Investigative Journalism

Investigative Journalism is the part of the media concerned with conducting in-depth research into a particular subject. This is done in order to increase the public knowledge surrounding the subject in question, whether that be a person, a company, or a community. This type of journalism must, however, be done to improve public knowledge only. The story should be reported if the public is disadvantaged by not knowing the information presented in the story, or if they are advantaged by being privy to the information presented. 

Created an investigative story takes a far greater amount of time than a regular news piece. Because the story can take several months to compose, it is important to maintain discretion. Many other news outlets will take a leaked story and publish it with haste in order to be the publication that had the story first. Because of the extended period of time that it takes to produce an investigative piece, the journalist pitching the story must also be sure of the worth of the piece; after all, time is money.

Investigative journalism’s extreme time consumption means that working as a team is one of the most effective ways to compile all of the evidence necessary to publish the story in a timely fashion. In addition to that, working with a team of journalists allows for each journalist to report on their specialisation, which vastly increases productivity. 

In addition to simply increasing workflow, working in a team allows for safety in numbers. Investigative journalism often carries the risk of not only legal battles, but also potential incarceration, being held to ransom and death threats. By having a team of individuals working closely together on the same story, the changes of having the entire team taken hostage are severely decreased. It is also essential to ensure that each member of the team thoroughly checks their facts and cross-references their sources. If facts are not checked rigorously before publication, the journalist, the editor and the publication can be sued for publishing defamatory content.

This video from SBS’s Dateline showcases the way in which investigative journalism works. The reporter has been granted special access to a group that is in power, and uses this access to provide information to the public. 

Warning: the footage below deals with the Ku Klux Klan, and may be sensitive to some.

Commercial Media: The Future of Australian Media

As I sat down to pen this post, I thought to myself, “How can I explain commercial and public media in a way that will make sense to everybody who will read this? I best not explain too many complicated concepts; it will probably be beneficial to simplify the workings of these two forms of media so that everybody can understand it.” And then I realised…

 In Australia, a large quantity of media is owned by either one of two companies: Fairfax Media or News Corporation. These companies produce commercial media, which is profit-driven. They receive no government subsidies, and are funded by commercial spaces which they sell to advertisers, which means that advertisers are the people who keep the companies up and running. In order for advertisers to want to buy this commercial space, the companies must make the space attractive; this is done through attracting as big an audience as possible to see the advertiser’s product. In order to attract a large audience, companies need to make sure that their content is captivating the viewers and keeping them entertained. 

The most popular way to entertain while somewhat informing audiences on television is through ‘infotainment’, which combines aspects of news with entertainment and excitement. This method draws large audience numbers, but results in newsworthy issues being simplified or ‘dumbed-down’ in order to appeal to this modern day audience. Infotainment is known for highlighting only key points and divesting other information, which could be vital to the news story.  This is done in order to keep the audience alert and attracted to the show, and to keep the pace quick and lively to avoid boredom in viewers. In doing this, the companies are creating niche audiences, who begin to dictate exactly what they want to see on television; the companies oblige these niche audiences, as it is the best way to keep advertisers buying ad spaces, and in doing so, warp the quality of the news being presented. 

On the flip side of this, public media is built on the foundations of serving the public, rather than appeasing them. This form of media is government subsidised, and because of this no personal opinions on Australian political parties are allowed to be taken to air. Due to the government subsidies, public media does not traditionally sell advertising spaces; however this has changed in the last two decades, with broadcasters such as ABC Australia opening merchandise stores, and SBS Australia selling select advertising space and partnering with companies such as Dymocks to sell their merchandise. 

Through doing this, public media is moving in the direction of commercial media, which can raise the question: how long until all media is controlled by advertisers? If Australia’s one source of non-skewed hard news is shifting towards selling advertising space and merchandise, we may be witnessing the start of the end of true journalism in Australia.