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MRA Workshop
Participants Call for More Investigative Reporting Trainings
Participants at a two-day
investigative reporting workshop have called for more and regular
trainings in investigative reporting for all cadres of journalists.
Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
brought together 27 junior and middle level journalists from the print
and broadcast media on December 5 and 6, 2007
to broaden their skills
to face the enormous challenges of reporting sensitive issues in our
democracy. The workshop, organized with support from the
Communication and Information Sector of the Programme for Freedom of
Expression, Democracy and Peace at the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris was held at Ostra
Halls and Hotel in Lagos.
The objectives of the workshop
included improving the understanding of participants to the role of a
free and independent media in a democratic society and to strengthen the
ability of the participating journalists to conduct more professional
reporting on sensitive issues such as corruption, politics and economic
reforms, etc.
Participants stated some of their expectations of the
workshop to include enhancing their skills more professionally to
identify the various obstacles and challenges involved in investigative
reporting; confirm what the have known and gain more knowledge on how to
go about doing investigative reports; to become all round journalists
ready to go for any assignment; to be able to do their assignments
without fear or inducement; and to find out if it is possible to do
investigative reporting in a country or environment where there is no
Freedom of Information Law and with a Police Force that is corrupt etc.
Trainers at the workshop were Mr. Soji Apampa, Chief Executive Officer
of RTA Intelligence, Abuja; Mr. Olubunmi Ajibade, a Lecturer at the
Department of Mass Communications, University of Lagos; Mr. Edetaen Ojo,
Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda; and Mr. Emmanuel Maya,
Assistant Editor, The Sun Newspapers and two- time Winner of the Wole
Soyinka Awards for Investigative Reporting 2005 & 2006
Some of the topics treated included Overview and Elements of
Investigative Reporting; Investigating Economic and Financial Stories;
Using Documents, Cultivating Sources; Effective Interviewing in
Investigative Reporting; The New Media Environment and Investigative
Reporting; Challenges in Investigative Reporting-A case Study; and
Ethical Issues and Standards in Investigative reporting.
The sessions were interactive with lectures,
practical sessions and simulation exercises to ground participants in
the nitty-gritty of investigative reporting.
Mr. Edetaen Ojo, delivered the first paper titled ‘Overview and Elements
of Investigative Reporting.’ In the paper, he asserted that the whole
essence for doing investigative reporting was to dig below the events
and peel back the layer of lies and cover up. He encouraged reporters to
be more enterprising and dig up what people are trying to cover or hide.
He listed several qualities of an investigative reporter to include an
abundance of curiosity and skepticism; Good investigative skills;
Ability to understand the context in which events take place or issues
are discussed; Good analytical skills; Ability to interpret data,
statistics, etc; Good writing skills, to communicate the story; and
Tenacity, to follow up and stay on a story
On sourcing information in investigative reporting, he said sourcing for
news is usually more through unofficial sources which the journalist has
cultivated over time. Though he added that this process may frequently
be risky for both the journalists and the sources of the information, he
however pointed out that there is every tendency that the journalist
will be able to unearth the true facts surrounding an issue, situation
or events if he/she persists.
Mr. Ojo likened the investigative reporter to the law enforcement
investigator or a prosecutor who, in trying to establish a case against
a suspect, looks for all possible form of evidence: documentary or
otherwise.
He said the journalist must interview witnesses, suspects, etc; conduct
researches into different aspects of the case; get expert legal, medical
or financial opinions and in the long run assembly the facts to prove
his case. He gave a note of caution to participants, saying they should
be mindful of the professional requirement contained in the code of
conduct for journalists, Article 10 of which provides that: ‘A
journalist should strive to employ open and honest means in the
gathering of information. Exceptional methods may be employed only when
the public interest is at stake’. He said.
He also stressed the importance of protecting confidential sources who
give out information saying they are vulnerable to powerful interests
that want to suppress such information. He added that how the story is
presented is as important as gathering the materials.
“Having gathered the facts, done your background checks, conduct your
interviews to fill in any gaps and get experts opinions, you need to
present the story to your audience, your story would have a better
chance of making the impact you desire if it is well written, direct,
focused, clear and interesting”. He said.
Mr. Soji Apampa took two sessions with the topic: Investigating Economic
and Financial Stories. To uncover the subject matter, he said conscious
efforts must be made to uncover certain key words: the Actors,
Institutions, Structures and stakeholders. He disclosed how to identify
the actors, Structures and Institutions, how to map and unravel embedded
networks and patronage systems as well as taught the frameworks for
reporting findings for maximum impact.
He encourage the investigative reporter to be more tenacious in getting
to the root of the ‘who’ did ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘why’, and ‘when’ of an
investigative story; the impact; relevance and elements of proof.
Another key concept he said was important was the postulations of JONES
(1991), Reporting for Maximum Impact, which includes: Magnitude of
Consequences, Social Consensus, Probability of Effect, Temporal
Immediacy, Proximity, and Concentration of Effect.
Explaining further, he said Magnitude of Consequences of the issues
under consideration is defined as the sum of harms (or benefits) done to
victims (beneficiaries) of an act in question. The Social Consensus of
the issue is the degree of social agreement that a proposed act is evil
or good. Probability of effect of the act in question is a joint
function of the probability that the act in question will actually cause
the harm or (benefit) as predicted. Proximity of an issue is the feeling
of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical) that the
moral agent has for the victims or (beneficiaries) of the evil or
(beneficial) act in the question. Concentration of Effect of an act in
question is an inverse function of the number of people affected by an
act of given magnitude.
Ajibade opened discussion stressing the importance of investigative
journalism. He quoted Tony Burman, Former Editor-in-Chief of CBC News,
who said ‘There is no more important contribution that journalists can
make to the society than strong, publicly-spirited investigative
journalism”.
He also dwelt on the importance of sources and gave a long list of types
of documents some of which include Annual reports Court records, Police
records, Research reports, Real estate records, Tax records, Bank
records, Memos and circulars, Phone records, and Address books etc
He also listed possible sources of information and talked on techniques
of cultivating sources. Allied to this, he said, is the reporter’s
ability to get people to talk to him/her adding that the reporter must
ask pertinent questions.
Mr. Ojo again took another session and treated ‘New Media Environment
and Investigative Reporting”.
He took participants through the development of the media which was
closely linked with technology concluding that a present-day journalist
must be IT-savvy and an all-rounder in newspaper, radio and television
reporting if he/she is to remain relevant.
He emphasized that today, journalism practice is being fundamentally
changed by the revolutionary developments in Information and
Communications Technologies adding that digital technology is now being
used to collect, edit, publish and distribute news material, a great
departure from the traditional mode of media practice.
Mr. Ojo highlighted the importance of the internet as means of
gathering, publishing and disseminating information. He took
participants through four dimensions of press freedom: the Physical
layer; who owns and controls the infrastructure and access to it;
Connectivity layer: how can we use that networks & technologies
accessible and open to innovation; Application layer: How can we be sure
that those who influence, how we navigate contents are acting in the
public interest? and Content layer: what is influencing the subject
matter of communication?
He said news and information was central to journalism practice and the
internet readily providing journalists information they need for a
story, either as background or specific pieces of data to fill a gap.
He added that new technologies are also making investigative reporting
much easier. It is easier to research information about people,
institutions, historical events, etc. He said to be effective at this
time; the investigative reporter must be adept at internet research
skills and using search engines.
Taking participants on through the sixth plenary, Mr. Ajibade, took the
subject ‘Ethical Issues and Standards in Investigative Reporting.’
He defined ethics as set of rules guiding the standards of journalism
practice to ensure media credibility. He listed some of the ethical
issues that may mar investigative reporting to include the following:
Plagiarism, Fabricating Information, Conflict of Interest, Reporting or
Exploiting Grief, Invasion of Privacy etc.
Mr. Ajibade also dwelt on the Code of
Ethics for the Nigerian journalists, which he said they must adhere to
in doing investigative reporting and these are accuracy, truth,
objectivity, fairness, balance, and concern for the people.
In the last session, Mr. Emmanuel Maya
shared his experiences in doing investigative stories with participants
taking the topic: Challenges in investigative Reporting-A Case Study.
He said he was compelled to embark on
investigative reporting from personal experiences. One of such was the
sight of a woman who lost her fingers to a factory job. He said at the
sight of this woman, he approached his Editor. Emmanuel said his office
supported him a great deal to embark on the investigation to expose to
the public the modern slavery people were being subjected to by some of
these factory who engaged workers on casual basis. Maya said his office
provided him with all the financial supports he needed to carry out his
investigation that sometimes spanned one month or more.
The processes, he said, involved seeking
casual appointment with factories in various locations. He then related
how he got in, his experiences, and finding in the factories.
Maya said with the help of friends he
also carried out investigation journalism at the office of National
Action Committee on Aids (NACA) where he exposed the large scale the
went on in the agency involving huge sums that run into million of
dollars.
At the end of the workshop, participants were issued with certificates
of participation at end of the workshop. They expressed satisfaction
with what they were learnt at the workshop while calling for more of
such workshop to be regularly organized for all categories of
journalists. They praised MRA for organizing the training, which most of
them said an absolute necessity, especially at a time when journalists
are faced with all kinds of challenges and obstacles.
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