Based on the webinar, investigative reporting makes a difference in journalism by giving a voice to new sources, providing more perspectives and allowing sources to share their parts and sides of the stories. “Code of Silence” by Lise Olsen talks about ethical violations through suppression of misconduct complaints about federal judges. Lise talks about sexual assault and harassment among victims and how she investigated the secrecy of it all through effective methods of journalistic reporting.
Some of the investigative reporting techniques Lise used to help with her investigation included balancing reporter and interviewee needs, maintaining respect, notifying interviewees of information that would be used in stories, developing good relationships and advancing communication skills through conductive interviews and conversations. Lise noticed at times when she would notify subjects of the information, they would provide more details and descriptions of issues she could include in the story.
Two key insights I received from Lise’s talk included respecting boundaries, knowing limits within reporting and conducting research through investigative journalism techniques. I have learned that the cases of sexual misconduct could have been covered up and have no formal criminal investigation if journalistic reporting did not take place. Judge Samuel Bristow Kent had almost gotten away with his crime if it were not for the press and for the investigative reporting done by Lise.
“I, for many years, have felt that was the thing that was most important in my life, to do that kind of daily journalism reporting and investigative reporting to hold people to account, but also at the end of the day, I realized that I had only told a small fraction of the story to the public when I got done covering the Kent’s case for the Chronicle,” Lise said. “I thought that the deeper story of the systems that protected him and the culture that protected him and that worked against all the people who wanted to blow the whistle was a more complicated story, and that’s one of the reasons I ended up moving to a magazine job and leaving daily journalism. I felt that these deeper stories need to be told too, and I feel like increasingly, journalists can tell other kinds of stories in the form of books, documentaries and podcasts that are also really important investigative stories and that get at these deeper cultural issues, which is what I attempted to do with this book. I just really saw a need to tell the full story.”
I would apply the lessons I learned from this webinar to my future career in journalism by having the same attitude Lise had throughout her investigative reporting and keeping in mind that allowing others to share their stories plays a key role in delivering news to the public. I learned that establishing a rapport and setting personal boundaries or limits should also play significant roles because of the sense of humanity that needs to take place in journalism and investigative reporting.
