By Olukorede Yishau
There is an argument by some journalists that all reporting is investigative in nature. But, while every day reporting makes use of some techniques used by investigative reporters, journalism has different forms.
One very important form is investigative journalism, a form of journalism in which reporters are expected to deeply investigate a single topic of interest. It may be crime, political corruption or corporate wrongdoing. It involves the use of a set of methodologies that can take years to master. High standards of research and reporting, and in-depth inquiries help to track looted public funds, abuse of power, environmental degradation, health scandals, and other hidden facts.
So, it is certainly not like every day reporting or what I call routine reporting, which involves going to beats, attending press conferences and rewriting statements and so on.
Investigative reporting is time-consuming and a reporter may spend months or years researching his subject and preparing a report. It may involve travels across states, nations and, a lot of the time, it involves being undercover.
An investigative journalism handbook published by the UNESCO defines investigative journalism as: “exposing to the public matters that are concealed–either deliberately by someone in a position of power, or accidentally, behind a chaotic mass of facts and circumstances that obscure understanding. It requires using both secret and open sources and documents.”
But, this important form of journalism is under threat everywhere. In the United States, for instance, a 2002 study shows “that investigative journalism has all but disappeared from the nation’s commercial airwaves”. Advertisers have reduced spending on media organisations reporting too many unfavourable details about their businesses.
There is a raging question about the practice of this important journalism form: Can an investigative reporter do without lying?
Well, the simple answer is this: the idea of undercover reporting, which is at the heart of getting in-depth and well-research investigative story involves not revealing your identity. Does not revealing one’s identity amount to lying?
At the heart of this topic is unearthing of secrets using public records and data for social justice and accountability. And to do that you must be able to rely on primary sources, form and test hypothesis, and engage in rigorous fact-checking. The dictionary defines “investigation” as “systematic inquiry”.
Investigative journalism is no tea party. There is a saying that “to be a journalist is to look for trouble”. This is very relevant to in-depth journalism. The reason is simple: In-depth reporting swims in the same ocean with corruption, negligence and failure of systems. And when you are in the same boat with these three, trouble is not far away because the men and women who perpetrate corruption, system failure and negligence do not want their secrets unearthed. Theirs are stories they do not want told.
I once had to do an investigative report on the tussle over the Olowo of Owo stool. This was at a time the then Olowo had run away from his throne. When I got into the town, it was tense. Meanwhile, my employers expected a report detailing what the palace looked like. When I got to the palace, I noticed that youths were watching a football match.
I read the mood and knew it was not a time to flaunt my profession so I did not go with anything that could easily lead to being identified as a reporter. I only had a pen and one small paper to just take some notes. I had no big jotter, just a dirty piece of paper on which I noted the plate numbers of damaged vehicles and other details I felt could enhance my report.
I was eventually suspected and I had to lie that I was in the palace to watch the football match. Did they believe me? I doubted because I noticed that someone was detailed to monitor me. I slipped out of the palace and out of the town. So you must be able to sense danger and escape to safety.
Investigative journalism does not come cheap. In the face of dwindling revenue, media houses now struggle to fund investigative journalism. The media in Nigeria have for years been struggling, with not a few on some form of ventilator as if afflicted by COVID-19. The industry has not seen any major investment in the last few years. No thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has made us strangers in this world we wrongly assumed we knew like the back of our palm, things have even gone worse.
For the majority, salaries are either not paid or terribly delayed. There are times journalists go for months without pay. As you read this, hunger virus has plagued many a colleague. Hundreds have kissed their jobs bye-bye.
Only a few publishers constantly pay what can truly be described as a take-home package. I can count them on my fingertips. They are that small. The majority do not pay well and sadly, they struggle to pay these peanuts.
Coronavirus has plummeted sales and advertising that had dropped earlier. The lockdown worsened things and getting up on its own without external help is a task our comatose industry is not capable of. Newspapers have had no choice but to cut pagination to 32. Print-runs have also been reduced. So, funding for investigative reporting is the last thing on many a publisher’s mind. It has deservedly taken the back seat.
But the society needs investigative journalism because of its change value. The good news, however, is that there are organisations, such as the Cable Newspaper Investigative Journalism Foundation, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, BudgIT, and Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting, now filling the vacuum by providing funding for reporters to keep this important form of journalism alive. So, you can submit pitches to these organisations. You don’t even have to be a full-time employee of a media organisation to access this funding. Freelance reporters also get the funding.
My final take: The bad men and women are still wrecking serious havoc on our finances, our institutions and other facets of our society, and exposing them is a task that must be done, and in-depth journalism is a sure banker in giving them a bloody nose.
*Yishau is a columnist and author