3. Muckraking
“The man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his
hands; who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but
continued to rake himself the filth on the floor.”
•Coined 100 years ago by President Theodore
Roosevelt
•Aka investigative reporting, adversarial
journalism, advocacy reporting, public service
journalism, and exposé reporting
•Traced back to 1690
•New muckraking age began again by the
1960‟s, investigative journalism
4. Discuss: In what ways do you find
investigative stories and tabloids to
be similar? Different?
5. Tabloids Vs. Investigative
Journalism
Similar
• Stories are crafted around the theme of victimization
• Extensive use of irony
Different
• Investigative stories are earnest and deeply felt
• Tabloids are superficial
“In the main people do not watch programmes such as
Panorama or Watchdog. Neither do they buy newspapers for
the in-depth journalistic investigative stories. The most
popular papers are tabloids.”
6. Downfall
• “…The spectre of the intensification of
concentrations of media ownership, which
journalists themselves believed „chilled‟
the atmosphere for investigative
reporting.”
7. Limitations
1. Media owners may curb reporters
independence.
2. Advertisers can mute journalists‟
criticisms.
3. Investigative reporting‟s expensive cost
causes it to be scarce.
8. Diminishing
“Investigative journalism is the most
expensive and riskiest form of reporting,
partly because it is labor intensive and
partly because by its very nature it can
sometimes result in no story. Today‟s news
gatherers are more financially constrained,
and therefore find it easier to spend a
diminishing budget on chasing celebrities
or the Royal Family.”
9. Discuss:Can you think of any recent
stories the prove that investigative
journalism has diminished?
26. Discuss: Do you think the purpose
of investigative journalism is just to
uncover secrets?
27. Watchdogs or Whistle Blowers?
• Do you think that
society views
investigative journalists
as whistle blowers or as
society's watch dogs?
• BBC’s Slip of the tongue
• Who’s the real target?
– Corporate targets
28. Semi-Investigative Journalism
• Semi-Investigative Journalism-
involves journalists creating an
image of investigative reporting
rather that actually performing it.
• Do you see this being the future
of investigative journalism?
• Strategies used to construct an
image of investigative journalism:
– Factism
– Extensive citing of
authoritative official sources
– Reliance on faceless (secret)
sources
– Appealing to common
knowledge and common
sense
29. Future of Investigative Journalism
• Does the public influence
what investigative
journalists write about?
• The people are the future
of journalism!
– Gaining credibility through
their ability to explain,
interpret, or investigating
– Crowdsourcing- citizens
who provide expertise or
bloggers who contribute
analysis or review of
documents
30. Future of Investigative Journalism
• How can investigative journalist make their
dream story a reality?
• Three phenomena for the future of
investigative journalism:
– Rise of non-profits
• Collaboration
– Rise of machines
• Computers and software
– Social Media
– “Computational journalism”
» New Field?
– Rise of networks
• Mash-ups
• What does it take to be an investigative
journalist in the future?
– Organizer
– Interpreter
– Gathers and delivers facts
– Database manager
– Data processor
– Data analyst
31. Discussion Questions:
• Is investigative journalism just good reporting?
• 1. If investigative journalism were to die out, what do you think the
consequences would be for society?
• 2. Do you think there are any downfalls to investigative journalism?
• 3. Does the public influence what investigative journalists write about?
• 4. Do you think current investigative journalism keeps the public informed of
the truth?
• 5. Do you think that society views investigative journalists as whistle
blowers or as society's watch dogs?
