Archives for April, 2016
The power of images can make stories more memorable
Posted: April 30, 2016 | Tags: journalism
Cover of Metropoli
This magazine cover, designed to showcase the movie "Spotlight," was one of many creative covers from Metropoli in Spain.
“Spotlight” took center-stage in the journalism world after its release last year, and its Oscars for Best Picture and Best Writing and Original Screenplay guarantee that this movie will be viewed for years to come, at least by those of us in the profession.
What has been gratifying to me as well is to see college students appreciate the story behind the film, in which The Boston Globe's investigative team, Spotlight, used persistence and patience, documents and ...
Students moving on — and up
Posted: April 30, 2016 | Tags: journalism
Photo by Shih-Wei Chou
Graduate student Karol Ilagan joins her colleagues from the University of Missouri at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday.
More than 100 students and former students have been a part of the Investigative Reporting Workshop since 2009, from our first post-graduate fellows, including Kat Aaron, now at WNYC, to our current mix of grads and undergrads who are interns, researchers, reporters, videographers, photographers and graphic designers. Each academic year and summer we recruit, hire and train new teams. Most of the students are from American University's School of Communication programs, but we've also hired ...
How to turn science into great journalism
Posted: April 14, 2016 | Tags: Freedom of Information
Photo by Rich Press
From left: Rick Young, David Hoffman, Deborah Blum, Doug Pasternak and Louise Lief talk to the DC Science Writers.
Many science writers are curious about investigative journalism, but unsure how to proceed.
At the recent Professional Development Day of the DC Science Writers Association, the largest regional gathering of science writers in the country, a panel of award-winning journalists and investigators discussed how to identify, pitch and develop science-themed investigations for general audiences.
The panel, which I organized and moderated, also explored how new digital tools are transforming investigative journalism, and how to identify and build ...
Flint offers new model for accountability
Posted: April 11, 2016 | Tags: lead in water
Photo by Shutterstock
Bottled water being delivered to residents in Flint, Michigan, earlier this year.
A couple of weeks ago, the task force Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed to investigate Flint’s now infamous water crisis issued its long-awaited report.
The findings detailed failures in multiple government agencies to address high levels of lead, a neurotoxin, in the city’s water. To cut costs, in the spring of 2014 Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager had switched the city’s water supply from Detroit’s system to the more polluted Flint river and kept it there, despite community protests, for 18 ...
City Council member proposes law in response to investigation
Posted: April 6, 2016 | Tags: police
A D.C. lawmaker floated a bill Tuesday that would raise the standards police must meet to carry out search warrants and require the city to pay for property damage when officers raid the wrong houses.
D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large), the bill’s sponsor, said the measure was designed to prevent erroneous searches and give residents a clear course of action if police mistakenly raid their home.
Grosso said the bill was a response to a Washington Post investigation of 2,000 search warrants that found 284 cases in which D.C. police searched homes for ...
