Friday, 13 November 2009

Law for journalists- Investigative journalism.

Emile Zola,investigative journalism, journalism
(Notes taken from Chris Horrie's lecture and web notes)

This week's lecture covered investigative journalism and the legal issues that surround it.

Investigative journalism is different from normal journalism as it deeply investigates a single topic of interest and doesn't have to follow the normal "news agenda" as the journalist can pick their own agenda. The usual topics that are investigated are political corruption, crime or scandals.

We learnt about the famous french novelist Emile Zola who is known as the "father of investigative journalism". He is well known for his graphic and powerful novels but particularly known for successfully setting free the french army general, Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus had been used as a scapegoat for France losing the war against Prussia and was wrongly convicted of treason for which he received a life imprisonment sentence. Zola investigated and published a 4000 word article containing the details of how it was all a scandal. It was known as a landmark day for journalism.

The key to producing a safe piece of investigative journalism is to ensure that it is absent of any malice. This type of journalism must not be an excuse to seek revenge on somebody and you mustn't becoming personally involved. Always stick to your agenda.

The journalists main defence when publishing an investigative piece is that it is of 'public interest'. According to Mr Justice Eady "it is the rock on which we stand" i.e. its a key defence for journalists.

Interesting fact:

PEOPLE'S RUBBISH COULD BE YOUR TREASURE!! Did you know that there is no law protecting your rubbish? So if someone decided to do some investigative journalism they could route through your bin and use whatever they find to build their story or sell to a newspaper! A famous character known for this is 'Benji the Bin-man" who has often gone through celebrities' bins and found key documents which have been involved in court cases.

No comments:

Post a Comment