A BRIEF NOTE OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM IN WORLD AND INDIA.

1. INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
AFEEFUREHMAN VALIYAT
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

2. Definition: Investigative Reporting
“Investigative journalism as the activity of news
reporters trying to discover information which is of
public interest but which someone might be keeping
hidden”.
-Cambridge dictionary

3. .
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
• Investigative journalism means a work and detailed study
of cases like political, economical, business, welfare,
foreign relation, heath and drug issues. Etc...
COLLEECTION OF INFORMATION
• Collect exclusive information about the concerned topic.
• Collect accurate information.
• Collect various sources.
• They conduct research by interpreting other news reporting
news reporting, interviews, following leads and going
through public or privet records.

4. • Create a network between people.
• Collect information about illegal and unjust
activities.
COLLETION OF PROOFS
• Riskiest and important.
• Proofs
• = interviews, document, videos, photographs and
sound records.
• Check collected information.
• Check quality of collect information.
• important information depends on the quality of the
report.

5. QUALITY
• The quality report can make a impact the people
and force the authorities to take immediate
immediate action.
• Quality of collected materials can give power of our
story.
MERITS AND DEMERITS
MERITS
• Aware corruption.
• Real information about facts.

6. .
• Good and rare information about facts.
• Public interest.
• Understand truth and falls.
• Human rights
• - political, medical, human and nature
affecting issues.
• Aware malpractice.

7. .
DEMERITS
• Affect security of countries.
• Cause power or existence of government.
• Conflict or violation between government, judiciary
and people.
• Affect human rights.
• It affect business, welfare, economic, health,
foreign relations, policies and nature.

8. Ida Tarbell (America)
• One of the first investigative journalists
• Exposed Standard Oil’s monopolistic practices
• Helped dissolve Standard Oil’s monopoly
This one masterpiece of investigative journalism would
bring about the dissolution of Standard Oil as a
monopoly and lead to the Clayton Antitrust Act. Her
book would also lead to the Hepburn Act in 1906 to
oversee the railroads, the 1910 Mann-Elkins Act which
gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power over
oil rates, and the creation of the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) in 1914.

9. .
Ida Tarbell (America)

10. DAVID HALBERSTAM (AMERICA
• Exposed the truth about the lack of success
against North Vietnam
• Won a Pulitzer in 1964 for Vietnam coverage
• “The job of the reporters in Vietnam was to
report the news, whether or not the news was
good for America

11. Differences between Investigative Reporting and
General Reporting

12. CASES
PATHETIC CONDITION OF TIHAR JAIL
• It begin after the emergency
• Arun Shoori is known as first really investigative
journalist in India.
• He reported about pathetic condition of Tihar jail.
• Aswani Sarin failed a petty case and he prison.
• His investigative reports in the Indian express lead
to resignation of big shots such as formal deputy
chief minister Devilal and former Maharashtra chief
minister AR Anathsmoorthy.

13. WATER GATE SCANDAL
• Reported = Bob Woodward and Carl Ben stein.
• For = Washington Post.
• Affect = Richard Nixon (Former president of USA.
• He misuse his official power to leak information by
electronic devices from Rival parties(democrats) election
head quarters at the Watergate apartment.
• It cause his resignation.

14. .
• All sensational details became known to the
American public after correspondence of the
Washington post published their article.
• They decode the phone calls of president.
• After the Watergate scandel American press
received a real opportunity to pretend to be the
“fourth power” in the united states.

16. The Contra Resupply Network
The Reagan administration’s secret support for
Nicaragua’s Contras unraveled in 1986 when the
Associated Press (AP) published stories revealing White
House links to illegal resupply flights. The contras’
funded and directed by the CIA, killed thousands of
Nicaraguan civilians in a war bringing down the left-
leaning, democratically elected Sandinista government.
Through interviews and the examination of the log books
from CIA plane shot down by Sandinista forces in
October 1986, AP reporter Robert Parry exposed the
“Contra” side of the story that would soon be known as
the Iran-contra scandal.

17. THE HINDU’S BOFORS EXPOS
•Broke = 1987
•Related = Rajeev Gandhi.
•Reported = Chithra Subramanian, N. Ram.
•Power eventually ending upon the long side in
the 1989 election.

18. Bofors scam, 1987: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
was at the centre of the Bofors scandal after allegations
that Rs 64 crore was paid to middlemen to facilitate the
deal for the 155mm howitzers from the Swedish firm
Bofors. The allegations were first made by the Swedish
radio. It was alleged that Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was
close to the family of Rajiv Gandhi, acted as a middleman
in the deal and received kickbacks. The deal for 400
Bofors guns was worth $1.3 billion.

19. Tehelka scam,1999: Tehelka.com, an online news portal
revealed how army officers and political leaders were
involved in taking bribes during arms deals. The sting
showed that bribes were paid in at least 15 deals
including the Barak missile case. In this sting which was
code named Operation West End two Tehelka journalists
posed as arms dealers and met several politicians and
defence officers. Former BJP president Bangaru Laxam
was shown taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh in the sting. Then
Samata Party chief George Fernandes's close friend
Jaya Jaitley was also seen speaking to the Tehelka
journalists. The government had also acted against one
one Major General and four other senior army officers
after their name cropped up the in sting operation.
Fernandes, who was the defence minister then, resigned
after the tapes were made public, but he was reinstated
later.
THEHALKA’S DEFENCE DEAL EXPOSE.

20. IMPORTANT CASES
• INDIAN EXPRES’S HUMAN TRAFFICKING
EXPOSE.
• THEHALKA’S DEFENCE DEAL EXPOSE.
• OPEN MAGAZINE’S NIRA RADIA TAPES.