General Investigation

Investigative journalism. One of the subjects I get to look forward doing next semester.

I think investigative journalism is best described in this way:

Sceptical not cynical.

I'm actually really looking forward to investigative journalism and would love to be involved in these kind of projects during my career.

Being the outspoken politics student I am, I enjoy questioning the status quo and looking at the reasons underlying everything. Which is exactly what investigative journalists do. Journalists are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate in society, which is pretty true as they're the ones that question authority, or at least bring challenges to authority to public attention.

Investigative journalists dig deep into issues. They look at everything and anything that is related to the issue that they are covering. It's like doing a history/politics essay. You look at everything to gain the best understanding you can. Even though I bitch and moan about my essays, I do love learning about the topics. Investigative journalism is hard work, but I think it's definitely worth the effort in the end.

Investigative journalism also dispels my worries about agenda setting as it looks at the issue fully and is able to provide an analytical framework. I'm a real nerd that likes to know everything.

I like to think of the Four Corners report in the 80's, The Moonlight State, when I think about where I want to head in my media career. Chris Masters and his team (including Dr Redman) risked a lot in order to get the truth. They faced a corrupt government that would do almost anything to prevent their secrets from getting out. 

And while on the topic of investigative journalism, Julian Assange and Wikileaks are not journalism in any shape or form. Assange just releases cables and lets them fall into the wrong hands. I'm very anti Iraq/Afghanistan War, but I don't attempt to endanger anyone's lives in order to get my point across. And all useful information from these cables has come from reporters from some the worlds largest newspapers going through them and discerning what is relevant to the public, and also how to protect soldiers and other such people involved.

I'm looking forward to investigative journalism next semester. Not because I find it interesting and quite noble, but because I think I'll be good at it. I don't think I'm a good journalist, I'm a good Facebook stalker which means I can dig up information quite easily. It is amazing what I've learnt from my hours of stalking...