs to begin and end well. The beginning and the end are the strongest parts of any piece of writing. A good introduction pulls readers in and gives them a frame through which to view the whole story most studies show that if the introduction of a story isnt appealing, readers wont carry on, however important the topic. The ending is the thought readers take away from reading. Ways to begin include: zz A portrait or scene-setter zz A summary of the story theme (not the whole story) in one short sentence. zz The results or impact. Then you can track back to tell us how it happened. Thats how investigative journalist Seymour Hersh started stories on both the My Lai massacres in Vietnam and the Abu Ghraib prison abuses in Iraq. In all cases, dont make the reader wait too long to get into the story. A good rule of thumb is that no more than 10% of your story should be introductory material. But dont think of this, to use a textbook term, as a delayed lead. Your story begins where it begins, and that doesnt have to be with a list of facts. Since you have already noted that your crop-spraying story lacks warmth and colour, a good way to start it might be with a description of the woman farmer and her blighted plot. Ways to create a satisfying conclusion include: zz Tie up loose ends (what happened to the characters or what will happen next). zz Summarise the theme once more to remind us why were interested. zz Create a kicker (a sting in the tail that makes people think). zz Emphasise context. Put the issue back into its setting and remind us of hopes, constraints, linked developments. zz Go back to the people we met at the beginning and let them have the last word. A good kicker for your crop-spraying story might be that ironic slogan from the agri-business company: Bananas that smile with health. Never write a conclusion just for completeness, and never tell us even in different words that only time will tell. Youre the investigator, and you destroy readers confidence in your authority if you shrug the story off in this way. Equally important for stringing your story together, however, are the links: the way the story moves from section to section and paragraph to paragraph The most useful techniques here are: zz Mention the topic regularly. zz Use extended metaphors to tie ideas together and make them vivid. For example, you could talk about the environment as like a human body, where all the parts have to work together. zz Use lots of signpost words to indicate whether one paragraph follows on from the previous one (And), changes direction (But), is a consequence (So), follows after (Then), and so on. These simple words can be extremely powerful in keeping a reader with you as you track a complex argument.

How the story might look now

This is how our crop-spraying story might look, when weve corrected the defects we spotted in our first draft, and applied some shaping and writing techniques to the material.

KURU VILLAGE - Leafy green lines of maize and the scarlet flowers of bean plants fill Mama Amina Kirukis small food plot. Mama Amina, who chairs the Kuru village food growers co-op, is proud of her crops, which have fed her family since the end of the Civil War. But one quarter of her garden is scarred by an ugly patch of withered leaves.

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How the story might look now (cont.)

That was where the sunflowers were, she says sadly, leaning on a much-repaired hoe. After they sprayed the banana plantations, all my sunflowers died. And in the forest, she gestures around, other plants are dying too. Mama Aminas father, hunter Job Kiruki, sees changes in the surrounding forests too: You do not see bees any more. We used to collect honey when we went hunting. Now, its rare. Since 2006, when Swiss-based multinational agri-company Anane began spraying its banana plantations with the chemical Gindrin known locally as Killyt villagers claim many of their own crops have died as a result. Gindrin use has been suspended by the United States Food and Drug Administration, pending an enquiry into its long-term safety. Yet around Kuru Village, approximately 1 000 litres of Killyt are sprayed from low-flying planes to kill greenbugs on the banana plantations every Spring. And the villagers want it stopped. Not only crops suffer. Clinic nurse Sister Sara Wahuki says: Cases of eczema and other rashes double in September when the spraying happens. I see many babies with coughs, who cannot breathe. It is not like this at other times. The clinic admissions book supports her claim: in August, she saw 20 patients with skin rashes; in a single week in late September, after the spraying, 45 skin cases were reported. In the same period, the number of asthma admissions rose from 10 to 28. Maria Siluki, headmistress of the local school says that in September I have to send many children home because they become breathless and cough too much. Its mostly children who work in their parents gardens. Anane spokesperson Miriam Kiruki-Lafitte describes the complaints as overstated. Killyt is a relatively safe chemical sprayed very carefully. Occasionally, wind-drift may cause small problems for nearby gardens and we regret this, but we give adequate warning and make sure everybody is informed of safety precautions. (Wind-drift happens when breezes carry the spray over a wider area than planned, from the plantations to surrounding homes and gardens.) We obtained a copy of the leaflet distributed to the village. It is in English, not the local Seuki dialect, and reads in part: There is no conclusive scientific evidence that any of the spray materials used to control greenbug on banana plants are the cause of disease in humans when used correctly. But since health impact remains under study, we recommend that persons who need not be in the spray areas , and particularly those who may be susceptible, stay out of the area or indoors during spraying, and cover food crops with sacking. The leaflet given to the pilots of crop-spraying planes is very different, says an Anane pilot who preferred not to give his name. They would sack me if they knew I had shown you this, he said. He showed us his safety instructions, which read: Wear masks at all time when spraying. Do not handle the Killyt tanks, hoses or nozzles with bare hands. Do not touch spills. In the event of exposure you may experience a burning sensation in eyes, mouth, nose or throat, or skin eruptions. Rinse skin immediately with copious cold water. Return to base immediately, shower, change your clothing and consult the staff medical centre at once. Do not fly another spraying mission until cleared by the medical centre. Those second, stronger warnings are more appropriate, says Dr Henri Soren of the National Chemical Research Institute based at Capital University. Gindrin is a corrosive chemical. It eats away at skin tissue. Its sprayed on banana plants before the fruits form, for that reason. People exposed to it for long periods say, 3-5 years in the US have shown a higher than normal incidence of skin and lung cancers, and that is why the FDA has suspended its use. I would not recommend that anyone breathe it in, or eat food that has caught the spray. Chemicals used here are supposed to be registered on our permitted list, and Gindrin does not appear there. Dr Soren also confirmed that in the US Gindrin was suspected of causing breathing problems. However, Ms Kiruki-Lafitte denied that different information was given to pilots and villagers. She demanded details of our anonymous source, but did concede that since Anane workers were more sophisticated the wording of leaflets might differ, but the information is the same. She said that spraying permits were issued by the Kuru District Council, and that she was not made aware of any additional requirement to register the actual chemical. But if it is needed, we will, of course, comply. Amos Minuki, Administrative Permits Clerk at Kuru District Council confirmed that spraying permits were issued in June 2006. He showed this reporter the permit form, which does not require the specific chemical to be named. Perhaps we should look into that, he said. But in fact we are not aware of any problems or complaints with the spraying. No-one has told us of this. Mama Amina and Sister Sara say this is not so. They visited the District Council offices in October 2006 after the first spraying cycle, to raise questions about the crop damage and health complaints. They waited a day, but no-one was available to see them. Subsequently, the growers co-op wrote a letter to the council on the same issues. This reporter saw the copy, dated 24 October 2006. Sister Sara says she handed the letter in to the reception desk of the District Council offices, but was given no receipt and has had no response. Commercial banana growing is valuable to the Kuru District. The plantations employ 300 people at various times of year as casual labour: picking, cleaning and packing are all mechanised.

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How the story might look now (cont.)

Banana exports account for 45% of all income coming into the district, according to a study done by the European Union Agricultural Projects Survey Group in June 2007. By contrast, tourism, including trips to the small Munu Falls Game Reserve, brings in only 10% of the district income. A dozen other crops and activities make up the rest. Food growing for domestic support is not factored into these calculations, although it is the only means casual plantation workers have of surviving when they are laid off by Anane. Anane owns this district, asserts Mama Amina. That is why the council and government arent interested in us. Minuki vehemently denies this. We will look into all legitimate complaints, he promises. We get no personal benefits from Anane, although they do benefit local development and revenue which of course is used for the good of the inhabitants. Last Christmas, Anane catered a lavish reception for the District Council at its staff Community Centre, which it also made available for ruling party rallies during the recent council elections. Ms Kiruki-Lafitte declined to estimate the exact value of these events and facilities, commenting, Of course, the welfare of the district is important to us, and we help out where we can. Anane is likely to be helping out more widely in future. National Agriculture Minister Penelope Farawa-Holiuki spoke to this reporter from the capital. The company has had good relations with our government since the end of the civil war, she said. We are at present in discussion over its expansion into three more districts, as well as about the construction of a banana-processing plant as a public-private partnership. This would empower our economy by allowing us to add value through processing: a long-term aim of our economic renaissance. The Minister said she did not know of problems relating to crop spraying, or that Gindrin was not an approved chemical here. We would look into it if that turned out to be the case, she said. When pressed, however, she said such enquiries would probably have to happen only during the next session of parliament. We are very overstretched for technical manpower and have not budgeted for such a project. It would be a pity, she concluded, to jeopardise our governments good relationship with benefactors such as Anane on the basis of alarmist rumours from peasants who do not understand science. Researcher Dr Soren, however, feels that fears about health, plants and wildlife are far from alarmist. I am highly concerned that Gindrin is being sprayed in this country. In some areas of Florida, the same depletion of the bee population has also been noted where Gindrin was used. There should be an environmental impact study done here. As for, Mama Amina, she has never been to a function at the community centre, and cannot read the English of the safety leaflets. When we told her about protecting her crops with sacks, she said That would be a waste: the only sacks we have we must use for storing food. The Anane spokesperson said that there was no budget to print leaflets in what she called a small local dialect or to assist with protective materials like sacking for what she described as every back yard that would be ridiculous. As we left Kuru Village, our car was overtaken by a large refrigerated container lorry carrying bananas to port. On the side was the companys slogan: Anane: bananas that smile with health. (With thanks for the idea to Carol McCabe whose Maine Budworm War[Providence Sunday Journal 27/05/79] provided the inspiration for this exercise.)

The story isnt perfect yet. zz This is a long-run story, so one important thing to do at the finalising stage is to check back that information collected early in your reporting process is still valid, and is not contradicted by what you have discovered later. Equally, new facts, scientific reports or test results on the chemical may have emerged; it is worth repeating a quick web-search. zz That lump of text from the two leaflets still makes for heavy reading. Maybe you could pull it out of the story into a box or sidebar? zz We havent heard from any actual patients. This would be useful, both to back up the nurse and headmistresss testimony, and to add to the human character and liveliness of the story. zz But you have increased the number of villagers voices, and the story flows more smoothly from section to section. Theres a vivid, visual intro and an ironic, thought-provoking conclusion. Most importantly, most of the holes in your hypothesis have been sealed. The story is certainly publishable. zz However, the best stories are re-drafted more than once. Editing your writing is not an extra, a luxury or a chore: it is part of the process of writing the best possible story you can. If re-drafting and editing alone become oppressive, find a colleague or team-member to share the editing and critiquing process. Good ideas come from teamwork.

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What if you were to write a third draft?

What would you change if you were going to re-draft this version again? The story was written using the Wall Street Journal formula. Try rewriting it as either a pyramid or to the High Fives formula and see which approach makes the strongest impact. Comments

Writing it for broadcast

(NOTE: this is not a complete guide to broadcast scripting, but it provides some hints on how to use language and construct a good narrative for a broadcast investigation)
zz All broadcast stories are accompanied by video footage or audio quotes. zz The same picture or quote can tell many stories, depending on its context. zz The purpose of the surrounding commentary is to make sure the audience gets your story.

Intelligent text can make viewers see even a very conventional image or humdrum quote in a new light. (But good text does not always compensate for boring pictures or quotes - because the audience has not been grabbed and will turn away.) On radio, the script written around the recorded quotes sets the context most powerfully. But on TV, the pictures make around 85% of the impact. In both cases, you need to construct your story around the pictures or recorded quotes. We call this writing for the ear, writing to pictures, or writing to sound. Start with the reality you have captured: the scenes of Kuru village; the interviews. Then use the right words in your own commentary and links to: zz Underline important aspects of the story zz Provide balance where the pictures or quotes only show some aspects zz Select and point out the things you want the audience to pay attention to zz Connect different images or quotes, explaining how were moving through time or space

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zz Contextualise the images or quotes zz Put a spin on the images or quotes by adding extra meaning or interpretation. (NB This does not mean distorting or taking out

of context!) The announcer or reporter can and should be doing all of these things. But that does not mean that he or she should be constantly interposed between the viewer and the news, forming a filter or a barrier. Where you have real up-sound of a person saying something relevant to your story, always prefer that to a station voice standing in front, paraphrasing.

Reading and viewing

Think about the main differences between how you read and how you consume a radio or TV broadcast. Take five minutes to note some differences. Comments

You may have made some of the following points:

zz When you read something you can always skip back and read it again if you havent understood; a broadcast just flies past you. zz When youre reading, mistakes jump out and theyre there every time you turn back to the page. In a broadcast, you either

notice them first time or you dont.

zz When youre reading, there are clear signposts -- like headlines, captions and paragraphs -- to help you find the way around the

page. If you come in in the middle of a broadcast, you cant always work out whats going on.
zz You can leave reading to go off and do something else. When you come back, you can pick it up again where you stopped

without missing anything. You cant do that with a broadcast unless you record it or take it off the web. Here are some more differences:
zz Broadcast news offers the viewer more evidence for what it says (up-sound; pictures, etc.) which may make it more credible (It

must be true: I saw it on TV). For the same reason, it can distort the truth more powerfully.
zz Broadcast news exists only through time except for podcasts, theres no object like a newspaper for us to handle. zz Its harder to concentrate on broadcast news because it literally flashes past us. So were more likely to pick up an impression

than a detailed memory which is why the nature of the whole package is so important.

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zz Broadcast news doesnt need high-level literacy but it may demand good general knowledge to make sense of varied, fast-

moving packages.
zz Broadcast news often looks or sounds more slick than a grey newspaper. zz But newspapers let a reader decide what and when she will read, and allow her to go back if she wants to check something on

the page. It may take longer to read, but the reader gets more detail from the page. For all these reasons the nature of the broadcast medium and the way the audience consumes it broadcast scripting needs a very different approach to language from that employed by the print media. Youre fighting limited time There may be many significant facts in a story. Try to find one star fact or idea that will immediately grab your audience, and use this to start your investigative package. For example, compare: We read many stories these days about environmental pollution. Some people say that chemicals are damaging the environment, while others say that without fertilizers and pesticides we will not be able to produce enough food to feed the world. Our team looks at the debate through the experience of one village. (No star reason, although its all intelligent information) and: Children are falling sick in the small Central District village of Kuru. And villagers say the cause is crop spraying. Our team went to investigate. (Cuts straight to the star, local-relevant reason) When and where are very important to broadcast audiences This is because of the way stories fly past. Try to script the story in the order it happened and use time and location labels more than once in each story.

When you outline your story, youll go through the same sequence we described in planning a print story: sorting the material into sections, testing the soundness of the argument in each sections, then linking the sections together in a way that will make sense to the audience. But when you come to turning that into a script, build it around the live material you have collected. For a TV script, first sketch out a storyboard: a list of the shots and speech youll use for each section. Write your commentary second, to contextualise, fill in the gaps and link those scenes. For a radio script, first list and group the audio quotes youll use to make the points in each section. Then write the links. Go back if you need to, to what we say about using quotes in print. The same points apply here; quotes need to add value, not repeat what youve already said, but should flow smoothly from your words of commentary or analysis.

In a broadcast theres no chance to stop and reconsider. So:

zz Make your starting-point for writing clear communication, not grammatical correctness. You can pick up and correct errors that

interfere with understanding later.

zz Speak the words as you write, to ensure a natural voice zz Imagine the audience as you write zz Keep it short and simple.

Writing the story Introducing quoted material

Compare these two ways of introducing the same quoted material.

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This one is grammatically correct but its not written for broadcasting, and is longwinded and repetitive. Research scientist Dr Henri Soren describes the biochemical processes associated with the chemical Gindrin, outlining both the corrosive environmental and physiological impact of the substance on the ecology of the area and the health of individuals. [Upsound] Gindrin is a corrosive chemical This one is more conversational and written to the audio quote, rather than just tucking it in as an afterthought: Dr Henri Soren, a research scientist in the capital: [Upsound] Gindrin is a corrosive chemical. It eats away at skin tissue. Worrying stuff! But theres more, says Dr Soren: [Upsound] I would not recommend that anyone breathe it in or eat food that has caught the spray. And, says Soren, Gindrin isnt even on the list of chemicals approved for use in our country: [Upsound] I am highly concerned that it is being sprayed in this country. Doesnt this second approach make more impact even though it contains contractions and a sentence fragment that isnt strictly grammatical?

When youre writing for the ear: Stick to one idea per sentence and short, direct words. Use short phrases where these sound more natural than correct complete sentences. Use actives rather than passives. Theyre shorter, more immediate and fresh and less likely to tie you in grammatical knots. Get the tense right. Stick to simple past, present and future if you can. Use contractions (Its, Hes) where appropriate (but stick to station style). Use signposts to start sentences And, But, So, Thats why and to show structure: Weve found two instances of support from the company to local government: the first, when zz Find clear ways to express figures since many viewers and listeners have real problems when these fly past too quickly. (Round them off; convert them into an international or local currency; paraphrase: one person in five is easier to understand than 20% of the population.) zz Be aware of tone. News needs to be authoritative but NOT authoritarian; impartial but not cold. Write in terms that talk to viewers, not at them or down to them. zz Keep your writing fresh. This means avoiding overworked general adjectives like nice, important or disastrous (use specific, telling information instead) and clichd broadcast-speak like and now for something completely different.
zz zz zz zz zz zz

Compare:
zz Environmentalists estimate this will have disastrous consequences... zz Environmentalists say one in five plantation workers may get too sick to work.

Which has more impact? [Editors note: With thanks to broadcast trainer Fiona Lloyd from whom I learned most of what I know about broadcasting, and whose words and phrases are undoubtedly echoed substantially in these broadcast sections GA]

Many newspapers have websites that simply reprint stories from the paper, with no changes whatsoever. That works so in one sense there is no point in worrying about writing for the web. If you have completed a worthwhile investigative project, you may immediately post it, as it is, on whatever website is available to you. However, it is possible to adapt stories to make them more web-friendly. Especially if your story is long, complex and linked to large amounts of other information, a little re-editing can maximise the value readers will take from it.

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Writing for the web

Again, take five minutes before you read on to think about the different ways in which you use a web article as opposed to a print story. Comments

You probably came up with some of the following points:

zz Its harder to identify the right web article, unlike a print story where headings, sub-headings and so on lead you to what youre

seeking.
zz Technology problems (such as power cuts) get in the way more often; you can read by candle-light. So getting to what you need

fast is important.
zz You tend not to read a web article from beginning to end, but skip through it looking for key points. zz You often rely on the navigation tools like indexes to skip through. zz You may leave a web article half-read, to chase links to other, more relevant-seeming material.

For this reason, getting an article web-ready is not so much about writing it in a different way, but rather about editing your print article so that it has the architecture (shape) and navigation tools a web reader will need. This may mean:

In this case the essence of the story is summed up at the beginning. Readers who are interested can then read the long tail (the full story which follows that nutshell introduction).

1 The good old Who, Where, What, When, Why and How summary.

Search engines such as Google are very literal-minded: they will only find stories containing the actual keywords a searcher has entered. Wordplay and teases often dont get picked up, and may irritate readers if they mislead. So while your newspaper may headline the Gindrin story Deadly harvest, the web version is more likely to be picked up if it is headlined Gindrin crop spray damages village health, crops. A New York Times journalist headlined his analysis of web headlining This boring headline is written for Google!

2 Giving it a new headline.

Because many web readers tend to be skimmers, a more straightforward writing for the ear approach to language is more user-friendly.

3 Revising language.

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4 Breaking the text into a series of self-contained sub-documents.

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Each of those sections you began your story plan with, could be given a sub-heading, and tidied up so that it can be read as a mini-story on its own. The bigger a story is, the longer it will take your reader to download, especially in African countries with narrow bandwidth. And while there is no limit to how long a web story can be, we know that readers read 25% more slowly on screen, so there may be a limit to human patience! So its important to inform readers about the content and value of the story, and, if you make them download the whole, unbroken document, make sure its worth it. If you do break a story up, make sure each section is genuinely self-contained: since a search engine will not necessarily have brought them in through the front door your introduction you may need to repeat some information or context in each section. Make sure date markers are clear, so readers know when your story happened.

For example, you could list links to stories on the FDA suspension of Gindrin, to the national code on crop-spraying, and to international stories on pesticides. But check out sites you link to, to make sure the links are worth following. And get the URL (web address) right: even a skipped comma can make a link valueless.

5 Identifying links to other texts.

6 Adding indexes and outlines where needed. 7 Simplifying layout and captions.

This is so that readers can skip to the part of the story that interests them.

The eyes of web readers bounce around, so simple and arresting words are better than long complex lines.

Big complex graphics, moving charts and interactive sections require fast connectivity and big bandwidth which many African searchers simply do not have. In fact, they may be desperately trying to read or download while the electric power holds out. And fancy visuals do not make up for bad writing. Re-checking everything! Mistakes are easier to spot and faster to correct on the web than in print, but while they are up they may be seen by many more people, and this can, for example, multiply the seriousness of a defamation.

8 Not being carried away by the multimedia possibilities.

Finally, the following points from the 2007 meeting of the American Copy Editors Society, from an address on Editing for the web by Theresa Schmedding: zz Choose the RIGHT multimedia element Still photos best for setting a mood; making readers stop and think Video best for action, changes, bringing readers face-to-face with a person or event Audio best to hear emotions, add context, in their own words, narrative backbone behind visual material Graphics best to explain complicated processes, numbers and stats, sequence, scale, development over time, relationship of different elements. Dont forget maps Words added value, more depth. zz Know your audience Myth: Online users log onto your web site for the same reasons they read the paper. Fact: Whether thats true depends on your market, but it is unlikely. Find out who is accessing your site and why.

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Case studies

Finnigan wa Simbeye is a Tanzanian journalist who has worked for a number of local newspapers. His story of how the Tanzanian government seems to have awarded lucrative and economically-important contracts to a mail-box company deals with some of the same issues, including credentials and truthfulness, as our fictional example in this chapter. Please give us a brief outline of the story and tell us how it got started? The Richmond Development Company (RDC) story started with a controversy over the governments attempt to grab a Dar es Salaam to Mwanza oil pipeline project from a local firm, Africommerce International Limited (AIL) and hand it over to RDC. It got started when I covered a story where the owner of the pipeline project, who had spent over $15 million, protested against the take-over and sought parliamentary intervention in 2005. I have since covered the story while working for two different private newspapers, The Citizen and THISDAY. I sympathised with the local company and wondered why the government wanted to snatch the project altogether, instead of accepting the two firms to work in partnership, as suggested by the local investors. What process did you follow, and what resources did you consult? I did look for documentary evidence from AIL, talked to its executives, engineers, the former Tanzanian Minister for Energy and Minerals, Daniel Yona, Houston, and the Texas-based RDC founders and owners. I searched websites and found the companys websites, with information claiming (as I later found out, incorrectly) Tanzania and East Africa as places where the companys major projects are. Was the story published, and what was the impact? Were there any follow-ups? The first story was published by my paper, but the same company, RDC, won a $172 million tender to supply power to Tanesco. At this point I established that the company was in fact a mail-box company in the US with two owners: a Pakistani power engineer and a Tanzanian businessman based in the US. The RDC, which enjoyed support from political heavyweights, tried to get $10 million from the Ministry of Finance as a down-payment, contrary to the contract. This was not successful, and by December 2007, the company had failed to deliver and sold the contract to Dowans Holdings of Kuwait. The story became a national issue at that point, since the country faced 12 hours of load-shedding due to poor hydro-electricity supply as a result of droughts. It was this outcry that pressured the government to make RDC sell its contract to Dowans. By that stage, all the other papers had picked up on the story, publishing follow-up stories on which political heavyweights were behind the RDC and Dowans, and why the company was given such a big project at a time when power outages were very serious. My latest story on Richmond has led to the formation of a parliamentary select team to investigate the Richmond Development Companys power purchase agreement with state-owned power supplier, Tanesco. What difficulties did you encounter, and how did you deal with them? The difficulties were the usual ones: bureaucracy, threats of libel actions and sometimes people accused me of having been corrupted by AIL, who were the rightful owners of the pipeline. What lessons did you learn, and what advice would you give to others tackling similar stories? Check websites carefully that was how I discovered the inflated claims RDC was making. Getting authentic documents is very serious because sometimes I did get in touch with forged documents from people trying to expose the paper to libel suits. Integrity is very important to win the confidence of both parties in a conflict. Never show bias at the initial stage and get the facts correct as to who is really the bad guy.

Writing the story

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Key points from this chapter

You need to develop a method of data mapping the information you have gathered before you begin writing. Collect all the facts, quotes and ideas together and note where contradictions or gaps exist. Understand the difference between evidence and proof. Particularly in an investigative story, ensure that your arguments are logical and dont over- or under-state the case because of careless, generalised writing. Structure the sections of your story as paragraphs: mini-stories that group together all the material on one aspect. Then order the paragraphs and link them together to show the path your argument is taking. Use quotes selectively and to add value to the story. Dont take quotes out of context or spin paraphrases. Write at least one draft before you attempt the final story. Use the draft to lay out what you have, identify strengths and weaknesses, and plan any additional research or reporting you still need to do. You may need several drafts to get it right. Clarity is the most important quality in writing an investigative story. If you lack confidence about writing, just lay out the evidence clearly and in order. If you want to structure your story in a more sophisticated way, the Wall Street Journal, High Fives or Pyramid formulas work well for investigative stories. If you use a narrative journalism approach, make sure your focus on an individual story or incident doesnt get in the way of explaining issues and broader arguments. Good introductions and conclusions are important. Spend time working on these. The introduction invites your reader into the story; the conclusion ties together the thoughts the story leaves them with. When writing a broadcast story, script to your pictures or audio quotes and write for the ear. Remember, your audience will be watching and listening, not reading; they cant back-track so you must make your structure and language accessible and easy to understand. A print story can be posted to the web exactly as it appeared. But you can edit it to make it more web-friendly. In particular, breaking a story into manageable sections, and providing good indexing and links, will massively increase its usefulness.

Checklist for the whole story

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

Is the language and writing style appropriate for my readers? Has every fact been checked and is each accurate? Is the information new, or at least analysed in a fresh way? Does the introduction grab attention? Were the sources reliable? Are all sides or interested parties represented/quoted? Are all quotes and paraphrases faithful to what was said and attributed? Do any numbers or calculations in the story add up/make sense? Is jargon explained and has technical information been made understandable? Have conflicts/issues been clearly explained? Is there sufficient detail to back up arguments and analysis? Are arguments reasoned and logical? Is there sufficient colour, detail, drama or human interest to keep it engaging? Does the story flow? Is the story told in the order events happened? Is there enough context to explain issues and significance? (Do I explain why? and so what?) Is there a strong, thought-provoking conclusion? Finally have I presented the story so readers can judge, or editorialised with my own opinions?

Writing the story

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Glossary
zz Abstract used as a noun to mean a short summary of a longer paper. Used in this section as an adjective, to describe zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

terms and writing that refer only to ideas and concepts, with nothing the reader can visualise, grasp or experience Chronological story a story about events or actions, told in the order in which the events happened Draft a sketch or outline of a story, growing more structured and detailed as it moves towards the final version Foreshadowing hinting at or mentioning events or elements in a story that will be fully described or explained later Generalisation drawing sometimes unwarranted conclusions about a broader issue from a small number of instances Logic putting ideas together in a way that leads sensibly to an intended conclusion Narrative journalism journalism that borrows some of the writing approaches of the fiction writer to make factual stories clearer, better contextualised and more interesting Pacing the speed at which a story unfolds: controlled by the reporter through careful choice of words, sentence length and organisation Paragraph a group of sentences devoted to one topic or aspect of a topic within a story. Structured like a mini-story with a lead sentence and then supporting or more detailed information Paraphrase to re-tell or summarise what an interviewee said in the reporters own words, without quotation marks Proof evidence so conclusive that no other reasonable explanation for events is possible Scene-setter way of beginning a story by describing its setting Writing for the ear (also writing to sound, writing to pictures) technique of scripting required for broadcast, where the story is structured around the sound-clips or video footage collected, and the script is written to reflect natural speech patterns quickly grasped by a listener or viewer

Further reading
For more on writing techniques (including broadcast and web editing) we recommend the Poynter Institute website
zz http://www.poynter.org

For more on narrative journalism, check out

zz http://www.narrativedigest.org

For ongoing information and debates on issues relating to writing, and for news of conferences and seminars on these kinds of topics, try the University of the Witwatersrand journalism department site zz www.journalism.co.za zz the online version of the Rhodes University Journalism Review: http://www.rjr.ru.ac.za For a comprehensive guide to web journalism, see
zz Journalism 2.0: How to survive and thrive a digital literacy guide by Mark Briggs. Chapter 5 deals with writing for the web.

(Available as a free PDF download from J-Lab at the University of Maryland.)

s c i h t e d n a w a l e Th of investigation
Learning objectives
By the time you have completed this chapter and its exercises, you should be able to:
zz Describe the rights of journalists under international human rights codes zz List the areas where investigative journalism most frequently comes into conflict with

national criminal or civil law

zz Describe the legal provisions related to these areas in your own national legal code zz Describe the precautions an investigative journalist should take as protection against

prosecution or civil suits and potential defence if such suits are launched
zz Describe the general principles guiding ethical investigative reporting zz Discuss those principles in relation to examples and case studies.

This chapter does not discuss the practical processes of conducting an investigative project except where they relate to law and ethics. If you wish to revise these, consult: zz Chapter 1 for definitions of investigative journalism zz Chapter 2 for guidance on generating story ideas zz Chapter 3 for pointers on planning an investigative project zz Chapter 4 for guidance on handling sources zz Chapter 5 for help with forensic interviewing techniques zz Chapter 6 for guidance on research tools and techniques zz Chapter 7 for help with constructing the final story. Youll notice that in this chapter, many of the exercises are not followed by closed answers. This is because there are few right/wrong answers to ethical questions: the aim of the questions is to engage you with the issues, and help you develop a framework for dealing with such issues in your own reporting practice.

The law and ethics of investigation

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The law and ethics of investigation

Maria Gonzales works for a weekly newspaper in a West African country. Her publication has recently run a story she wrote, describing how the president of the country has taken a second wife. Maria had reliable sources for her story, which drew a connection between the marriage and the awarding of a large urban development contract to the womans father, a building magnate. It also alleged that the woman previously married to her childhood sweetheart, an academic currently studying abroad had her divorce rushed through barely legally to facilitate this political and financial alliance. Maria had done a telephone interview with the ex-husband, who spoke of his shock and heartbreak at this callous treatment by a cruel woman he said he still loved; the presidents new wife refused to be interviewed.
Now the Office of the Presidency says her paper will be taken to court under the countrys insult laws, which forbid the media from publishing material damaging to the dignity of the President, his family or household.
zz Whose rights are involved in this situation? zz How could Maria and her paper defend themselves against the charges? zz Was it ethical to publish the story?

Well look at these questions again at the end of the chapter.

s well as national law codes, the media operates within an international legal framework, based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its various supplementary codes and conventions, as well as (for Africa), the Windhoek Declaration which highlighted ownership monopolies as a threat to press freedom the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights and later declarations adopted by the African Parliament. Countries that are signatories to these documents are expected to uphold them; even countries that are not signatories are often judged by their standards. One key aspect of this international framework is that while interpretations may differ slightly between documents, it upholds freedom of expression and information; something that, as long ago as the 18th century, was recognised (in the words of French revolutionary Mirabeau) as the freedom without which other freedoms cannot be gained. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines this freedom through the following clauses: zz Article 15: the right to form, hold, receive and impart opinions zz Article 16: free and equal access to information inside and outside state borders zz Article 17: freedom of speech and expression, equal access to all channels of communication, and no censorship (though restrictions under defamation laws are allowed; see below) zz Article 18: the duty to present news and information fairly and impartially zz Article 19: the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information through any media, regardless of any frontier... If they are met, these requirements are designed to set up a broadly free framework within which media organisations and other civil society bodies can operate. The circumstances in which governments can limit these rights are outlined in Article 29 of the Universal Declaration. The Political Covenant of the Declaration details the restrictions on these rights article by article, as follows: zz To ensure respect for the rights and reputations of others (anti-defamation) zz To protect national security, ordre public (the circumstances necessary to keep a state governable), public health or morals zz To prevent incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

The law and ethics of investigation What is your country signatory to?
Is your country a signatory to the relevant clauses of the UN Declaration of Human Rights? The Windhoek Declaration? The African Charter? Find out what media-relevant international commitments your government has made.

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Not all African states are signatories to the relevant conventions. The international freedom of expression organisation Article 19, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the South African Freedom of Expression Institute are among several Africa-based bodies that can provide information on your countrys status. And national constitutions even those with freedom of expression clauses or which have signed the conventions can limit media investigations very effectively by: zz The scope of their definition of official secrets zz Provisions for declaring states of emergency when normal information channels may be closed off zz The scope of anti-terrorism legislation zz The strictness of defamation, privacy or insult laws zz The existence (or lack) of explicit channels for obtaining information zz The level of efficiency/organisation of official records zz Legislation governing freedom to publish or broadcast zz Legislation governing registration or licensing of journalists. Many African countries have rules for the licensing of newspapers or broadcasters. These rules may require that the organisation or its financial backers fit certain categories, or that certain financial guarantees be in place. There may be a heavy stamp tax on the paper newspapers print on, for example. Or certain types of special-interest groups (for example, speakers of a certain language) may not be allowed to run radio stations. Some countries require individual journalists to be licensed, or to have specific formal qualifications such as a degree in media studies or journalism These rules may be well-founded, and designed to ensure that media operations are run professionally and along sound business principles. But they need careful examination to ensure that they are not designed or used to restrict media freedom or as smokescreens for censorship. Other restrictions may exist on distribution, on the right to erect radio masts or use broadcasting frequencies, or on where lucrative advertisers such as the civil service and parastatals are allowed to place advertisements. But equally effective as restraints on free media are lack of resources and literacy in poor communities where strong investigative stories may, for these reasons, never find a voice. Thats why it is important that investigative reporters think beyond snooping on the misdeeds of the rich and famous, and go to where these stories are. The next sections will examine some of the legislation that impacts on investigative reporting. But these chapters are designed to be used in many countries across Africa, and so give generic tips and hints only. Before you go on, it will be useful if you profile your countrys legislative media climate in relation to the issues listed above.

Which laws affect the media in your country?

Find out what media-related provisions exist in your countrys laws on the following issues. Note them here. Official secrets:

The law and ethics of investigation Which laws affect the media in your country? (cont.)
Find out what media-related provisions exist in your countrys laws on the following issues. Note them here. Provisions for declaring states of emergency:

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Anti-terrorism legislation:

Defamation, privacy or insult laws:

Explicit channels for obtaining information (e.g. Freedom of Information laws):

Legislation governing freedom to publish or broadcast:

Legislation governing registration or licensing of journalists:

The law and ethics of investigation A barometer for democracy?

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DRC journalist Sage-Fidle Gayala provides examples of the legal provisions in his country, and suggests that the legislation around press freedom is one of the best ways of evaluating a nations democracy. The biggest key allowing a journalist to recognise the state of his country is the extent to which the activities of journalists are criminalised. A barometer of democracy is the pace at which these activities are decriminalised. Take the example of the Democratic Republic of Congo where laws, including the Law on the Press in 1996 and the Criminal Code, criminalises a whole range of press offences and authorises the initiation of court proceedings against journalists who act counter to vague and outdated concepts introduced by ex-President Mobutu. The law of 22 June 1996 based on the Penal Code (particularly articles 74, 75 and 77) define and punish damaging imputations, i.e. defamation and insults. For example, Article 74 (which ostensibly sets out provisions for the exercise of press freedom) defines as abuse of press freedom any offence committed through newspapers or audiovisual media. The legislature argued that this law was neccessary to protect reputations, despite the fact that it runs counter to legislation granting the public the right to know what is happening, particularly with regard to those who run the state and have public responsibilities. The Code is clear: defamation consists in attributing to someone specific facts likely to prejudice the honour or expose the character of that person whether or not the facts are true, and whether the person is living or dead. Additional restrictive legislation exists in:
zz Article 136 paragraph 2 and 137 of the Criminal Code which can condemn journalists for insulting members of Parliament,

the Government and the Courts to a sentence ranging from three to nine months in prison and/or a fine.
zz Article 193 of the Penal Code as well as regular Legislative Ordinance Number 300, December 16, 1963 provide that

anyone insulting the head of state can be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from three months to two years and/or a fine. zz This is reinforced by Legislative Ordinance Number 301, December 16, 1963 which provides penalties for insults to foreign heads of state, ministers and diplomats. zz Article 184 of the penal code ordinary also makes it illegal to publish and distribute written matter without a true indication of the name and address of the author or the printer (Article 150); also illegal are publications that reveal defence secrets (punishable by death). There are similar restrictions in many African countries. In Algeria, for example, Article 14b) of the Penal Code provides sentences of two to twelve months imprisonment and/or fines (often exorbitant) for any publication calling into question the character of the President of the Republic in any offensive, insulting or defamatory manner. And according to various annual reports from Reporters Sans Frontires, especially that of 1997, in countries where power is characterised by political inertia and authoritarianism, such as the Cameroon of Paul Biya, the Gabon of Omar Bongo, the Guinea of Lansana Conte, the Equatorial Guinea of Obiang Nguema, the Rwanda of Paul Kagame, the Togo of Gnassingbe Eyadema (now replaced by his son) and the Zimbabwe of Robert Mugabe the independent press is a victim of oppression.

Many attacks on media freedom are refuted with the argument that the medias action was in the public interest. Most courts recognise the concept but what does it mean? Most certainly, it does not mean everything the public finds interesting, because that would include serious information as well as gossip, scandal and wild speculation!

What constitutes public interest?

South African journalist Franz Krger, in his text on media ethics, cites the Press Code of Professional Practice, which states: The public interest is the only test that justifies departure from the highest standards of journalism, and includes: zz detecting or exposing crime or serious misdemeanour; zz detecting or exposing serious anti-social conduct; zz protecting public health or safety; zz preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual; zz detecting or exposing hypocrisy, falsehoods or double standards of behaviour on the part of public figures or institutions or in public institutions.

The law and ethics of investigation

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However, Krger points out that these guidelines still provide considerable scope for argument: How serious is serious? Who is a public figure? What is hypocrisy? In most courts, the definitions would be those a judge believes would be made by a reasonable person in other words, the definitions would reflect the prevailing climate, permissive or conservative, of the society where the court sits. So, in a country where the judiciary believes that leaders should never be criticised, the reasonable person yardstick is likely to work against fearless critical investigation. It is also worth bearing in mind that the public interest always has to be weighed against other interests for example, the right of an individual to privacy, the national interest, or the right of communities to respect for their cultural practices. It is never easy to make these determinations, whether in court over legal matters, or in your own conscience when making ethical decisions.

Defamation is the crime of publishing material that could lower the reputation of a person in the eyes of others. In some African states, such as South Africa, there is a single, unified defamation law. In other states there are two separate laws: one covering slander (spoken defamation, including radio broadcasts) and the other libel (printed defamation). And in some countries there are a further set of insult laws that govern specifically what can be said or written about presidents, prime ministers and other leading establishment figures. In some countries only natural persons (individuals) can be defamed; in others defamation can also apply to juristic persons (legally-established bodies such as political parties, organisations or companies). In some countries, defamation is a civil offence (an offence committed by one individual against another); in others it is defined as a criminal offence (committed by an individual against the laws of the state). Although damages awarded for defamation can be punitive in both cases they have been known to close down newspapers defining defamation as a criminal offence also means that the offending journalist risks criminal punishments, which can include imprisonment or even flogging in some African states.

Lowering reputation
zz zz zz zz

The CIJ handbook expands on the concept of lowering reputation as follows: Tending to lower that person in the eyes of right-thinking members of society Exposing someone to hatred, ridicule or contempt Causing someone to be shunned or avoided Discrediting them in their business, trade or profession.

Remember that many statements are capable of more than one meaning, and how readers or listeners respond may change over time, or in different societies. The simplest way of putting it is to ask yourself: do the words make the person written about look bad? If so, it is defamation. But beware of self-censorship: if the story is true and important, but potentially defamatory, you need to take a reasoned decision about publishing based on all these aspects, not only the risk of a law suit. Sometimes the choice of just one word can spin a statement in a defamatory direction. If you write that someone has been sacked from his or her job, you may know that it is a fact. But being sacked has a negative meaning. It can imply they have done something wrong to cause the employer to sack them. If you simply write they have left the job there is no problem, because there is nothing to be inferred or implied you are not giving any explanation or reason for their leaving: they have just left as people do every day. Many libel actions result from the journalist implying habitual conduct from a single incident. To describe someone as a thief or a pervert on the evidence of one incident may be strictly true, but might also imply the person makes a habit of this sort of behaviour, which may be difficult to prove, or easy for the person to disprove. Context can also defame. The whole page taken together, or the entire broadcast, may count in a libel action. So everyone needs to know about libel law including the person who writes the headline, lays out the page or writes the continuity links. When the late Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda was life-president of Malawi, he fired a newspaper editor for the defamatory implications of placing a headline story on one of his speeches too close to a large photograph of a witch-doctor. The key legal elements of any form of defamation are:

(In other words, someone other than you has read or heard it). The law exists to deal with what others may think of the defamed person, not what you the journalist may think. Insult laws tend to be the harshest here: they are sometimes even applied to private conversations overheard by state security agents in bars and offices. Publishing on the Internet does count as publishing. Some recent legal decisions suggest that it may be even more risky,

1 That it has been published

The law and ethics of investigation

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since the story has been published to a far wider audience, and this may be taken into account in deciding damages. Famously, UK Guardian journalist Andrew Meldrum was deported from Zimbabwe in 2002 for an article about the country published on the newspapers website and downloaded by the Zimbabwe security service, the Central Intelligence Organisation, in Harare. A 2002 Australian High Court decision awarded a defamed Australian businessman the right to sue in any jurisdiction where the article defaming him was available, raising the spectre of global liability. Re-publication is still publication. Simply because you picked up a story from a UK website does not make it legally safe for you to publish it in your paper somewhere in Africa. You can be sued, and every repetition of the defamatory matter counts as a fresh cause for action.

That right-thinking members of society would think less of the person after reading or hearing it. This depends on the moral climate of your country. In some places, saying a man has many sexual partners would be seen as defamatory; in other places with different ideas on masculinity and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases, it might be seen as praise!

2 That it is defamatory matter

The subject of your story. If your Presidents name is Madimba, and you wrote a satire column on the alleged misdeeds of a Mr Masimba, that change of one letter might not protect you, particularly if other circumstances in the column pointed directly to the President. On the other hand, by suing he is taking on himself the possible truth of the allegations in the column.

3 That the person or body suing you is the injured party

If the statement seems obviously damaging, this is usually assumed; however some courts would also look into how carefully your story was researched, and the public interest dimensions of publishing it.

4 That you intended to defame

That you had no good or legal reason for doing it. This is where the ability to mount a public interest defence becomes important, as it gives you such a reason. People who do not know the law assume that if your story is true, this is your easy defence against defamation charges. This is not so. Of course, your story has to be true. But you also have to be able to prove it is true in ways that will satisfy the courts and laws in your country. (Some African legal systems, for example, still do not accept recordings as evidence and will only place a reporters notebook on the record.) That is why you cannot simply follow international tips and hints on defamation and hope they will protect you. You must know the law in your own country, and have a source who can give you detailed, relevant legal advice. However, if you can meet the criteria of your countrys courts, your first defence against a defamation charge is usually: Justification: that the story was true and in the public interest This can be a powerful defence and also a deterrent to individuals who might sue you. If they sue you, you will present in open court evidence that they really did commit the alleged wrongdoing. More people than read the original story may read the reports of the court case. That is why many private individuals threaten to sue but often do not do so in the end. They hope the threat will deter publication but they actually dont want their conduct discussed in a court case. In dictatorial states that can manipulate the court process, however, powerful people are more likely to carry through their threats. Other possible defences are: That the defamation was unintentional (An honest error such as a proofreader leaving the word not out of the sentence He was not a thief.) If the person really was defamed by your or your papers carelessness, saying It was a mistake will probably not do you much good in court. Your paper needs to correct such errors with a full, apologetic matter of fact paragraph, displayed prominently, as soon as you notice the mistake. If you wait until you are sued, you are suggesting a lack of good faith on your part. That the statement was privileged (Protected by law). Most countries protect certain types of statements from prosecution, though this may be limited to statements uttered in court or parliament. That the statement was fair comment (A statement of analysis or opinion reasonably based on verifiable facts and in the public interest). The bigger the amount of spin you have put on the facts you have, the more risky this defence becomes. If you accurately report what some public figure has done, and then comment Such behaviour is disgraceful this is merely an expression of your opinion. However, if you describe the person as guilty of disgraceful conduct, but do not describe the conduct, you do not have the same defence. Your defence has to be: the facts are true and the comment upon those facts is fair. It also has to be a consistent, sincere, honestly-held opinion, not merely

5 That what you did was unlawful

The law and ethics of investigation

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rhetoric made up for the occasion. Take care if your paper regularly attacks the opposition for corruption, but defends the right of the ruling party to brush off such charges; a lawyer could argue in court that your attacks did not, therefore, represent an honest opinion. That the statement was not defamatory This is usually limited to something no-one could possibly believe was true, such as a ridiculous cartoon image; something most people would not consider damaging; or statements about someone with no reputation left to destroy, such as an alreadyconvicted mass-murderer. But you can see that all these may be very subjective judgements, based on interpretations of what was published and how the audience was likely to receive it; its quite a risky defence. Its risky even if you can prove the person named has suffered no actual damage; remember, defamation is about publishing something likely to damage the reputation, so no damage has to be proved.

There are some basic safeguards which, while they may not stop anyone from suing you for defamation, will make it easier for you to build a stronger defence in court. zz Be sure of your witnesses. You will need to keep track of where they are, possibly for several years. You should find out what the statute of limitations is in defamation or insult cases in your country: the length of time after publication beyond which a defamation case cannot be brought. You need to keep notebooks, tapes, documents and current witness contact details for this whole period. zz Prepare for a challenge to your story by getting the witness to sign a statement, or at least to sign your notebook or an agreement to record an interview. This indicates their willingness to attend court if the story is challenged. By far the best is an affidavit, made before a lawyer. If the witness then refuses to appear, the court can summon them (sometimes, however, such documents can put your sources at severe risk; guard them carefully). zz There is safety in numbers the more witnesses the better; the more central they are to the story the better; be sure of their identity and their truthfulness. Dont be afraid to test them you are protecting the integrity of the story and your own reputation. zz Keep documentary evidence, originals rather than copies, to substantiate your story. Keep all your notebooks or recordings, clearly dated. Keep them in a safe place (which may not always be your office). Back up material on your computer and keep a copy of the disk elsewhere. zz Even without the threat of a lawsuit, you must be a slave to truth and accuracy. Even a slight inaccuracy can distract from a good story and destroy the storys aim. And it will be used to undermine your credibility and that of your news organisation. zz Your facts must be true and the burden of proving that is on you, the journalist. Or you have to prove you believed they were true and if you didnt check, what grounds did you have for your belief? Courts may want to know what checks and safeguards your reporting process included, how many sources you used, who they were, and whether the defamed person was given the opportunity to respond. zz Dont convict someone of current wrongdoing on the basis of past behaviour. The courts are not supposed to do this and neither are you because someone was once a bankrupt, or convicted of fraud, doesnt make them always a bankrupt or a fraudster. If you are using reports of past misdeeds in your story, you must show how and why they are still relevant. zz Beware of innuendo (implications or hints). If the target is powerful and has deep pockets, make sure that a colleague, your editor, or the company lawyer has sufficient time to read your piece and make careful suggestions. In some countries, cartoons or gossip columns are protected from defamation suits because the courts have previously ruled that the context of a piece is relevant and accepted that gossip and cartoons do not claim to portray literal truth. But this is not the case everywhere. zz Beware of rumours. Unless you have proof, repeating the rumour is publishing a defamation. Adding allegedly wont necessarily reduce the sting. Nor will refuting the rumour in your story, if you start by telling it in full. You have still published it. zz Let the facts speak for themselves: show, dont tell. Adding a conclusion you cant prove may well make a story defamatory where laying out the facts does not. zz Present the facts without colour or spin: beware especially of adjectives and adverbs. Saying a rich man refused to give to a charity may be a simple description; saying he did so callously defames him. zz Present facts in a balanced way; let all sides speak. This is good journalistic practice (and so may help you defend your actions) although not guaranteed protection against being sued. zz Putting the defamation in a direct quote is no protection. The named source may have said it, but your news organisation published it and defamation, remember, is a crime of publication.

The law and ethics of investigation Avoid lawsuits or keep witnesses safe?

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There are contradictions here. Weve laid great stress on keeping records, tracking witnesses, and so on but any records that exist can be accessed by people who might threaten, harm or kill your sources. So, on certain stories, you have to make a choice: is it more important to avoid a lawsuit, or to keep witnesses safe? When the Rand Daily Mail ran its Prisongate story exposing conditions in apartheids prisons, one reporter kept his notes (in a safe). The South African Security Branch found them, and on the basis of those notes, charged and jailed the papers main source, Harold Jack Strachan. Raymond Louw, who was a reporter on the Rand Daily Mail at the time, says: All the stories were published with his [Strachans] name Maybe more care should have been taken with those notes, but remember, at that stage they were the only evidence we had of the accuracy of what we were writing. Investigative journalist Michael Gillard says: By and large I put no note of any significance into a computer. I keep loose notes so, if necessary, they can go. If Im asked I dont know what happened to them. If you keep very detailed notes you have to be aware that the forces of evil can also find those notes very useful, so you have to have a plan to deal with those. As to sources who are sensitive, you do not write their names down, you do not keep diaries [You have a duty to protect] the people you rely on. Particularly risky is taking such notes and address books across borders, where you and your possessions are very vulnerable to being searched. How would you make the choice between protecting yourself and your publication from lawsuits, and protecting sources who might be in danger? Well come back to this topic in the ethics section of this chapter, but take a few minutes here to think about where your own priorities would lie.

Where you have used covert techniques, door-stepped a target repeatedly, or revealed details of their personal lives, you may fall foul of your countrys privacy laws. Privacy laws usually have two aspects: they protect a persons right to keep personal information (such as medical status, sexual orientation or childrens schooling) out of the public domain and they protect the right not to have their home or personal space and passions invaded (intrusion). Sometimes a third aspect is covered: using someones image or speech without their consent (misappropriation). An example of this last might be taking a photograph of someone reading your newspaper and using it as a promotional picture without getting a release signed for that use. We often argue that public figures give up their right to privacy; we assume that because they get certain benefits from being powerful or in the limelight, they have willingly or not traded these for their privacy. Some people suggest that because we pay the wages (through rates and taxes) of public servants, we have a right to know everything about how they live. But those who write about media ethics advise caution here. Where someones private life relates to their public life, that tradeoff can be argued, particularly if the information revealed is in the public interest. Where, for example, a health minister receives medical treatment that because of the ministrys policies is not available to ordinary patients, his or her right to privacy is weak. Where a community leader calls for hard work and discipline, but lives off his elderly mothers earnings, most of which he drinks away, then his hypocrisy has eroded his right to privacy. Where private life is irrelevant to public life (a businessman has a mistress, for example like countless other people in his community) the same argument does not hold. We may believe that public figures ought to behave better than everyone else, because of their status as role models. Thus, they should be exposed if they stray. That is our personal belief, and the courts are not necessarily going to back it. Only where the personal and the public coincide and conflict, can exposure be held to be justified. And we, as employees, would feel our labour rights had been seriously infringed if, merely because she pays our wages, our boss wanted to pry into every aspect of our and our families lives!

A privacy test
zz zz zz zz zz

Media ethicist Franz Krger suggests the following privacy test when your story infringes on someones private life: What exactly is the public interest in this story? How important is it? How will the people involved be affected by the invasion of their privacy? How much protection do they deserve? Are there alternative approaches that might reduce any risk or harm to them?

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Many countries have conspiracy laws, which deal with people getting together in a group to plan and commit a crime. The usual force of conspiracy laws is to make the eventual sentence heavier than it would be for one individual acting alone. Since news organisations are by definition groups of people getting together to plan activities, they are very vulnerable to conspiracy charges, particularly in states with harsh media climates. Protecting a news organisation from such charges as well as keeping investigative projects confidential often informs the decision to create an investigative unit. This unit involves only essential role players, and its activities are off-diary. The story is developed in direct consultation with an editor and not shared with the rest of the organisation until it is ready to be published. This does not offer complete protection, but it does limit the number of conspirators and protects the organisation as a whole.

All countries have some necessary official secrets and national security laws to protect them. Few people would want an aggressive rival state to know exactly where or how borders could be breached, or violent criminals to have access to the plans of the prison security system. In many countries, not only military but also industrial, economic and political information is limited on the basis of this reasoning, on grounds of national security. Civil servants, from army generals to postal delivery workers, must sign an official secrets act forbidding them from talking about any aspect of their work including their section heads drinking habits to outsiders. Where official secrets laws are so comprehensive, journalists are often obliged to prove the impossible: that their investigative stories are not a threat to national security. All-encompassing secrecy laws are justified by arguments that blur together many complex ideas. The national interest and the public interest do not always mean the same thing. Some patriots might say: My country, right or wrong. Others equally patriotic might say I support my country when it does right, and work to improve it by criticising when it does wrong.

Freedom of information
Mathata Tsedu, editor of City Press, a South African newspaper that has published stories critical of government ministers and policies, says: [The South African Constitution] encapsulates the collective agreement weve reached as a nation about how our interests are defined as long as Im not doing anything that is contrary to what the Constitution says, then Im acting in the national interest. The SA Constitution currently contains guarantees for freedom of information and expression in its Bill of Rights. An editor in a country where the Constitution did not contain these guarantees might take a different position.

The term national interest is often used to mean the interest of the state and then further distorted into the interest of the ruling party or the interest of this current president. But supposing the president of a particular country was siphoning off donor money meant to help the poor? Revealing this would certainly be in the public interest. But it could be argued that because it attacked the president and might lead to political instability, or to donors losing faith in giving aid, publishing it was not in the national interest. Authorities often glide invisibly from arguing that harm might ensue if hostile forces found out certain information (which is valid) to arguing that the public might not fully understand the information and react in damaging ways (which is arguable). So, official secrets need to be considered in the light of all these debates. There are often clear and valid reasons for not revealing certain official information. When police ask the media not to reveal details of a murderers methods, in order to trap the real killer and avoid time-wasting false confessions, very few journalists would argue. But there are other times when the reasons are more suspect. Radiation leaks at a nuclear power plant vitally concern people living in the area. A government deal to grow genetically-modified crops may impact on the crops of other farmers nearby. In such cases, appeals to the secrets laws or the national interest are merely a way of stopping reporters from discovering important information of public interest.

The law and ethics of investigation What would you do?

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Your country is at war. A soldier comes to you with information that his commanding officer is submitting false figures for losses of equipment, selling the extra weapons and ammunition he receives to anyone who can pay, and pocketing the proceeds. You investigate, and discover that the information is correct, and that there is in fact a flourishing illegal arms trade in the North-East where three or four regiments seem to be involved in the same kind of arms dealing. Your editor is worried Civilian morale is important in wartime, she says. Im not sure we should publish this How would you respond? Take five minutes to think about this.

The other side of the coin of official secrets is the existence of freedom of information or access to information laws. If you read reports of American investigative reporting projects, you will discover that the US Freedom of Information (FOI) laws are key tools for journalists there. South Africa was the first country in Southern Africa to introduce these types of laws in 2000 (Promotion of Access to Information Act) and 2001 (Protected Disclosures Act). These put the obligation on public institutions to make certain information available and provided (fairly weak) protection for whistle-blowers: insiders who tell the press about wrongdoing in their organisations. However, the laws had certain features that made them quite difficult to use: zz They excluded certain types of information (official secrets, private or commercially confidential information) zz The process was complex, and government departments could delay their response to requests for information by up to 30 days, and in some circumstances by much more zz Bodies were allowed to charge for information. A 2003 survey by the Open Society Institute of five developing countries worldwide that had FOI laws put South Africas performance bottom. As well as the problems with the legislation listed above, the Open Society Institute found a major obstacle was the attitude of civil servants, who lacked the training to handle requests, and who also said they resisted requests because they felt that people had ulterior motives for seeking information that would be used against the government. This shows that statutes on the books are not enough. Genuine freedom of information emerges from a changed mindset and a deeper understanding of democracy. In addition, as we have noted before, much vital information is already in the public record; it simply needs longer, more skilful work by the journalist to put the various components together better.

Access to information
In 2004 military equipment contractor Richard Young won a long drawn-out legal challenge to gain access to all drafts of the South African Auditor-Generals report into the countrys multi-million rand arms deal. Young had been one of the tenderers not awarded a contract. Sifting through all the many complex drafts revealed inconsistencies and omissions in the final report which the media then began investigating as stories. But the case took Young more than a year to pursue: far more time than most working journalists usually have for a single story.

US jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that no-one should have the right to cry Fire! in a crowded theatre. In other words, publishing certain kinds of false alarmist statements can cause damage through peoples reaction to them: people get killed if there is a stampede in a crowded theatre. That is why many countries have on their statute books laws against publishing false reports. The reasoning is valid. But unfortunately many regimes use these often broad and vague laws to punish journalists whose stories are in fact true, but simply inconvenient to the party in power. We make it easier for dictatorial regimes to do this every time we fail to check a fact before publishing. Sloppy reporting makes it more likely that the public will believe allegations that the press tells lies. Cross-check everything before you go to press; keep evidence and keep it safe, and where you have made mistakes, be the first to admit and correct them.

The law and ethics of investigation Justifying false news is difficult

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Despite the fact that it goes against all the tenets of professionalism to issue false news, international jurists still argue that specific laws targeting journalists for the offence are very hard to justify. In arguments submitted to the Zimbabwe courts in 1999 in defence of journalists Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto, Article 19, the international centre against censorship, concluded: The continued use of false news provisions as we approach the turn of the millennium is an anachronism and an unjustifiable restraint on freedom of expression and free political debate. A close analysis shows that false news provisions breach almost every element of the test for restrictions on freedom of expression. At least in the form found in Section 50 of the Zimbabwean Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, they are unacceptably vague, they serve no legitimate aim, they bear no rational connection to any aim one might posit for them, they are massively over-broad and they disproportionately limit the right to freedom of expression.

Many African countries have sedition or incitement laws ironically, often dating from the colonial era that ban speech or acts encouraging rebellion against the authorities. In addition, since 9/11, and the extremist bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, many countries have adopted additional anti-terrorism legislation, some of it very similar to the American Homeland Security Act. These laws can have a number of different impacts on the media climate. zz They provide for the re-definition of certain offences as much more severe if they can be proved to be terrorism-related. zz They can be used to further restrict media coverage of security and defence, and to increase police powers to obstruct the media in their work and conduct raids and searches. zz They can be used to increase surveillance such as phone-tapping and tracking of internet use, and censorship of web content. zz They can be used to compel journalists to turn over any information or names of sources defined as terrorism-related. zz They can be used to move terrorism-related proceedings from open courts and publicly-monitored processes to secret tribunals and investigating bodies. Civil and media rights bodies point out that since terrorist acts are certainly criminal countries have the option of using existing criminal law to deal with it, merely strengthening or adjusting this where needed. Where a choice is made to create special laws and processes outside the constitutional framework, it opens the door to other types of secret, extra-constitutional actions and the weakening of the rule of law in future. Journalists, and particularly those engaged in investigation, need to keep a watchful eye on these developments.

Ethics
Ethics and law are not completely separate, but they are different. A countrys laws come partly out of an ethical perspective: what law-makers believed to be right and wrong at the time the various laws were passed. Ethics are about a contemporary sense of right and wrong behaviour. Circumstances change, and so rights and wrongs may not be everlasting or universal. Law and ethics can come into conflict. The law may say that children should be flogged for stealing bread; your personal ethics may say that it is barbaric to whip starving children, and you might help such children to escape punishment, and use them as sources in investigative stories on the need for law reform. Ethics come into play in many of the decisions you make in the newsroom: zz How you collect information zz How you relate to your community while you do your work zz The words you choose when you write or script your stories zz How you relate to newsroom colleagues zz What news values your media organisation embraces and therefore the stories it runs and how it presents them. The most basic ethical principle for journalists is non-negotiable, and it is very simple: accuracy. If your stories are not founded on truths, you are not a journalist. (You may be great as some other kind of writer, such as a novelist but you are not a journalist.)

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And truth-telling is not about any great spiritual or theological vision. It is simply based on collecting and verifying information as broadly, deeply and meticulously as you can, and presenting it in a way that preserves those truths.

Are there African ethics?

What about when truths are unpalatable, disturbing or disrespectful? Some African commentators have suggested that the pursuit of truth no matter who is hurt, is un-African. African traditional ethics, they suggest, would change the way certain stories and topics are covered. In South Africa, these arguments were raised when a newspaper ran a story on a cabinet minister revealing that she had convictions for theft, and a drinking problem. We do not talk about our mothers like this, one politician said. zz Do you agree? zz Are there African ethics and if so, what are they? zz Would the adoption of an African ethical code change the practices of the press? zz Would this be a good thing? Who might benefit? Who might suffer?

Threats of imprisonment
You do an interview with the military commander of a big, popular regional separatist movement banned by your government. Its supported by huge numbers of peasants, many of whom are not fighters, but who do want independence for their region. You promise both the rebel general, and the community leader who set the interview up that youll protect the circumstances of the interview and their names. The man says that his army will kill if necessary to achieve his aims. You personally find his views objectionable, but you feel that the public needs to hear them, and others, to understand the civil war. Then you are called in by the security police. They dont care about the rebel commander; they know who he is. But they demand that you name the people who helped arrange the interview, the village where it took place, and many other details. You know its against the law to conceal these facts about a terrorist, they say. And anyway, the man is a killer. We know you do not approve of his views. So come on, talk to us before we have to send you to jail What should you do?

The normal principle here is well understood. If you promise sources confidentiality, you should be prepared to go to prison rather than break that promise. If you cant make the promise because you believe the person is dangerous or evil dont make it in the first place, even if it means you lose the story. If you have made it dont break it. However, civil war is not a normal situation, so you do need to weigh up the public interest which may lie in ending the war against the rights of your sources. There is no simple right answer. The best tool for resolving this dilemma is to think about consequences. What will happen next? Who will be hurt? Who will benefit? Will the war be ended by violent state retaliation? Which action of yours will produce the least possible harm? Your interrogation was not about the rebel leader. It was about those around his cause (not all of whom may support all of his methods; not all of whom may even be combatants), and your common sense must tell you that those people could be imprisoned, tortured or killed if you expose them. Are they more, less or equally important with other people, including soldiers, involved in the war? There are some other principles too:

Hopefully, you told the rebel leader: I dont approve of your methods and I am not going to sugar-coat them when I write the story. But I will write accurately what you tell me. Would you have told him you were writing a praise-song if that was the only way to get the interview? Only when there is overriding public interest is deception permissible and you might feel that was the case in this situation.

1 Deal honestly with sources

We have discussed covert interviewing before, in Chapters 5 and 6. Most ethical codes for journalists say that reporters should make their identities and intentions clear in interactions with sources. Why do they put such a heavy emphasis on this? Partly

2 Undercover techniques

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because truth-telling is what journalism is about, and truthfulness is a standard we apply to those we write about. We open our profession to the charge of double standards whenever we deceive, and it may work against us in terms of public reaction, trust from potential sources, or court decisions. We are also not dealing fairly with our sources, using the power of our access to covert technology gives us, to trick them out of information. Deception takes many forms, from simply keeping quiet and not revealing you are a journalist, through pretending to be someone else in order to get answers or experience what an ordinary citizen would for example, stowing away on a boat to Europe with trafficked immigrant workers to using hidden microphones and cameras or actually entrapping someone, such as filming while you give a police officer a bribe. This last, entrapment, is illegal in most circumstances. Courts usually reject evidence obtained in this way. Judges argue that even if the person took the bribe on this occasion, it was a set-up situation and the person might not normally behave like that. Audiences likewise could accuse journalists of making, rather than reporting, the news. Most books on journalism ethics say that the public interest standard has to be even higher than usual to justify deception. Bob Steele of the US Poynter Institute says it must be exceptionally important information of vital public interest.

Using covert techniques

zz zz zz zz zz

Steele suggests some other tests to apply before covert methods are used: Have all other methods been exhausted? Are you willing to disclose the methods you used and your motives? Does your news organisation set the highest standards in all aspects of its work? Will the reporting prevent a harm greater than that caused by the deception? Has there been careful, wide-ranging decision-making about the deception?

And he says these are NOT adequate justifications:

zz Winning a prize; beating the competition; getting the story more easily and cheaply; because everybodys doing it;

because the sources themselves are unethical.

There are dangers of misrepresentation with covert techniques. Your secretly-taken film may show someone looking nervous, and you may interpret this in your commentary as because he is guilty of something. But his nervousness may be because he has a dentists appointment later that day. And it is much easier to film people secretly on the front line of an abuse than the decision-makers who created the faulty system: the medicines warehouse employee doing petty stealing rather than the employer who pays him starvation wages. This can cause your story to focus on small individual wrongdoers rather than seriously flawed processes. DRC journalist Sage-Fidle Gayala poses another question related to using your position and privileged access. Supposing you had been admitted to someones office for an interview and, while waiting, saw a document you needed for your investigation lying on a desk. Would it be ethically acceptable to read the document, photograph or copy it, or take it away with you?

Theirs are not the only rights in any situation, but they often take risks to help the press, and deserve consideration for this. The community leader in our first example may have risked her life to bring you and the rebel general together, so that the public could be better informed about the war. Will any journalist be trusted to keep the information flowing in future if you betray her? Being considerate also involves not naming as criminals in your stories people who have not yet been fairly tried and convicted. These people are only alleged to have committed the crime, even after they have been charged, right up to the point where they are found guilty. And if someone has not been charged, but is merely the subject of rumours, it is very unfair to report those rumours without investigation. All these considerations also apply to the way you use photographs.

3 Deal considerately with sources

You do not have to approve of them, their views or their methods. You do not have to make them friends, and you certainly should not let your relationship with them affect what you write. If you have good relationships with police informants who bring you hot crime stories, this cannot stop you writing a story about police brutality, even if it puts that relationship at risk.

4 Keep a professional distance from sources

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Accepting favours?
You are reporting on a long-running investigation about corruption in the ruling party. One of your main sources is a wealthy businessman who supports the opposition party. You know this, but the facts and documents he brings you are good. He owns a restaurant, and as your investigation progresses, you find yourself eating there more and more often. Once or twice, he has said: The meals on me, and you have accepted. You dont want to offend him. But you have also occasionally bought him drinks or snacks when meeting at other places. One day, he says: I know youre our good friend. From now on, you always eat at my place free. Bring your family too Should you accept?

There is a difference between the occasional free meal and a meal-ticket. You already know this source is serving a political agenda by bringing you information, you are taking this into account, and youve tried to balance the favours he does you with small courtesies on your part. Now hes proposing a relationship of patronage with you and for most commentators on media ethics that goes over the edge. There are three problems with accepting favours from news sources.

1 2 3

The first is the power-balance. Once you are in any way in someones debt, they are in a position to pressure you and weaken your independence. The second is conflict of interest. If you are beholden to someone, you have something to lose (even if its only friendship or good gossip) if you ever exercise your journalistic skills against them.

The third is reputation. Even if you think you would never bow to pressure or be swayed by gifts, once it is known you took the gifts, the public might believe you were influenced. And your source will undoubtedly develop all kinds of expectations about what his friend the journalist will do for him and may talk about these. But it is not only news sources who may put us in this position. The owners or financiers of media organisations can put tremendous pressure on journalists to write or ignore certain stories. So can advertisers. So can donors who finance reporting projects. For example, Aids reporting projects funded under the US governments PEPFAR provisions were at one point obliged to emphasise abstinence in their stories. If the audience did not know this, they might believe that the predominance of abstinence reporting was because this was the only effective aspect of Aids campaigns which it was not. Before you enter into any professional relationships around reporting projects, find out where the money is coming from, and if possible get the rights and obligations of each party spelled out in a contract. There are some situations where the patronage is far less subtle than the offer of a meal ticket. Brown envelope journalism (accepting money from someone with an interest in a story to write it a certain way or drop it) is simply wrong.

Things are never that simple...

Right and wrong may appear straightforward on paper, but they are always more complex in real life. South-East Asian journalist Putsata Reang (who studied overseas and works with the international news and training body Internews) reports the following discussion with fellow journalists in her home country of Cambodia: In America, I never felt truly American. Now, in Cambodia, I was told I wasnt truly Cambodian. I soon started to appreciate the distinction The assistant journalism adviser and I habitually urged good ethics. Cambodian journalists routinely practice reporting by envelope. Where getting paid to attend press conferences by the people who hold them was not the exception but the rule. One afternoon, a few reporters from our group strolled into our office and joked loudly about a press conference they covered that morning where journalists jostled afterwards as government officials distributed envelopes stuffed with R10000 (roughly $5). Did you take one? I asked [one journalist].

The law and ethics of investigation Things are never that simple...
He paused, then said: Of course I did. What can I do? My children are hungry. How can we write about corruption if we are corrupt? I asked the other reporters during one training session on objectivity, balance and fairness. Averted eyes. Silence. Then one weighed in. How much do you make on your NGO salary? [one] asked. My answer mimicked theirs. Averted eyes. Silence. We shared shame, but for different reasons.

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That night, I cried. In a country where some journalists make in one month what I might spend on a good Cabernet, and where my international job paid international wages and extras like housing and health insurance, my condemnation of their bribe-taking felt disingenuous. In Cambodia, depending on who you were, professional ethics was either a sacrifice or a luxury. The journalists were operating in a country with no freedom of information law; a place where telling the truth meant risking their lives. The end result: stories populated by anonymous sources and rumours that reporters tried to pass off as fact. [One reporter] investigated generous tax breaks on farmland for wealthy and politically-connected businessmen. He refused to name names. It kills credibility, I said. I dont want to get killed, he replied. I dropped the matter.
zz Do you agree with Reangs reasoning in dropping these discussions? zz zz zz zz

If you had been in her position, how would you have taken the debate further? Do poverty and danger justify accepting payments and concealing hard information? Is it better to get part of a story out than no story at all? How far is a story compromised by the envelope?

Dealing with bias

You work for a newspaper that supports and is funded by the Red party in your country. In the run-up to elections, there has been significant violence between supporters of Red and Green parties. Youre sent to cover one such incident, where an important Red party activist and his family died in an arson attack in an informal settlement. This is those Green so-and-sos, says your Editor. We need a story that shows how violent and antidemocratic they are. But when you get to the scene and begin talking to people, a different story emerges. The dead man, the local Red party organiser, seems to have been no better than a thug. He was demanding money from his neighbours for protection; abused young girls and ran a drinking spot where gangsters gathered. People in the area say the attack on his home could have come from anywhere but most likely from people hed bullied and beaten, many of whom are actually Red party voters. You know this isnt the story your paper wants. What should you do?

There is nothing wrong with having views, and all journalists and news organisations have them. It would be hard, for example, to find a newspaper that was pro-crime or anti-peace in its mission statement. Many newspapers quite explicitly express support for a particular political party. In addition, there are problems with the concept of complete objectivity. Reporting is at every stage a human process. People with views, life experiences and outlooks define a story, decide what questions to ask and of whom, select material and string it together in a particular way using particular words. Objectivity implies the sterile context of a laboratory process where exactly what happened is transferred to the screen or page without any human contamination. In fact, reporters insights and judgments can actually help illuminate a story, where flat, purely factual reporting leaves it puzzling. But this does create problems. The first is a problem of perception. Audiences may mistrust everything that appears in paper X, because they believe it takes its orders from the ruling party even if paper X is a conscientious and largely honest periodical with good reporters.

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The second, more serious problem, is that such loyalties can lead media houses or reporters to alter the truth, leaving out important aspects or even making up material to fit in with their views. Such papers may deal in stereotypes, spread stigma, and represent issues of gender, race or ethnicity in dishonest ways that serve a political agenda. So, even if we have problems with the big, clumsy concept of objectivity, we still need some principles to help us report truthfully, even while we acknowledge that our stories will always carry some flavour of our lives, ideas and personalities. These principles are: zz Accuracy (which weve already discussed) zz Fairness (in the way we deal with people, quotes and ideas) zz Balance (in the range of people and ideas your coverage includes). Fairness often involves eliminating stereotypes (where a person is reduced to an instance of a characteristic: the mercenary; miniskirted bar-girl; the backward rural grandfather; the money-grubbing businessman of a particular ethnicity). As well as leading to bad, dull writing, stereotypes build prejudice and stoke conflict. And they are never true. Talk to people for even five minutes and youll realise that every individual has something that makes them unique: a person, not an instance. Balance is not merely a crude representation of the two sides of a story. Most stories have far more than two sides, and not all those involved represent a side even though their input is relevant. Brainstorming a list of all the stakeholders and role players will give you some idea of all the facets the final story must reflect. In addition, think about those sides that are rarely heard, because the consensus is that they are not important or worthy. Crime reporting rarely quotes criminals yet any story seeking to investigate the causes of crime should be talking to them. But balance also requires that you give appropriate weight to the different views you quote. Aids dissidents (those who do not believe that the HI virus leads to Aids, or that antiretroviral treatment works) complain that despite the demands of media balance, newspapers rarely quote them. But balance also demands that if you do quote them, you also have to quote the overwhelming weight of hard, peer-reviewed, scientific evidence against their views: we have pictures of the HI virus, we have evidence of how the virus and the drugs work, and we have millions of people worldwide able to live normal healthy lives while they continue the ARV treatment. So, how could you apply accuracy, fairness and balance to writing your story of the killing of the Red party organiser? Youd need to quote what everybody was saying. Youd need to clarify what was known, and what was simply rumour or gossip. And youd need to put your reporting in the context of bigger questions about the responsibilities of leaders to behave in accordance with party principles. That larger context might help you persuade your paper to carry a more truthful version. Ethically, youd also have to argue the possible consequences of your story: reporting it falsely as a Green party killing could set off a spiral of revenge killings. Whether youd succeed in getting your more balanced story printed, however, depends not on ethics but on office politics. These problems of loyalty to an employer (or simple need to keep a job) are toughest for the employees of state media. They face the public assumption that they must be lapdogs of the ruling party, even when they are actually trying to do a conscientious job. Yet at the same time they do risk losing their jobs if government does not like the news they report or the way they report it. And politicians are often very unsophisticated in their grasp of how the media operates. They believe that if a state newspaper tells readers that prosperity is booming, people will ignore their own empty bellies and believe it. In fact, telling such lies destroys the credibility of both newspaper and government; readers are not stupid.

Helping the police?

You are investigating a series of kidnappings of women in your capital, believed to be linked to the sex trade. You know that your investigation is ahead of the police work: you have better sources and are building what looks like a dramatic exclusive story for your paper. But, just as youre about to break the story, the State Prosecutor rings you and says: Please do not publish what you have. It will alert the criminals and stop us making arrests. What should you do? Is this a simple issue of press freedom versus obedience to government or is it more complicated than that?

Obviously as a citizen as well as a journalist, you want to do your part to fight crime. This is not a simple issue of being given a restrictive order by government the consequences of publishing might be to allow the criminals to escape. Again, thinking about consequences can help with decision-making so long as you are sure the State Prosecutor is telling the truth, rather than simply trying to cover up police incompetence. And what about the opposite situation, where following a story might involve you in committing a crime? If you are investigating drug trafficking undercover, and need to sell drugs in order to convince your informants you are one of them, is that acceptable even if the exposure story that results will be for the greater good? The key to resolving many of these dilemmas might lie in national media workers organisations where all journalists in a country could be united by a shared code of ethics, irrespective of who they are employed by. It is quite reasonable for journalists with a

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particular paymaster to concentrate on certain types of stories (to go out and look, for example, for government development success stories) in accordance with the policies of their employer. But the way in which those stories are reported must remain accurate, fair and balanced. And, in an ideal ethical climate which we do not yet have their editorial independence to report all sides of those stories would be protected. Where national journalists organisations do not exist, transnational organisations such as FAIR can provide networking and ethical advice.

Ethics is a personal and professional responsibility for all journalists, not simply a theoretical debate. And from these short discussions, we can see that ethical decision-making is undepinned by four broad principles: Tell the truth Or, more accurately, truths, since situations are often complex and many-sided. This is our mission as journalists; when we stop doing it, we cease to deserve the name. Minimise harm If we said Do no harm we might be advocating writing no stories, since all actions have consequences. But by balancing truthtelling and doing the least possible harm, we have constructed a framework that allows us to do our job while always being mindful of consequences. Stay independent Dont be bullied, bought, or even muted by the weight of conventional opinion. Its legitimate to have views, and to write stories motivated by your convictions, but your views should never lead to your changing the truths you discover. Stay accountable This means always thinking about how you would justify a story, or aspect of a story, if challenged. In many newsrooms, it means setting up a formal or informal process for ethical decision-making: having an ethics committee to debate tricky stories, or a press ombudsman to arbitrate on complaints about stories.

An Ethics roadmap
Franz Krger suggests the following Ethics roadmap as a way of arriving at decisions on ethically challenging stories: Define the issue
zz What are the facts of the case? zz What is the question?

Think through the issue

zz Why am I doing this story? What is the public interest? zz Who is affected and how? (sources, the subject of the story, people around them, the news organisation) What would they

want? Are their wants legitimate?

zz Which principles are involved? Accuracy Fairness Independence Duty to inform the public Minimising harm Avoiding unnecessary offence Respecting privacy Honesty in relations with the source Honouring a promise Avoiding deception zz Are race or gender factors? How? zz Do we have relevant guidelines or precedents? What are they?

The law and ethics of investigation An Ethics roadmap (cont.)

Map out the options
zz What are our alternative courses of action? What are the advantages or disadvantages of each? zz Are there ways of satisfying the various conflicting interests or principles?

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Decide
zz The best option is because zz How will I defend my decision to colleagues, role players, stakeholders and to the audience?

Case studies

Sello Selebis and Phakamisa Ndzamelas investigative story exposed two Wits SRC (Student Representative Council) members as academic failures. The story, which revealed that Mbali Hlophe and Selaelo Modiba had been excluded from the 2007 academic year due to their poor academic record, was published in the Wits student newspaper Vuvuzela and caused a storm. The article, entitled Failed SRC top brass passed, uncovered that SRC president Mbhali Hlophe, currently in her third year of study (architecture), failed all her courses for 2006 while SRC member Selaelo Modiba passed only one course. Dr. Faroon Goolam, the Deputy Registrar, was quoted as having confirmed that Hlophe had been excluded and then re-admitted. This resulted in the student body, The Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), calling for Goolams immediate resignation and proclaiming that he had violated the particular students privacy. After the story was published, the SRC threatened to seek a legal interdict to stop the newspaper from going to print. The SRC complained that the story was a vicious violation of the named students right. Professor Anton Harber, head of the Journalism School, consulted legal advisors and established that there was no appropriate reason for the department to stop the distribution of the newspaper. The two journalists, both Wits Journalism grad students, discovered that: zz the SRC member Mbali Hlophe had been academically excluded and then re-admitted on a conditional basis; zz a member of the SRC allegedly approached the Dean of Students, Prem Coopoo, to seek the students re-admission, however she denies having done so; zz the university will not exclude people from standing for SRC based on their academic performance; zz Hlophe was re-admitted at the discretion of the Engineering Dean. What led to this story? A source leaked the story to Phakamisa about four SRC members who had been academically excluded. Why did you think this story was of importance to your readers? We felt the story was important to Wits readers because the issue of academic performance is often taken for granted when it comes to student leadership. We felt it was ironic that Wits is an academic institution yet this is overlooked when it comes to issues of student leadership. We also felt compelled to report on it because SRC leaders are elected representatives who are accountable to the rest of the student body and had to set a good example, especially academically. How did you go about gathering the necessary information? Please explain the methods you used in your research and process of investigation. Once the story was leaked to us we felt it was important to verify this so we used the information provided by our source to get verification from the university management. When we got to management we asked some pretty tough questions, most of which we already had answers to. Once we got confirmation we confronted the parties concerned and gave them an opportunity to respond. What were the challenges and obstacles you faced and how did you work around those? The biggest challenge we faced was about ensuring that we covered the story in a responsible manner so that we do not necessarily infringe on anyones rights. We had to make a calculated decision on whether there indeed was an overwhelming public

The law and ethics of investigation

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interest in the story that far outweighed the right to the privacy of the two student leaders concerned. In the end we debated the issue and looked carefully at legal issues around the story. The story triggered a vigorous debate at Wits. You have been accused of invading the named and shamed students privacy and of having ruined their lives. How do you respond to these accusations? We are glad that these issues are now debated and hope that the debate leads to positive change at Wits. Our position is that a person who assumes public office gives away a portion of their privacy rights and we feel that since Wits is an academic institution, student leaders have to demonstrate some level of academic competence. We think that if the minimum level of competence was not achieved by student leaders then we might as well change Wits into a leadership training academy. Great leaders should be able to juggle many balls and we feel that this is the very essence of a truly great leader. Great leaders lead by example. And no, we have not ruined the two (eventually three) student leaders lives, but have made them stronger and prepared them for leadership positions externally. We have also made the next generation of Wits leaders think hard because leaders have to be accountable. As a result you have been denounced as a vehicle of management out to discredit the SRC. What do you say to this? We think that is absolute hogwash. Vuvuzela is probably one of the few independent publications on any campus. It is put together by professional future journalists who come from diverse backgrounds and follow a professional ethic. It is not as if we will turn a blind eye. If, for example, a member of management was corrupt, we would gladly expose a story like that because we are a watchdog that serves the Wits public. Has your campus life changed after the publication of the story? Not really for me (Sello) as I am new on campus but Phakamisa was freaking out a bit as prior to joining Vuvuzela he was heavily involved in student leadership and the article did not sit well with his former comrades. Did the story have any impact and if so what was the impact? It did. The story probably generated the biggest debate at Wits in a while and debate is good, because change is always a byproduct of a relevant, albeit often heated, debate. What advice would you give to journalists who wish to pursue a similar story? Winston Churchill once remarked: Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Journalism is not a beauty contest: you have a transformational job to do, so just go ahead and do it! Do you agree with the way the two student journalists weighed up public interest against the student leaders right to privacy and the decision they reached?

The first story in this series of investigations was published in Zimbabwes Financial Gazette on 14 October 2004 Brief outline This is a story about Bulawayo businessman, Jonathan Gapare. His company Alpha Construction signed an agreement with the Bulawayo City Council in 1996 to develop virgin land and build about 530 houses for low-paid people in Bulawayo. This was a way of trying to speed up housing delivery to the poor since local government could not cope with demand. Under the agreement, private developers were supposed to construct roads and provide water and sewer systems, and then build basic houses which they could then sell to people on the councils housing waiting list. Gapare, however, started selling undeveloped stands to people and asked them to pay for the construction of their houses. But he did not build some of the houses. In some cases he sold stands or houses to more than one person. He did not complete the infrastructure required and built shoddy houses which were condemned by the council. A number of people ended up having title to stands that were already owned by someone else. Alpha was supposed to complete the project in two years but had not done so by 2004 when I broke my story. It has not completed the project up to now. What questions was your story trying to answer? The questions that I sought to answer, but still havent answered up to now because the story is still running, were how Gapare had been able to dupe so many people over so many years. Was he working with council officials, building society workers, officers of the revenue authority and those from the Deeds Office? He could not have done all that he did without the collaboration of officials from one or more of these departments. Council building inspectors should have stopped him from building houses that were

The law and ethics of investigation

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later condemned if they had been doing their job. Police should have arrested him for conning people out of their money. Building societies should not have allowed titles to be issued when they had sold the house or stand to someone else. The revenue authority should not have cleared the transfer of properties if they kept proper records. The same applied to the Deeds Office, it should have realised that it had issued title to two people for the same property. How did the story get started? I had always been sceptical about the success story of Gapare and his Alpha Construction, but for 12 years I had not been working for any mainline media. I was involved in training. When I joined the Financial Gazette in May 2004, a friend who had been sub-contracted by Gapare to do some jobs in Lupane about 170 km north of Bulawayo and in Bulawayo itself started telling me how corrupt Gapare was and how easily he was getting away with his scam. I told him I could only do a story if there was concrete proof. What research did you do and what sources did you consult? He told me, and showed me proof, that he had to resort to legal action to get paid, yet Gapare was claiming in the media to be doing very well. For example he claimed to have built 70 000 houses in Bulawayo which would make up seven to 10 townships. But the media had swallowed that. He claimed to have won a contract to build 10 000 houses in Angola and the media published that without questioning the details about how this could be possible. In September, the sub-contractor tipped me that Gapare could be in trouble because he had ripped off scores of people in Cowdray Park, including Injiva (Zimbabweans who work in South Africa). That got my interest but I demanded proof. He introduced me to one of Gapares employees who in turn introduced me to leaders of the Cowdray Park Residents Association who were now spearheading the fight against Gapare. Association chairman Abednico Ncube and the secretary Fidelis Ndebele were more than willing to talk because their story had been ignored by most of the media houses. They claimed that they had failed to get their story in the local papers because Gapare had connections everywhere and bribed some of the reporters and editors. They had loads of information. They gave me all the documents I required for the story and also introduced me to some of the people that had been conned. I also relied on council minutes and correspondence between Gapare and the council that I got from his employee. What difficulties did you encounter and how did you deal with them? The biggest difficult was to verify the information. I was facing a dilemma on whether to confront Gapare and get his comment or use third parties to confirm what I had. I was quite certain Gapare would deny the allegations, so I cross checked all the allegations with correspondence from the council or from Gapares lawyers. With hindsight I feel I should have confronted Gapare all the same and write what he had to say. How long did it take to complete the first story? What were the most time-consuming/expensive aspects of the investigation? The story was published on 14 October 2004 after more than three weeks of going to and from the sources to get information. This was very frustrating for the people I was talking to because they thought I was not likely to publish the story. The initial investigation took about three weeks. The most time-consuming aspect was the research about who Gapare was, what he had been doing, how he got into construction, how many houses he had built and gathering documents that I could use to prove that he had been cheating some of his clients. The leaders of the residents association were well organised and helped me get all the documents I needed to beef up my story. There were no financial expenses involved at all except copying the documents that I was given but this was not expensive as I was able to use our petty cash without having to request more money from head office. I also have a company car so I did not have to seek money for my travel expenses. There was a lot of going up and down to meet leaders of the association at their workplaces and going to Cowdray Park itself to talk to witnesses and attend residents meetings, but my fuel allocation was enough. What was the response to the story? The response was overwhelming. Gapare phoned and shouted at me and threatened to sue me and the paper but I stood my ground. I was tipped that the matter had been brought before the council and the council had decided to cancel its agreement with Gapare, but this was contained in confidential minutes that were not available to the media. I, however, got the confidential minutes after our company lawyers were slapped with summons by Gapares lawyers. I used that letter to get the confidential minutes from the council to defend ourselves and to do a follow-up story. My editor, who was very co-operative, said we should continue to publish the story despite the legal threat. More people began to come forward with documentary evidence of how they had been cheated and agreed to talk on the record. Have there been any follow-up stories? I have so far done 12 follow-up stories but the story is still running. zz The first follow-up story was published on 21 October 2004. The council had decided to cancel Alpha Constructions contract and announced that it would be taking corrective measures to ensure that those who had bought stands from the company would not be prejudiced.

The law and ethics of investigation

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zz The second follow-up story was published on 11 November 2004. It was about the possibility that financial institutions that had

zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

financed Alpha could lose their money because the city council was planning to revoke all title deeds obtained by Alpha leaving the financial institutions without collateral. The third follow-up story was published on 2 December 2004. The Bulawayo City Council was demanding Z$1.1 billion from Alpha Construction to correct the shoddy job the company had done. The fourth story was published on 9 December. It was on how police officers had protected Alpha Construction by turning down complaints from house seekers. The fifth story was on Beit Bridge Council cancelling part of its contract with Alpha. It was published on 13 January 2005. The sixth story was on two other private contractors who had done shoddy jobs in Cowdray Park being given six months to put things right. This story was published on 10 February 2005. The seventh story covered all private developers. The council had prepared a report that almost all private developers, not just Alpha, had breached their agreements with the council in one way or the other. This story was published on 22 April 2005. The eighth story published on 6 January 2006 was about residents from Cowdray Park complaining that the council was taking too long to get Alpha to finish its job. The ninth story was about residents being worried that the houses they had bought might have been sold to others. This story was published on 16 November 2006. The tenth story was published on 25 January 2007. The council had now finally decided to cancel its contract with Alpha and was now suing the company for breach of contract. The eleventh story was about Alpha tendering for other council jobs but the council ruled it had struck the company off those that could be offered jobs. The story was published on 26 April 2007. The twelfth story was on the council issuing summons to Alpha to pay the council $883 billion with the figure to be adjusted for inflation when the suit is settled. The story was published on 12 July 2007.

What lessons did you learn from this investigation and what advice would you give to other journalists? The case is still pending. It has not been brought to court yet. My biggest mistake was not to confront Gapare to give him a say in the story, though I used documents he had written to give his side of the story. All the same I believe I should have talked to him. I also learnt that the wheels of justice are very slow. Gapare took advantage of this. He appealed against the councils decision to cancel his contract and it took the council more than two years to finally do so. Everything was at a standstill during those two years. Those who were conned had to wait and it might take them years before their cases can come up. They have to wait for the outcome of the council lawsuit against Alpha. The legal wrangle between the council and Gapare has also restricted further investigations into how corrupt our system has become. I could not investigate how the revenue authority and the Deeds Office cleared people to get title to property. This is a story that can have several spin-offs. I intend to pursue them once the wrangle between the council and Gapare is over. I believe that anyone involved in a similar investigation must cultivate enough contacts to be able to get documents to back up his story. Unlike me he or she must confront the principal person involved. The most important thing I learnt from this story is that while investigative reporting is usually expensive and time-consuming, there are some stories one can do without paying a lot. In this case, none of my sources ever demanded payment to give me vital documents. I even used these sources to get more documents which I would not have been able to get as a journalist as this would have raised suspicion.

zz Do you feel that Rukunis failure to confront Gapare damages the final story? zz How effectively does his other research make up for this absence?

The law and ethics of investigation

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Key points from this chapter

So, what were the ethical dimensions of Maria Gonzaless story?
Clearly, if family links are affecting the disposal of large state contracts, the story is of public interest. But as well as the rights of tendering companies disadvantaged by this corruption, there are other rights affected by the story. The Presidents new wife has been defamed. Her angry ex-husband is quoted calling her callous and cruel but we dont know what kind of a spouse he was, or what her real motives might have been for the divorce. We are assuming this was a mercenary alliance, but it might have been real love for the President. We have not heard her side. And, of course, Maria and her publication have rights that are being attacked by the use of the insult laws. The defence here will have to rest on public interest, but the extensive use of the ex-husbands anger and criticism, which are comment, may weaken it. Lets hope the publications evidence about the links between the marriage and the building contract is extensive and strong.

Journalists freedom to operate is governed by an international legal framework that guarantees significant rights, as well as by national legal codes that are sometimes more restrictive. The public interest is a key concept in defence against legal attacks and in making decisions. It refers to information which the public will be better-off knowing or worse-off not knowing not simply what interests the public. Defamation laws exist to protect individuals reputation and dignity. Defamation is the crime of publishing something that could tend to lower a persons reputation. Publication includes republication from another medium, a quote, or Internet publication. The key defence is that what was published was true and in the public interest, but to succeed this must be provable in terms of your countrys legal code. Keep all materials relevant to a potentially defamatory story until the statute of limitations runs out, and keep track of witnesses, too. Everybody including public figures has the right to privacy. You have to be able to demonstrate the relevance of their private to their public life to justify breaching privacy. Official secrets laws exist nominally to protect national security, but can be and are used to restrict press freedom. The climate of official secrecy has in many cases been made tighter by anti-terrorism legislation. You need to know the press laws of your country thoroughly, and seek detailed advice for specific problems. Dont rely on generic tips and hints. All reporting requires ethical decision-making at every stage. The guiding principles are: tell the truth; minimise harm; stay independent and be accountable. Use a consistent process (such as the ethics roadmap given here) for reaching ethical decisions.

The law and ethics of investigation

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Glossary
zz Balance giving fair treatment to all (not just two) sides of a story and all role players, and giving appropriate weight to

the various aspects of the story

zz Civil law law dealing with offences and grievances between persons zz Civil society the various non-state groups, interests and organisations in society zz Conspiracy offence of a group of people getting together to plot something illegal, rather than an individual simply

acting on their own

zz Constitution national code defining the principles of a state and the rights and responsibilities of its citizens and

institutions
zz Criminal law law dealing with offences and grievances against the state zz Defamation published statements likely to lower a persons reputation in the eyes of others. In some countries, split zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz

between libel (published) and slander (spoken) Ethics system of moral behaviour; acting in accordance with such a system Freedom of expression the right to publish and express information and opinions Freedom of information the right to access information Innuendo a hint or implication that does not state matters directly Juristic person in some legal codes, organisations are defined as persons for the purpose of law National security matters related to the defence of a state and its institutions, both military and non-military Natural person legal term for an individual Official secrets information defined by the state as confidential to the state Patronage non-employment relationship between two persons, one of whom provides resources, access or support for the other to do their work Publication making information public to one or more other people Public interest where the public is advantaged by something being known or done, or would be worse off if it were not known or done Reasonable (in law) a view or action that would be supported by an average, law-abiding citizen Sedition stirring up discontent against the state State of Emergency legally defined situation in a state where conditions have become so bad or dangerous that normal laws may be suspended

Further reading
zz Read the full story of the Wits University investigation at www.journalism.co.za zz Read Charles Rukunis housing scam stories at: http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/October/October14/6763.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/October/October21/6832.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/November/November11/7040.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/December/December2/7211.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/December/December9/7274.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/January/January13/7494.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/February/February10/7747.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/April/April22/8287.shtml http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=-452 http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=-1921 http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=-2314 http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=-2951 http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=750 zz For a detailed account of media law in SADC countries as at 2003, see the two-volume SADC Media Law Handbook for

Media Practitioners published by the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation and available as PDF downloads online from www.kas.de/mediaafrica

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Further reading (cont.)

zz For a summary of the KAS material that specifically relates to investigative journalism, see Chapter 9 of A Watchdogs Guide

to Investigative Reporting by Derek Forbes (Johannesburg: KAS, 2005)

zz For a fuller discussion of the international human rights information and media framework, see the Human Rights

Handbook for Southern African Journalists by Gwen Ansell and Ahmed Veriava (Johannesburg: IAJ, 2000)
zz For a comprehensive Southern African perspective on media ethics, see Black, White and Grey by Franz Krger

(Johannesburg: Double Storey, 2004)

zz Read Putsana Reangs full article at: http://www.internews.org/articles/2007/2071000_ajr_reang.shtm

h t l a e h g n i t a g i t s Inve issues
By Annie Neo Parsons

Learning objectives
By the time you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to:
zz Read scientific reports and understand basic biomedical concepts and processes (such

as drug testing);
zz Look for reliable sources on health issues; zz Understand and explain changes over time in medical information; zz Examine key conditions (HIV/Aids, TB, malaria, diabetes, diseases of poverty) in light

of some basic issues;

zz Summarise often complex health care issues for your audience ; zz Compare the different views that people can have on health, illness and medicine; zz Think about the many ways that health issues can affect communities.

This chapter assumes that you have some understanding of basic investigative journalism techniques. To learn more about, or refresh these, see Chapters 1-8 of the handbook.

Investigating health issues

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Finding your story

hen we consider the health and science stories our newspapers or magazines carry, we tend to think either of routine self-help columns (How to avoid heart disease) or of sensational even scare stories about killer diseases and miracle cures. The former are barely interesting to investigative reporters; the latter are too often shallowly reported as hard news and then forgotten. But the area of health and science is sorely in need of investigative reporting. And often the biggest health stories come from issues that are accepted as a normal part of life, or are not considered important enough to worry people with the power to make a difference. Some examples of this are: the effects of chronic malaria; health conditions resulting from poverty, like diarrhoea; and the high incidence of cancer amongst people living near waste dumps.

FAIRs transnational health investigation

The Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) conducted its first transnational investigation on a health theme: why it was so difficult and expensive to access badly needed drugs in many African countries. This was something that people in many countries had been complaining about for many years: it had become part of the landscape. But its impact was devastating. People with life-threatening conditions including some FAIR members were dying because they could not access the drugs they needed. You can read the investigation at http://www.fairreporters.org/portal/pdf/FAIR_proof_4.pdf and read more about how the investigation was carried out in Chapter 3 of the handbook.

Many of our stories about health rely on published research. In Chapter 2 of the handbook, Joyce Mulama describes how her story on an abortion pill was sparked simply by reading such a report. So sometimes there is a story waiting to be told in a study that could affect many people, such as the studies on the possible link between hormonal contraception (the pill) and ovarian cancer. Here, our role is to make that research accessible to our audience, and explain its impact. But we have a bigger role too. National health agencies will, if they can, offer funding for studies on issues that interest government but researchers can also begin looking at health issues or the need for new treatments because media attention has created a stir. There had been no new research into medications for tuberculosis for about 40 years until the media in the West picked up on the increasing number of hard-to-treat tuberculosis cases in Europe and the USA. Journalists can actually be a catalyst, bringing to official and scientific attention an area where research is needed. Talking to practitioners and clinic staff, and asking community members about health issues should be a part of filling your investigative ideas book. This, however, is only the start. Such initiatives can fall flat or, worse, misinform or cause panics if as journalists we do not deepen our knowledge of how science, medicine and research work, and of the context within which they operate. So this chapter begins with some basic definitions and discussions about health and science.

Some basic definitions

Before you go on, think about the definitions you currently use. What do you mean when you use the following terms? Note your ideas here.
zz Health?

zz Medicine?

zz Science?

Investigating health issues

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The word health has many meanings, which can change depending on time and context. A basic meaning is not being ill. However, different people and societies can interpret this in alternative ways. For example, not being ill might mean physically able to perform work. Under this definition, a person living with an HIV infection who is not at the stage of Aids is considered healthy. But not ill could also mean does not have any future constraints on her/his ability to work. Applying this definition to the same person would mean that person is considered ill because the person is living with the possibility of future illness. Concepts of health depend on how well a medical condition is understood, a persons age, gender and class, and the expectations about a persons economic and social roles. The notion of health is a way of thinking about a person and that persons place in society. Modern medicine When governments and NGOs talk of hospitals, clinics and healthcare workers, they are referring to a particular system of thinking (ideology) about health. This system is based on the principles of scientific observation and is based in the material world: health and illness are contained within each persons physical body, or individual biological systems. This ideology is called biomedicine (allopathic medicine). Biomedicine is sometimes called modern scientific medicine. It developed with the growth of science and technology in Europe and North America during the 19th and 20th centuries. Biomedicine focuses on treating an individuals physical problems and does not try to address how a person relates to his or her social, political and economic surroundings. Western European colonisers brought their biomedical health care systems to the countries they colonised. Sometimes they used the successes of biomedicine in treating physical ailments to help justify the colonisation of a country. The laws of many colonies were written to reflect the idea that biomedicine worked and local forms of healing did not. Most countries laws still view allopathic therapies as the norm and local or traditional ideas about health (where they are granted any status at all) as alternative or even witchcraft. However, allopathic therapies are usually expensive to build, run and maintain. Few countries outside of Europe and North America (with the notable exception of Cuba) can easily afford to make biomedical coverage accessible for the majority of their populations. Traditional ways of understanding health and medicine The local forms of healing that European colonialists encountered in Africa are still often called traditional medicine, to reflect the idea that they are based in social traditions separate from the modern state. Another term is indigenous medicine. The systems of understanding health and medicine called traditional medicine do not conform to biomedical concepts and are often specific to certain areas and societies. Traditional medicine looks at a persons physical symptoms as reflective of what is going on in that persons life, including relationships to the community and the environment. (Contrast this with biomedicines view that physical symptoms reflect what is going on inside that person.) This can mean looking at possible spiritual or community-based origins for an illness. The person is considered cured once the physical symptoms are gone. Though biomedicine is usually given the most official backing, traditional medicine is actually the most widely used form of health intervention in most parts of the world.1 Often traditional medicine is simply the only available form of health care. For example, in Ghana as of 2001 there were approximately 1 200 biomedical doctors and about 50 000 traditional healers.2 The World Health Organisation estimates that about 80% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa uses traditional medical services before seeking allopathic care.3 Where biomedical services are accessible, people frequently use both allopathic and traditional medicine at the same time. Traditional medicine is often seen as less legitimate or useful than biomedical services. In part, this is because it is judged by biomedical standards. Traditional remedies also do not usually have the same physical effects as biomedical treatments and are often seen as less effective at treating an individuals physical body. Judging what works The legacy of colonial ideas and the formation of modern nation-states (or state-nations in the case of many former colonial countries4) continue to have important effects on ideas about health. The construction of global regulation bodies, like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), has given biomedicine a global role as the standard for health issues. A health intervention or medicine must meet biomedical, scientific and ethical criteria. Biomedicine does have a good success rate in curing peoples physical ailments, but it is very limited by issues of access and accountability. Biomedicines inability to see health problems in context also has important effects on whether a treatment can work.

Investigating health issues A number of issues affect access to drugs

9-4

A woman living in rural Malawi was interviewed in June 2007. She had recently been diagnosed HIV positive and qualified for free antiretroviral medications handed out by the government. The researcher wanted to know why she had not yet gone to get the medicines. The woman replied that she was busy saving up money for the travel costs, and was sure she would be able to get her medications in January. (Patients can usually only collect one to three months supply of antiretrovirals at a time.) The researcher recorded that the woman was very thin with deep coughs that would stop her speaking, and she struggled to stand up. The researcher thought the woman had late stage tuberculosis (TB).

Issues like access to food, travel money to get to a clinic, or community support are not usually considered aspects of health in the biomedical framework. The next section will give you the tools to understand biomedical concepts and research, but it is important to keep in mind that health is about more than individual bodies.

Like any academic discipline, biomedicine has its own language. Doctors, nurses and researchers often use words and terms that both you and your readers may not understand or have even heard. This section will explain basic concepts in biomedical research. You can use this to decide if the information you are given is useful or even accurate and how to communicate it to your audience. Health and the scientific method When people say the scientific method they mean a particular way of collecting and analysing information. Western science is built on the idea that you collect material evidence on a problem using observation and experiments (empirical evidence). You must be able to measure the evidence you collect. This empirical evidence is then used to test your hypothesis (your guess, assumption or theory) about the causes or results of a problem. Someone using the scientific method is supposed to be objective and consider all evidence, even if it does not give the expected answer. The evidence should be available to anyone else who wants to test it. A hypothesis is only valid until it is disproved. In other words, if someone else collects the same evidence in the same way and does not get the same result then the hypothesis is false. This can get confusing because a hypothesis can never be absolutely proved to be true, just not proved false. The famous quote by Albert Einstein on this problem is: No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. The classic work on this issue is Karl Poppers The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934). For a discussion of how to use logic and proof when writing your stories, see Chapter 7 of the handbook. Best practice Best practice is a guideline on how to treat a health condition if all possible resources are available. It is based on all the evidence that scientists collect about that particular health issue.

Different standards
When treating uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in the United Kingdom it is best practice to first give a combination of three medications. The patient is also automatically put in hospital for at least 24 hours.5 But the World Health Organisation guidelines (developed for countries with fewer resources) only recommend a combination of two or more medications at the same time. Automatically putting the patient in hospital is not in the guidelines.6

One of the most confusing things about biomedicine is the way scientists can say what they claimed last year was best practice is not recommended this year. This is because of the scientific method. If new evidence is collected about a health issue and a previous hypothesis is proven false, scientists will change their recommendations for treatment. That is why journalists doing web-based research need to check the date of any scientific articles, and cross-check old articles against more recent ones. If you are dealing with information about a diagnostic test, try to discover what is considered the optimal test for that health condition. This is known as the Gold or Criterion Standard and exists for most health issues. The Criterion Standard can also change over time with new information. (For where to search for best practice evidence and criterion standards, see the databases listed in the reading but if you are in touch with a medical expert, it may be simpler just to ask.)

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Evidence-based medicine In the last 20 years there has been more effort to make sure that medical decisions are based on best practice evidence. This movement is often called evidence-based medicine. It uses observations about patients from doctors and information about large groups of people that has been gathered by researchers.7 Gathering and analysing information from large groups of people is sometimes called population-based studies and is part of epidemiology (the study of what factors affect health conditions in groups of people). Epidemiology has become more important in making medical decisions since the 1950s, when British epidemiologists showed that smoking cigarettes leads to a high risk of lung cancer. They used statistical analysis to prove the relationship between cigarettes and lung cancer. Statistics are an important part of epidemiology and of evidence-based medicine. Important differences between journalism and science
zz Journalists often use theory to mean simply an idea. Scientists use theory to mean something that can make testable

predictions and can be observed and measured.

zz Journalists require multiple sources but we mean only three or four. Scientists require far larger numbers, in repeated studies. zz Journalists use error to mean a mistake. But error is an essential part of experimentation and statistical surveying; much

scientific reporting is about how big or small the error in an experiment is and how significant it is for the results. Dont take comments on error in scientific reports to mean that the research was wrong. zz Likewise, scientific work is far more comfortable with uncertainty than journalism, and less prepared to offer hard yes/no explanations at least until a very large volume of results are in. Beware of interpreting answers like this: Journalist: Is migration a cause of the spread of this disease? Scientist: Yes, it is one factor. But other important causes include poor nutrition, etc. News story headline: Migrants cause disease says scientist. zz Journalists work on short timeframes. Scientists study something over often quite long periods of time and, as we have seen, their views can change as the results of studies and experiments come in over that time.

Biomedicine needs accurate evidence to make decisions about health and treatments. Humans are complicated organisms; different people can react in diverse ways to the same stimulus. Sometimes the same medication will have a positive effect on a small group of people, but a very negative effect when it is tried by a much larger group of people. A person might react well to a medication the first week she tries it, but get very sick from the medication after a year of taking it. Biomedical research tries to gather as much evidence as possible about if a medication or treatment works, how it works, when it works, and for how long it works. There are many ways to gather evidence on a health issue. In biomedicine there are clear guidelines about how to do this properly: you can also use these guidelines to judge if a study is acceptable. Gathering information Information can often be put into two categories. We can look for information on what people do, when they do it, and how often they do it. This is called quantitative information (because it looks at numbers or quantity). We can also look for information on why people do something, and how they do it. This is called qualitative information (because it looks at value or quality). Biomedicine tends to judge the value of a study by how it is done. Quantitative studies are often given more power than qualitative studies. This is because people can say one thing and do another, and it is easier to be sure that someone has done something when you have figures that say they did it a certain number of times. Qualitative studies take a lot longer than quantitative studies. It can be hard to collect enough data in a qualitative study to be confident that the collected information reflects the experiences of the larger group and not just the views of a few individuals. Clinical trials There are two general types of research into medications or treatments. Observational studies involve studying what usually happens to patients and measuring the effects or outcomes. Interventional studies involve giving the patient a different medication or treatment and measuring the outcome of that intervention. In biomedical research there is a hierarchy of what are considered reliable ways to gather evidence from people on a health issue. At the top is a randomised controlled trial (an intervention study). Almost as good are cohort and case-control studies (both observational studies). At the bottom are case studies, anecdotes and personal opinions (sometimes called authority and bench studies). When you read about research, its therefore important to find out what kind of study was done. The results of a randomised controlled trial carry far more weight and are therefore far more significant in news terms than a small collection of bench studies. Most clinical trials test a new medication or treatment against either a placebo (a look-alike with no medical effect) or the existing best practice for that health condition. Clinical trials can be at one health centre or across many health centres and many

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countries. Most trials will have a protocol that describes how the trial will be done and patients in the trial will be treated. All trials should be approved by a regulatory authority and are often required by national authorities before the new medication or treatment can be used in a country. The ethics and regulation of clinical trials A clinical trial can be run by either the researcher doing the study or by the institution (the university, or government, or company) that funds the study. There is usually an ethics committee to approve every trial that involves an intervention. An ethics committee is also needed for any observational study that involves personal information about a patient. Every patient in a study, both intervention and observation, must give fully informed consent to participating in the study. A study is stopped if its ethics committee thinks that a patients rights, safety or general well-being is threatened by participating in that study. Full disclosure of information is an important part of making sure a clinical trial (especially an intervention) is ethical. A researcher cannot legally hide information about a medication or treatment that could put people in danger. But a researcher might interpret information on adverse events (or unexpected problems with a treatment) as not related to the actual intervention and then not tell anyone about the problem. The company or institution that sponsors a trial might also decide not to publicise potential issues. National regulatory agencies approve a treatment for general use on the basis of the information they receive, so false or misleading information is a huge problem.

Is all the information actually out there?

In 2008 an academic study discovered that most research saying antidepressants do not work does not get published. The researchers looked at 74 studies on 12 different antidepressants. 37 of the 38 studies that suggested the medications worked were published. But only three of the 36 studies that implied the drugs might not work were printed. Research that does get printed will sometimes change the results to suggest the medications work. 11 studies with negative results were re-written to suggest that the antidepressant had worked. Gene Emery, Reuters.8

Companies or institutions often conduct clinical trials in countries that do not have regulatory authorities or where the regulatory authority cannot enforce standards. Over a third of clinical trials happen in countries with little official oversight.9 Be sure that when you read about trials, you distinguish between those where the medication was actually harmful or ineffective and those that were banned or stopped simply because they did not respect ethical requirements.

Exercise
Find out:

Drug trials

zz What body controls drug trials in your country? zz What are its ethical requirements governing such trials? zz What are the name and contact details of the bodys media spokesperson?

A randomised controlled trial (RCT) Biomedicine often considers an RCT the most reliable kind of clinical trial. It measures how well a new medication or treatment works in controlled circumstances. Patients are randomly assigned to the intervention part of the study (where they receive the new medication or treatment) or the control part of the study (where they receive either a placebo or the current best known medication or treatment for that condition). This is important. Random assigning means that, statistically, any known and unknown factors that could affect the condition are just as likely to affect the intervention as the control part of the study. RCTs are also divided into open, blind and double-blind studies. This affects how much both the patient and the researcher know about the medication or treatment. (Often a patient or researcher can imagine a particular outcome because they believe there should be that effect from the medication or treatment. Sometimes, patients may actually claim they feel better, because of this psychological impact. This is called the Placebo Effect.) zz An open RCT means that both the patient and the researcher know to which part of the study the patient is assigned the intervention or the control part. zz A blind study means the research knows but the patient does not know whether or not the patient is in the intervention or the control part of the study. zz A double-blind study means both the researcher and the patient do not know what medication or treatment the patient is getting (i.e. if the patient is in the intervention or the control part of the study). Some clinical trials cannot be blind or double-blind because of the nature of the treatment or medication. For example, if a clinical

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trial wants to test how well a liquid form of a medication works in comparison to an existing pill form, it will be very easy for the patient and researcher to guess whether or not the patient is in the intervention or control arm of the study. One of the biggest problems in an RCT is making sure that the patients in the intervention and the control parts of a study are similar in terms of age, sex and health status. This is called selection bias. If the parts are skewed (i.e. not equal) then it is very hard to tell if the medication or treatment was the cause of an outcome, or if the difference between the groups was the reason for that outcome. Study size and randomisation are important in addressing these concerns. RCTs are usually expensive. RCTs also rely on statistics to interpret the data gathered during the study. Statistically there is a possibility with every study that the information will be wrong. Researchers do as much as possible to make that statistical possibility very small (i.e. 1% is usually acceptable), but if many studies are done on the same subject this means there will almost always be at least one study that says the opposite. For example, if 300 studies are done on the same issue and every study accepts a 1% chance of getting it wrong, then there is a statistical possibility that three studies will have a false result. Phases of testing a new or different intervention There are five parts to testing a new or different intervention (a medication or treatment). Each one of these five phases is often treated as a separate clinical trial. Usually the process takes years, and new or different medications will only get approved for use by national regulatory authorities after the first four of the phases are completed. On average, this will take eight years. The last phase looks at what happens when the new or different intervention is available to everyone after approval. The first phase is in vitro (in a laboratory) and sometimes in vivo (in a living organism) in animals. The next four phases are always done on human beings (in vivo).

This involves looking at the effects of a new or different intervention in test tubes or in animals. The results of this phase are used to decide if the treatment might have an effect in humans, and if it is safe to test in humans.

1 Pre-clinical studies

A Phase I trial is sometimes called a safety trial. In this phase a small group of healthy volunteers (i.e. people who do not have any health conditions) is usually selected. However, if there is a group of patients who already have the health condition for which the treatment is designed, and who do not have any other treatment options, then these patients can also be selected. Researchers look for any problems caused by the new or different treatment. The amount of medication needed to create an effect, or dose range, is also measured. Sometimes the treatment being studied is combined with different medications to see if outcomes change.

2 Phase I

If an intervention passes its Phase I trial, then it goes into a Phase II trial. In a Phase II trial there are more people involved and researchers start to look at if the intervention actually works in the way it was designed to work. (Data on the safety of the treatment is still collected.) Most new or different medications fail in Phase II trials. Sometimes a Phase II trial is divided into IIA and IIB. A Phase IIA trial looks at how much of a treatment (or dose) is needed to get an effect, while a Phase IIB trial looks at how well each level of dose works. A Phase II trial can be combined with a Phase I trial and can be a case study.

3 Phase II

Phase III trials only happen if a treatment passes Phase II (i.e. it is still safe and there is now an established dose for the medication being studied). This stage looks at what happens when the intervention is used in a larger population with many factors that can affect how well the intervention works. Phase III trials are always RCTs. This is the most expensive and longest part of approving a new or different health intervention. Sometimes an intervention will get approved while the Phase III trial is still going. This allows patients who have no other treatment options to get the trial treatment before it is available for general use. If the Phase III trial of an intervention shows it works, then all the information about it from every trial is put into a single document and given to national regulatory authorities like the USAs Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

4 Phase III

This last trial sometimes does not happen. It takes place after an intervention is approved and distributed. Sometimes a national regulatory authority will require a Phase IV trial. This phase looks at the long-term effects of a new or different treatment, or what happens when it is given or taken by people who did not meet the criteria of Phases I, II or III.

5 Phase IV

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In 1999 the American FDA approved a new kind of painkiller, rofecoxib, which was marketed under the name Vioxx. It quickly became a common medicine for certain types of acute and chronic pain, like arthritis. A Phase IV study then discovered that heart attacks were much more likely in patients already at risk of heart conditions who took Vioxx (as opposed to other kinds of painkillers). In 2004 the company that produced Vioxx voluntarily withdrew it from the market.

A cohort study A cohort study looks at what happens over time to a group of people who share a biological trait or a kind of experience (like doing the same work; being born in the same year; took the same medication). This group the cohort is compared to either a larger group of which the cohort is part, or to another cohort of people. Cohort studies are observational studies. A researcher who wanted to know if working in a mine could lead to tuberculosis might track two groups of young men from the same village who finish grade 9 and go to work in either a mine or on a farm. The two groups of young men would start off with the same health, education and environment. If the incidence (or change over time) of tuberculosis in the cohort who went to the mines was higher than amongst the cohort who went to the farms, then the researcher would probably conclude that working in the mines was more likely to cause tuberculosis. Prospective cohort studies decide on who is in the cohort before the study is started. Retrospective cohort studies define the cohort after the study is done. Our theoretical example of the tuberculosis incidence among young men from the same village working either in the mines or on the farms is a prospective cohort. If we were to first look at the tuberculosis rate among young men from the same village and then divide them into those who worked on the farms and those who worked in the mines, then that would be a retrospective cohort. A case-control study and a cross-sectional study A case-control study compares two groups of patients: those who have a particular medical condition and those who do not have that condition. Researchers then look back in time to see what the two groups did the same or differently. This kind of study is easier than an RCT or cohort study as the patients are already identified and there is no intervention. The famous study in the 1950s that showed people who smoked were more likely than people who did not smoke to develop lung cancer was a case-control study. (The researchers looked at doctors who did have lung cancer and those who did not, then asked what the two groups did the same or did differently.) Often case-control studies are used to justify doing a RCT or cohort study. Unfortunately, it is hard to use a case-control study to show that an outcome has a definite link to a problem. Most case-control studies will just suggest that an outcome might be linked to a particular issue. This is because the researcher cannot control the choices people make that might put them in the group that develops a specific condition or that can put them in the group that does not develop that condition. As a result some researchers say that case-control studies must always be treated with scepticism.

A case control study

A case-control study found women past menopause who received artificial hormones (HRT) were less likely to have heart disease than post-menopausal women who did not receive the medication. But further research showed that the hormones were not the reason for the decrease in heart disease (and in fact might increase the risk of heart disease).10 The case-control study was confused by the fact that women who could afford artificial hormone therapy after menopause were usually richer than women who could not afford the therapy. Most of the richer women had better health, better diets and exercised more, which decreased their risk of heart disease.

A cross-sectional study is the same design as a case-control study, but it looks at the issue at a single point in time and not over a period of time. It is also called a prevalence study. This is often cheaper and easier to do than a case-control study, but it is hard to tell what factors are the cause or the result of a health condition. A case study A case study takes a detailed look at a single event or case. (Again, this is an observational study.) A case is usually chosen because it is rich in information about the issue a researcher wants to study. This means that typical or average events are not usually chosen, unless the researcher is trying to make a point about the average kind of case. The researcher will look for the hidden or deep causes of a problem and what consequences it might have. Case studies do not try to measure how common a problem is or just describe its symptoms.

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Study size The size of the group or groups in a study is very important in judging its value. If a study looks at a problem affecting a large group of people, then it will usually need to collect data or information from or on a bigger number of individuals within that group. (If the group is bigger than 20 000 then this does not apply in the same way.) The amount of data that a study has to collect so that its information has value is determined by a mathematical formula. The formula helps researchers decide if given important variables they can be confident that their information reflects a hypothesis that best fits the group they are researching. (This is called the Confidence Interval and is written as CI. Most research tries to get a CI of 95% or higher. In other words, researchers aim to establish that they are over 95% confident that their gathered information reflects the reality of the group being studied.) However, if a health condition only affects a small number of people then it might not be possible to get enough patients so that the study can reflect the larger population. There are websites like http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html that calculate the formula for researchers. If you know the amount of people in the population being studied and the level of accuracy the researchers wanted, you can roughly estimate if the researchers gathered information from enough people. For example, if I wanted to test a hypothesis about a population of 2 250 people with a CI=95% (and was pretty sure that people would respond to the questions), I would have to get data from at least 134 individuals for my data to be statistically significant.

Check it out
Look at the cosmetic advertisements in glossy womens magazines and especially those for anti-wrinkle or anti-ageing cosmetics. Very often, the advertisement will headline, dramatically, something like 80% of women report younger-looking skin! But somewhere in the advertisement, usually in very tiny letters, will be the detail of the case study. And this will be a very small number of women over quite a short period of time. Beware of information that parades itself as scientific, with displays of dramatic statistics, unless you can access the information about that research as weve described above.

Story ideas Local communities are a good place to start looking for information on what is a health problem. People are often aware of their own health problems and may see them in a very different way from government and other organisations. Take an area suffering from chronic diarrhoea (often caused by infected water). You might find that the government sees the problem as caused by people not using the drop toilets it provides. But when you ask the local community why they do not use the government toilets, you are told that it is because the toilets are on the other side of a major highway with no easy way to cross. People are more willing to live with diarrhoea than risk injury or death every time they need to use the toilet. Community health and education centres (like libraries, or clinics), or village health care workers are other good places to look for information and sources. Regional branches of government and organisations working in a specific area will have a list of health priorities that can help identify stories. However, government and organisations (especially large or international ones) may have priorities that do not reflect the issues of local communities. This is partly because health is usually not the first concern of people who are struggling to survive from day to day. Keep in mind that you may also have different views on what health means. Information about the science Basic sources of information about biomedical issues are also found in peer-reviewed publications. (These are most useful when you have a topic and are looking for further information.) Peer-reviewed publications are journals on different health subjects. They only accept research that is reviewed by other researchers and considered valid or important. Here are three online resources (in English) that are good places to start looking for peer-reviewed information: zz The Cochrane Collaboration (www.cochrane.org) is a grant-funded, independent organisation promoting evidence-based health care. The Cochrane reviews are a great place to start looking for information on a clinical topic. This is a large database of peer-reviewed and systematic review papers that the library has commissioned on certain subjects, as well as existing peerreviewed systematic reviews. zz PubMed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/) is a US government search engine on health topics. It searches journal and news articles. However, PubMed often only searches US publications. zz The Trip Database (www.tripdatabase.com) is a search engine that specifically looks for evidence-based research on health. It has a useful section called Patient information Leaflets that lists the recommended ways to use biomedical treatments. You can also look for information on specific health topics.

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Very few health problems are new. Communities, governments or researchers may say that an issue is completely different from anything else that has happened before, but this is usually not true. Health problems are the result of many factors. Often a similar problem has come up before in history. The first thing you should do with any health problems is look at its context.

If the medias just discovered it, does that mean its new?
Recently an article in the South African press excitedly ran a story on Lazarus drugs that dramatically improve the health of people who are very ill from Aids-related conditions. The story was based on a recent biomedical study that followed the long-term health of people taking antiretroviral medications. But these medications are not new. Antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection has been around for over 20 years and we already know it works.

Points of view about health The information you collect on health issues is always influenced by the point of view of the person or organisation providing that information. If you are comparing biomedical data with information from a traditional healer, then make clear to your readers the context and viewpoints of each idea about health. A traditional healer often explains the same health issue in very different terms to a biomedical researcher. Reporting on the use of non-biomedical treatments for HIV infection often has this problem. Some traditional healers claim that their medicines work because the patient stops feeling sick and the symptoms of illness go away. To the traditional healer this means the HIV is cured if the symptoms are gone then the HIV infection is gone. But when biomedical researchers test those patients who traditional healers claim to have cured of HIV infection, they say the patients are not cured. Biomedical tests show the HIV infection is still present in every patients immune system, even if a patient has no obvious symptoms of illness. Both the traditional healer and the biomedical researcher are right about their claims according to their own ideas about health and illness. (But what does the patient think, and what does the patient do?) Is the health problem about blame? Many health workers both in traditional medicine and in biomedicine end up saying that a health issue is only a problem because people did not behave in the way they were told. Governments and people with power often find it easier to blame others for a problem rather than criticise their own actions. It is very easy for a journalist to pick up and reflect this point of view without realising it. Reporting on biomedical data Reporting on an issue that is only biomedical for instance a study on a new clinical medicine means you must use biomedical criteria and resources. Try and find information on the existing best practice for that health issue (a research study may include this information as part of its design). If you are reporting on a study, then look at the kind of study it is and search for any peerreviews. Peer review and citation Research when properly conducted and regulated as weve described above produces reliable results even if they are more tentative, nuanced and sometimes short-term than journalists would like! But the world of science is not free from incompetence, bias and fraud. Sometimes, research is biased by wishful thinking: someone begins an experiment or a piece of research with too fixed an idea of what is likely to result and either deliberately or even almost unconsciously pushes the results or interpretation in that direction. This is fraud. Sometimes the sample is inadequately selected, or the research controls inadequate, or the research simply sloppily carried out. Sometimes the research is based on mistaken assumptions.

When research is based on mistaken assumptions

Down low myth distorts HIV research, prevention

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Mistaken assumptions about black sexuality are finding their way into scientific research on the spread of HIV and this could do more to fuel risky behavior than prevent it, authors of a new commentary warn. Reports on African-American men who identify themselves as straight but secretly have sex with men -- dubbed the down low lifestyle first appeared when men who said they were part of this subculture wrote books about it and the media

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picked up the story, Dr. Chandra L. Ford of Columbia University in New York City, the commentarys lead author, told Reuters Health. Part of what has happened as a result of that initial burst of stories reporting the down low is that those stories often tied the down low to high rates of HIV infection among African-American women which was not supported by epidemiological data, Ford added. There were a lot of assumptions, there were a lot of leaps of faith that led to that. Despite the non-scientific source, epidemiologists began doing research based on the idea that black men living the down low lifestyle were driving the spread of HIV, she and her colleagues note in their article in the Annals of Epidemiology. This assumption was mistaken in many ways, they explain. First of all, the practice of straight men secretly having sex with men is seen across all ethnic groups. Also, Ford notes, while black men and women have higher rates of HIV infection than other ethnic groups, they also report fewer risk behaviors, suggesting researchers should look elsewhere to understand the disparity. For example, she adds, having a bacterial sexually transmitted infection can increase the risk of both transmitting and contracting HIV, and it is possible such infections may be more common among blacks than whites due to poorer access to health care. Research has refuted the claim that black men living the down low lifestyle are driving the spread of HIV, Ford said, but the perception that this is the case remains, even in the epidemiology community. She points to a dean at a colleagues school who urged researchers to study the down low after seeing a TV segment on it From Scientific American, February 28, 2007, by Anne Harding Funding and conflicts of interest Sometimes researchers are funded by a body with an interest in the outcome for example, in the 1960s several studies, later discredited, were funded by the tobacco industry to suggest that smoking was not as harmful as impartial research suggested. Some US scientists have recently declared that in the 1990s the US government, which was funding their research, put pressure on them to minimise the effects of global warming, or actually edited sections out of their research reports before publishing them. Researchers are supposed to include funding information in their publications, but sometimes do not when the funding is indirect. (For example, if the university where a researcher works has received a large grant from the pharmaceutical company that makes the medication that researcher is testing, but the money is not directly allocated to the researchers laboratory.) Spotting the problems So how can a journalist, who is not a technical expert, spot these problems? zz You need technical experts in your contacts book. In Chapter 5 we discuss finding and interviewing experts, and you might like to refer back to that section for additional hints. zz You need to find out about the credentials of research bodies and individual scientists, particularly if what they say seems highly controversial or out of tune with what the majority of research suggests. This does not mean they are either frauds, or wrong. But you may discover that their qualifications are not, in fact, as strong as they claim, or that an interested party funded the research and that should lead you to interrogate it quite closely. (Find out, for example, who the donors are to the funding foundation.) A general tracking website such as journalismnets whois (http://www.journalismnet.com/tips/whois.htm) can provide information about individuals.

A menace to science
Call her the Awful Poo Lady, call her Dr Gillian McKeith PhD: she is an empire, a multi-millionaire, a phenomenon, a primetime TV celebrity, a bestselling author. She has her own range of foods and mysterious powders, she has pills to give you an erection, and her face is in every health food store in the country. Scottish Conservative politicians want her to advise the government. The Soil Association gave her a prize for educating the public. And yet, to anyone who knows the slightest bit about science, this woman is a bad joke. One of those angry nerds took her down this week. A regular from my website badscience.net - I can barely contain my pride took McKeith to the Advertising Standards Authority, complaining about her using the title doctor on the basis of a qualification gained by correspondence course from a non-accredited American college. He won. She may have sidestepped the publication of a damning ASA draft adjudication at the last minute by accepting voluntarily not to call herself doctor in her advertising any more. But would you know it, a copy of that draft adjudication has fallen into our laps, and it concludes that the claim Dr was likely to mislead. The advert allegedly breached two clauses of the Committee of Advertising Practice code: substantiation and truthfulness. From The Guardian, February 12, 2007, by Ben Goldacre

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zz Check if the research is published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. This is any journal where articles are sent out to other

experts in the field for comment and critique. It is not an absolute guarantee, but it is a very good safety mechanism for detecting badly conducted research that departs too far from methods we know work. zz Check that the journal where the work is published is well recognised. You can discover this by looking at how many citations it has in other words, how many other papers and journals refer to it. A recognised journal will have hundreds of thousands of citations every year. One with far fewer is suspect.

Numbers can be deceptive...

When South African President Thabo Mbeki began to cast doubts on the hypothesis that the HI virus causes Aids, he cited an article in what he described as a very senior scientific journal: Current Research and Medical Opinion. In 2004, this journal was cited 1 148 times. In the same year The Lancet was cited 126 002 times; the Journal of Immunology 108 602 times and the New England Journal of Medicine 159 498 times.

Doesnt this mean that bioscience is a conservative closed circle where those accepted in the field endorse and reinforce one another and its hard for revolutionaries to get a look-in? Absolutely! But for every genuine revolutionary there are a hundred frauds and charlatans, and your responsibility as a non-specialist journalist investigating on behalf of an even less specialist audience is to tread cautiously, and not mislead readers into health approaches that might just kill them. Dont dismiss information that doesnt fit these criteria, but check it out extremely carefully and dont overstate your reporting of it. Balance requires that you mention in your story if something has not been peer-reviewed, if a journal is insignificant or if there are questions about a researcher.

During the reporting phase Have you asked how, by whom, where, with how many subjects and when the research was conducted? Have you asked about controls on a test? Have you asked about ethics, and information given to patients/subjects? Have you asked how certain the results are? Have you asked about issues such as the placebo effect? Have you compared and contrasted what you are reporting with what other experts in the field (including regulatory bodies) say? zz Have you investigated whether other interpretations of the data are possible? zz Have you checked your own understanding with technical experts who can illuminate complex aspects? zz Have you looked at who the role players are and where their funding came from? zz Have you investigated context and cultural factors?
zz zz zz zz zz zz

During the writing phase

zz Are you absolutely clear what the story is about? Could you explain it to a friend or member of your family, briefly and in

non-technical language?
zz Have you written it as clearly and simply as you might explain it in speech? Remember: readers are even less specialist than

you are.
zz Have you avoided sensationalism and loaded language? Be especially careful with terms like cure, breakthrough and miracle. zz zz zz zz

They rarely are. Have you included the relevant context information? Have you made the investigation human, by including live-voice quotes and the stories of real people? Have you relayed facts and figures absolutely accurately (and double-checked them with their source)? Are you going to stay with the story until it is on the page? Good health and science reporting can be wholly undermined by the spin created in headlines and other editing. Have the confidence to discuss with subeditors any story treatments that you feel could undermine or distort your message.

Investigating health issues Misleading headlines can ruin a story

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Tainted Drugs Linked to Maker of Abortion Pill

This headline appeared on a New York Times story in January 2008 about contamination at a drug factory in China. The factory was owned by the makers of a controversial abortion drug, mifepristone but the factory making mifepristone was an hours drive away from it and there was no evidence of any problems at that site. Maybe the subeditors were seeking to make the story more newsy by linking it with a drug that had already featured prominently in other headlines? The problem is, many readers whom we know skim headlines far more often than they read stories might get the mistaken impression that mifepristone was dangerously contaminated.

People are often afraid of health conditions. There are many reasons for this: sometimes the illness is known to cause death, or it is painful, or the persons society believes having the condition means something about the person who has it. Negative associations or ideas about a health condition are referred to as stigma (like HIV-related stigma and disability-related stigma). Look at Chapter 5 for information about how to interview reluctant and traumatised people and help them to tell their stories. Many of the most common health conditions in peoples lives are hard for journalists to report on because of stigma, lack of information or resignation. Journalists hold a special position in society because news is one of the main ways most people learn about health conditions. When thinking about denial, it is important to think about peoples social situation. Gender may be an important factor in peoples attitudes. Women in traditional societies are often expected to obey men, and may be stigmatised or punished if they step outside that role for example, by speaking out about a personal or family illness. Other social factors can also silence people or limit their health choices. Poverty disempowers people, not simply because they cannot afford medications, but also because they often cannot afford simple things like transport, which would give them access to treatment and counselling. The desperation of poverty can lead people into unwise lifestyle choices, such as entering sex work. One UN survey in East Africa found that the majority of girls who attached themselves to sugar daddies did so not for luxuries such as jewellery or cellphones, but for money for school uniforms and books for themselves and their siblings, or to buy food for their families. Stigma also disempowers people. Prejudice and discrimination feed peoples sense of hopelessness, making them feel there is no point in seeking treatment or changing their lifestyle. For this reason, your reporting needs always to contexualise the health issues you write about, and include consideration of broader social issues that impact on the story. Know the basics A journalist reporting on a health condition must always know its basic issues. These are: zz How does a person develop this condition? How do people believe it develops? Is it transmitted from another person? How does that happen? Is it environmental or work-related? Why? zz Can a person prevent this condition? How? Is prevention easy or hard? If an individual cannot avoid the problem, is there another way of preventing the issue? zz How do we know if a person has the health condition? Is diagnosis through a test or made only when a person has symptoms? zz Is there treatment for this condition? Do we have any evidence that a treatment works? zz Is this condition something that develops fast (acute) or does it take a long time (chronic)? How does that affect treatment? zz How serious do people think the problem is? Is there a possibility of death or disability? What level of disability might occur? zz What contextual factors (gender, poverty, power, stigma, status) are relevant? This sounds like a lot of information, but it is usually simple to find. A good place to start looking is the WHO site (www.who.int).

Investigating health issues Make sure you know the relevant facts

9-14

Ebola is an infection that makes a lot of people very scared. People want to know about it, so journalists write about it. It is very important that a journalist writing about Ebola knows that: zz Ebola is only transmitted if a human has direct contact with infected organs and body fluids like blood. zz A person can prevent infection with Ebola if the infected body fluids are avoided, or if barriers (like gloves) are used. zz We only know if a person has Ebola when they get severe symptoms. Most people are infected with Ebola for 2 to 21 days before they get any symptoms. zz There are five types of Ebola. Only four types cause illness. Death rates are about 50% to 90% of symptomatic patients, depending on the type of Ebola. zz People are very scared by Ebola because of its high death rate and because anyone can be infected without knowing they have it. This information is from the WHO factsheet on Ebola.11

Addressing stigma Negative associations about a health condition can be so strong that they stop people accessing available treatment and care services. A stigmatised condition that is transmitted between humans will spread when people are too afraid to find out if they have the condition or admit to any symptoms. Sometimes a person will not even try to prevent infection if it is seen as a sign that the person has reason to worry about infection. HIV-related stigma is usually found in communities that do not know as much as they think they do about HIV infection. People who are afraid of HIV infection almost always think that Aids is an acute infection that always leads to death. They worry that they cannot protect themselves from infection (and often see protection as only the responsibility of people who know they are HIV positive). Some communities view a person living with HIV infection as bad, believing that the HIV-positive person has made choices that the people passing judgement think they could never make. These same people usually have resources that mean they never have to think about making those choices. Stopping HIV-related stigma has three key elements. People must know that HIV infection is not a death sentence (though it is a chronic condition that can lead to life-threatening Aids). Information on the simple ways to protect against infection must be available to everyone. Lastly, being infected with HIV is more about the kind of choices and resources a person has or wants in his or her life than it is about whether those choices are good or bad. Dealing with a lack of information People are afraid of the things they do not understand. Sometimes governments, organisations and health care workers do not give enough information about a health condition that they claim is a problem. This can make the problem worse, especially if people are told it is a very serious health issue. In the last 10 years governments and other organisations have become very worried about two new kinds of tuberculosis (TB). Both these conditions multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extremely drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) are the result of biological resistance to the common medications used to treat TB infection. MDR-TB and XDR-TB need more expensive drugs for longer periods of time than first-line TB treatment. Patients diagnosed with XDR-TB in South Africa are now confined to hospitals for most of their treatment (this is at least 6 months and possibly two years). The patients cannot leave the hospital, are allowed very few visits from their family, and cannot work. They are told they will probably die of the XDR-TB. Some try to escape and go home. The government tells the public that these patients are dangerous (sometimes even using crime-related phrases like on the run about them!), saying that the XDR-TB makes them highly infectious. But there is no evidence that XDR-TB is more infectious than normal TB though it is harder to treat. Treating a person with XDR-TB as a highly infectious danger to the general public is medically wrong. In addition, many patients with XDR-TB are unlikely to be able to transmit the TB infection. Most people know that TB can infect the lungs. What most people do not know is that TB can infect any organ or tissue in the human body, but it is only transmitted through droplets of saliva in the air expelled from a persons TB-infected lungs by coughs, spitting or sneezes. Most patients with XDR-TB are also infected with HIV. About half of all TB infections in HIV-positive patients are non-pulmonary (not in the lungs) and cannot be transmitted by coughing or sneezing. Reporting on a normal health condition Sometimes a health condition is considered normal the people who are affected by it are resigned and do not expect the situation to get better. Often affected communities lack the resources to make changes, or to even ask for help. Malaria is an infection that is found in many parts of Africa and Asia and transmitted through mosquito bites. Common symptoms of malaria are a high fever, headache, vomiting, and feeling very tired for a long time after the fever. Every year about 500 million people get very ill with malaria. About 10% of pregnant women who get malaria will die. Malaria also affects child development and local economies.12

Investigating health issues

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For many communities in affected areas, malaria is considered a normal part of life. Most people will be infected as children and have episodes of malaria throughout their lives. Governments do not usually have special resources that are only for malaria. Some organisations provide barrier mosquito nets and treatment, but most people affected by malaria get no help. It is very important to constantly remind both affected communities and organisations with the power to allocate resources that malaria is a problem that can be prevented and treated.

Case studies
Tanzanian journalist Finnigan wa Simbeye found himself having to deal with both technical information about a drug and the politics of medical treatment when he began reporting on the case of the antiretroviral medicine Emtri. How did you get the idea for the story? The first story was actually brought to me by some junior officials at Medical Stores Department (MSD) in Tanzania after people who were on Emtri medication complained about serious side effects. What happened when you reported this? When I first did the story last year, the government dismissed the allegations and said that, in fact, out of over 43000 people using Emtri ARV only three reported serious side effects. But when I visited some individuals using the drug, they would only complain secretly, fearing reprisals from health officials because the supplier had very close relationships with the officials. How did you go about the reporting and what resources did you use? I got a list of WHO approved ARVs, some Emtri purchasing documents from MSD and I talked to the minister, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, the manufacturer, Emcure Pharmaceuticals of India and the Global Fund, and to WHO through e-mails and phone calls. I did use the Internet a lot to search for Emtri, Emcure, WHO, and the Global Fund to get facts on the subject. What happened when the story appeared? What problems did you encounter and how did you deal with them? I really got in trouble when Emcure threatened to take us to court for mudslinging their ARV cocktail, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health also threatened to sue us while the countrys largest referral hospital, Muhimbili National Hospital also threatened to sue. I had to start looking for extra evidence to pin individuals to corrupt relations with the supplier and investigate more on the scandal which helped us run more follow-up stories until when Tanzania Network of People living with HIV/Aids chairman Julius Kaaya finally went public to denounce Emtri and advise his members to stop using it. There was also an attempt by Emcure to bribe us and stop publication of the story. How long did the story take you? The first investigation took over three months and later follow up stories earlier this year took another two to six months. What were the results? The matter reached parliament and the minister ordered suspension of the ARV until a study is done to find out why people using Emtri reported deteriorating CD4 counts, loss of weight and lack of appetite. Of course after Mr Kaaya went public, all local papers carried the story and focus was on why the government bought an ARV which was not pre-qualified by WHO contrary to regulations. The permanent secretary and several Ministry of Health officials lost their job or got retired or shifted to other sections of the ministry. Finnigans story reinforces several points made in this chapter.
zz If he had not investigated outside his national context and developed some understanding of the status of the drug, he could

easily have accepted the Ministrys assurances that complaints were not significant.
zz If he had not looked at context (the generally corrupt relationship with drug suppliers) he would not have been able to deal with

the reasons for the problem.

zz And if he had not used good interviewing skills to give the story a human face and help an activist go public about the effects of

the drug, it would not have had such an impact at both popular and government level.

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Key points from this chapter

NOTE: while much of the information in this chapter has focused on HIV/Aids and TB, because these are highly topical issues, we hope we have provided you with approaches and hints that you can apply to any other health issue on which you report. In the bibliography youll find sites dealing with other common African health problems including malaria and cholera. People can have very different ideas about what health and illness mean. Traditional ways of understanding health and medicine interpret a health issue in terms of society, but biomedicine interprets the same health issue only in terms of an individuals body. Most international health bodies use biomedicine to evaluate health issues. Biomedicine is based on the idea of objective, measurable research that is used to create best practice guidelines for treating health conditions. There are different kinds of biomedical research. Each kind of study looks for information in a slightly different way. Clinical studies are an important way that biomedicine gathers information. Each phase has clear steps to it. Published biomedical research is a good place to look for stories, but the journalist must always ask why this topic was chosen for research. If a story is about biomedical research then the story must be evaluated using biomedicines own criteria (like good study design). Finding out the basic information about a health issue before reporting on it is simple but important. Stigma, lack of information and resignation about a health problem are important issues that journalists can help to solve.

Glossary
Terms used in biomedical research
zz Acute When symptoms of a health condition quickly appear and/or last a short period of time. Acute does not mean

severe.
zz Chronic When symptoms of a health condition last a long period of time (usually more than three months) or when the

same condition occurs more than once.

zz Confidence Interval or Confidence Level (CI) A term used in statistics. Used to indicate how reliable an estimate is in

zz

zz zz

zz

statistical terms. If a researcher throws a CI range into the conversation, ask them to explain what significance that specific range has for the reliability of the study. Diagnosis The process of identifying a health condition. This can be done by looking at symptoms and/or by using a test. Most conditions have a biomedical diagnostic criteria (a combination of symptoms and sometimes test results) that guides diagnosis. Endemic When an infection is normally present at a stable level in a human population. (This can be at a very high level.) Malaria is endemic in many parts of Asia and Africa. Epidemic (and pandemic) When large numbers of cases of an infection unexpectedly appear in a large population. If it happens in a contained locality it is sometimes called an outbreak. If the cases appear in an area that stretches over more than one national border it is referred to as a pandemic. Half-life of a medication The amount of time it takes for a medicine to decrease to half its strength after being taken by a person. This is a way of measuring how long it takes for a medicine to be absorbed by a persons body.

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Glossary (cont.)
zz In vitro testing When an experiment is performed in a controlled environment and not in a living organism. This usually

means in a laboratory.
zz In vivo testing When an experiment is performed in a living organism. This refers to animal testing or clinical trials in

humans.
zz Incidence and Prevalence Incidence is the number of new cases of a health condition that occur within a specific period

of time. This is different from prevalence, which is the total number of cases of a health condition at a specific point in time. Incidence can illustrate the risk of contracting a health condition. Prevalence illustrates how common the health condition is in a population. zz Margin of error A term used in statistics. It indicates the amount of random sampling error that may occur in a survey or study. However, margins of error do not reflect any systematic errors in the study (e.g. non-response). zz Sensitivity A term used in medical statistics. A measure of how well a diagnostic test correctly identifies the people who have a specific health condition. (Sometimes called a measure of true positives.) Ideally a diagnostic test will have nearly 100% sensitivity with no false-positives. zz Specificity A term used in medical statistics. A measure of how well a diagnostic test correctly identifies the people who do NOT have a specific health condition. (Sometimes called a measure of true negatives.) High specificity is important in ensuring there is a low rate of false-negatives.

Further reading
There are many websites, books and academic journals that provide information on health. The list below is a good start:

1 Writing about Health (for Journalists)

Bad Science
zz Weekly column written since 2003 by Ben Goldacre and published in The Guardian. Reviews a variety of health-related

science topics in terms of scientific reason and journalistic coverage. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/ badscience (http://www.badscience.net/ also lists the articles and has a list of recommended books on the science of health.) The seven words you shouldnt use in medical news zz Article by Gary Schwitzer (2000) discussing why the words cure, miracle, breakthrough, promising, dramatic, hope and victim should not be used when reporting on health issues. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~schwitz/The7words.htm Beyond cures, breakthroughs, and news releases: Ideas for covering health & medicine
zz Article by Gary Schwitzer (2005) calling for journalists to look beyond the hype for new medical treatments or

breakthroughs. http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.78806/content.content_view.htm

2 General health information

World Health Organisation
zz Provides updated and peer-approved biomedicine-based guidelines and criteria for all major health conditions.

http://www.who.int/ (Factsheets on most common health conditions can be found at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/en/) National Institutes of Health (NIH) consumer site
zz US government organisation that provides research and information on biomedical health concerns. The information is

clearly and concisely written for health care consumers. http://health.nih.gov/

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Further reading (cont.)

Medline Plus
zz Another NIH site. The site allows you to search for health-related information from organisations, the US government, and

academic journals. Information is provided for both patients and health care providers. It does tend to focus on US-based information. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ SA Health Info
zz A new service provided by the South African Medical Research Council. Peer-reviewed and evidence-based biomedical

information is available for the southern African region.http://www.sahealthinfo.org/ The Cochrane Collaboration
zz An independent organisation promoting evidence-based health care. Provides a database of peer-reviewed and

systematic review papers on some health subjects. http://www.cochrane.org/ PubMed

zz A US government-run search engine covering most health topics. It searches journal and news articles. However, PubMed

often only searches USA publications. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ The Trip Database

zz A search engine for evidence-based health research. Provides Patient information Leaflets for many biomedical

treatments. Search engines are also available for specific health topics. http://www.tripdatabase.com/ ClinicalTrials.gov
zz This US-based site is a registry of US-government and private clinical trials around the world. Contact details are also

available for most trials. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ Medline Plus Medical Encyclopaedia

zz Part of the US government Medline site. It has information on health conditions, treatments, diagnosis and prevention, as

well as medical photographs and illustrations. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html NHS Direct Health Encyclopaedia
zz Provided for patients by the UK National Health Service. Information on health conditions, treatments, diagnosis

and prevention can be found either by topic or by using the interactive body guide. http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ encyclopaedia/ Merck Manuals Online Medical Library
zz Free online version of one of the most comprehensive biomedical manuals in print. Health care provider-level information

is written in plain English. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html

3 Information on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria

AIDS Infonet
zz Provides regularly updated treatment information for HIV and HIV-related health conditions.

http://www.aidsinfonet.org/ AVERT
zz A comprehensive website with referenced information on HIV-related topics by issue and country.

http://www.avert.org/ AIDSInfo
zz A US government service provided through the NIH that lists the latest on HIV-related treatment, prevention and research.

It has a section that lists approved HIV-related clinical trials: this can be searched by country. http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/ nelsonmandela.org
zz The Nelson Mandela Foundation provides information related to HIV/Aids and initiatives to tackle the pandemic in South

Africa.

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Further reading (cont.)

Journaids.org
zz Provides stories, reporting hints and tipsheets.

SAHARA: Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance

zz A South African-based organisation that provides information and links on non-medical aspects of HIV/Aids.

http://www.sahara.org.za/ WHO Global Tuberculosis Database

zz Official country-level information on tuberculosis can be searched by category, topic, geographical area, and time period.

http://www.who.int/globalatlas/dataQuery/default.asp Malaria Journal

zz This is an Open Access peer-reviewed academic journal on malaria. http://www.malariajournal.com/home/

Voices for a Malaria-Free Future

zz The site is aimed at policy-makers and provides information on successful malaria treatment programmes with evidence-

based results. http://www.malariafreefuture.org/ Malaria Foundation International

zz A non-profit organisation with overviews of the malaria life cycle, as well as information on initiatives across the world to

combat malaria. http://www.malaria.org/

4 Information on Endemic Diseases found in Poorly-Resourced Areas

Cholera (CDC)
zz Accessible, general information on cholera (with a U.S. focus), and links to more technical information.

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/cholera_gi.html Tropical Diseases (WHO) Provides a list of the main tropical diseases, such as African trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis. Each disease has a link to WHO zz general and specific information on the condition. http://www.who.int/tdr/diseases/default.htm PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
zz Peer-reviewed, open-access journal that provides the latest information on diseases that are often endemic in poorly-

resourced areas. Most articles are highly technical. http://www.plosntds.org/

5 Information on Traditional Medicine

SA Health Info: Traditional Medicine
zz Southern African traditional medicine information and links are provided through the SA Health Info site.

http://www.sahealthinfo.org/traditionalmeds/traditionalmeds.htm Traditional Medicine Research Institute (Sudan)

zz The Sudanese government provides this site to ensure the study of traditional Sudanese health care systems.

http://www.sudan-health.net/ Indigenous Knowledge Program

zz A World Bank project, the site is development-orientated and looks at community-based practices. A monthly publication

IK Notes provides information on a variety of health and development subjects. http://go.worldbank.org/CFZJDCEDM0

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References
1. World Health Organisation (May 2003) Traditional Medicine, Fact Sheet 134. Accessed at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ factsheets/fs134/en/ 2. The World Bank (2001) Indigenous Knowledge and HIV/AIDS: Ghana and Zambia, in Indigenous Knowledge Notes No. 30, March 2001. Accessed at http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/iknt30.pdf 3. World Health Organisation (May 2003) Traditional Medicine, Fact Sheet 134. Accessed at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ factsheets/fs134/en/ 4. Rejai, M. and C. Enloe (1969) Nation-States and State-Nations, in International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 2, June 1969, pp. 140-158 5. Lalloo, D. et al (2007) UK malaria treatment guidelines, in Journal of Infection, 2007, 54. Accessed in PDF from http://www. hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/malaria/Treat_guidelines.htm 6. World Health Organisation (2006) Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria. PDF available at http://www.who.int/malaria/ treatmentguidelines.html 7. Greenhalgh, T. (2006) How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence-based Medicine. Blackwell Publishing, 3rd Edition, p.1 8. Emery, G (2008) Unfavorable drug studies dont get into print: report, Reuters, 17 January 2008. Accessed at www.reuters. com/article/healthNews/idUSN1663594120080117 9. Acharya, K (2007) HEALTH-INDIA: Prime Destination for Unethical Clinical Trials, IPS, December 14 2007. Accessed at http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40472 10. Lawlor, D., G. Smith and S. Ebrahim (2004) Commentary: The hormone replacementcoronary heart disease conundrum: is this the death of observational epidemiology? in International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 464-467. Accessed at http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/3/464 11. World Health Organisation (September 2007) Ebola haemorrhagic fever, Fact Sheet 103. Accessed at http://www.who.int/ mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/ 12. World Health Organisation (May 2007) Malaria, Fact Sheet 94. Accessed at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/ fs094/en/