Investigative Reporting
As our society continues to grow and evolve, secrets will be hidden from the public more often than not. These secrets should be known to everyone, and this is where the importance of investigative reporting comes into play. Investigative reporting is a type of journalism that tries to discover information of public interest that someone is trying to hide (English Definition of "Investigative Journalism"). The topic in which the reporter investigates is solely dependent on their own personal interest, or the interest of their editor. These topics could range from government and politics to police negligence. Despite the risks, investigative reporting is very valuable to our society because it looks for the buried lies and secrets being withheld from the public that could directly affect us.
Over the past years there have been many investigations that were started by reporters which then initiated public outrage and caused for further investigation by the proper authorities. One such investigation was carried out by Craig McCoy, the city editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The investigation was described in his essay called How We Got That Story: The Buried Rapes. The spark of interest began in 1998 when the Inquirer wrote articles about how the Philadelphia’s police department had ignored reporting’s of crime in order to make their citizens believe their city was more safe than it really actually was. Many officers admitted to this occurring, but claimed that murder and rape was accurately recorded. However in 1998 there was a report where a woman said she was raped by a loan shark in front of other men and yet this claim was demoted to a code that said “investigation of person.” This prompted for further investigation and they later discovered there were thousands of similar reports that were classified as “investigation of person” or “code 2701.” The investigation soon brought to light that multiple different rape cases that were ignored, were all victims of
Over the past years there have been many investigations that were started by reporters which then initiated public outrage and caused for further investigation by the proper authorities. One such investigation was carried out by Craig McCoy, the city editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The investigation was described in his essay called How We Got That Story: The Buried Rapes. The spark of interest began in 1998 when the Inquirer wrote articles about how the Philadelphia’s police department had ignored reporting’s of crime in order to make their citizens believe their city was more safe than it really actually was. Many officers admitted to this occurring, but claimed that murder and rape was accurately recorded. However in 1998 there was a report where a woman said she was raped by a loan shark in front of other men and yet this claim was demoted to a code that said “investigation of person.” This prompted for further investigation and they later discovered there were thousands of similar reports that were classified as “investigation of person” or “code 2701.” The investigation soon brought to light that multiple different rape cases that were ignored, were all victims of
Cited: Boston.com. The New York Times, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. . "English Definition of "Investigative Journalism" Cambridge Dictionaries Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. . "The Importance and Dangers of Investigative Journalism – Urban Times." Urban Times RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. . Rezendes, Michael. "Church Allowed Abuse by Priest for Years." BostonGlobe.com. Ed. Walter V. Robinson. N.p., 6 Jan. 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. . McBride, Kelly. "How Student Reporters Ended Discrimination among University of Alabama Sororities | Poynter." Poynter. The Poynter Institute, 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. . Rezendes, Michael. "Ariz. Abuse Case Names Bishop, 2 Priests." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 20 Aug. 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. . Winburn, Jan. "Chapter 7: Investigative Reporting." Shop Talk and War Stories: American Journalists Examine Their Profession. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2003. 147-51. Print.