There is no infallible method for interviewing people who have been victims and survivors of traumatic events such as violence, crimes, disasters, or accidents. But Marcela Turati, co-founder of Mexican investigative journalism nonprofit Quinto Elemento Lab, shares recommendations that can be used as a roadmap to conduct a humane, sensitive, and respectful interview.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with Lionel Faull of the London-based investigative newsroom and training outlet Finance Uncovered. He told GIJN’s Olivier Holmey all about the tools he uses to encrypt his communications, convert PDFs to readable text, find data on company ownership, sync his written and audio notes, and more.
Connecting with your audience is key to telling a good story. But how do you actually make it happen? Podcast producer Siobhán McHugh explains how she uses emotion — and lots of technique — to connect with her listeners.
The documentary “Trafficked in America” investigates a labor trafficking scheme targeting Guatemalan teenagers who were smuggled into the United States and forced to work long hours at an egg farm to pay off their smuggling debts. In an interview with Journalist’s Resource, the film’s authors offer insights into the investigative reporting process and the importance of cultural competency in doing high-quality journalism.
When it’s time to start a new investigation, journalists prepare themselves in different ways: from doing the research to pitching the story to building the narrative. It’s not about a single formula, but about integrating different resources and strategies. Here, we present a selection of the tips presented at the 2016 conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors (#IRE16), useful for starting and developing investigations.
Before the emergence of digital tools, recording and (especially) transcribing an interview was a tedious affair. The little microcassette tapes were of dubious reliability—and yes, I once had one fail on me during a crucial and contentious encounter. Transcribing was worse, as you’d sit there constantly hitting the “play” and “rewind” buttons, an imprecise process that risked damage to the tape.
The interview is one of the—if not the—most important tools we as journalists have to obtain information, to expand on information we may have from other sources, and to clarify facts and see things from different perspectives. We use the interview to expand upon the basic “who, what, where, how, when and why” of newsgathering. This is true whatever beat we may be covering: health, economics, politics, or issues having to do with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
