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NAME: AHMED AISHAT OYIZA
REG NO: 1901361069
COURSE: INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE REPORT
DEPT: NDII MASS COMMUNICATION
TITLE: ASSIGNMENT
QUESTIONS
1. Write extensively on investigative reporting and interpretative reporting
2. Mention the relationship between the investigative and interpretative report
3. Identify the angle your group covered in this course group assignment
(Group E) write an interpretative report on the forth coming 2021/2022 session, AGP SUG
campus election
INTRODUCTION
Interpretive (or Interpretative) journalism or interpretive reporting requires a journalist to go
beyond the basic facts related to an event and provide more in-depth news coverage. The lack of
precise borders accompanied with diverse theoretical approaches related to what interpretative
journalism is in the modern world results in the practice of interpretative journalism overlapping
with various other genres of journalism, and furthermore operationalization of interpretative
journalism becomes largely blurred.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
As the name implies, investigative reports, are those that unearth significant information about
matters of public importance through the use of non-routine information gathering methods. Most
day-to-day reporting involves investigation, but true investigative stories require extraordinary
expenditure of time and energy.
The goal (or purpose) of investigative reporting is to present things as they are, which is
not necessarily as people say they are. Investigative reporters set out to find a deeper reality, to
answer questions that may never have been raised before, or at least have never been answered
satisfactorily. Reporting of such depth requires the one looks at situations from the possible angle,
through his own eyes, as well as those of others. It requires walking all around the subject both
literally and figuratively, searching for the one perspective that shows it best. And sometimes it

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means getting inside. Ideally, the reporter begins with an intrinsically interesting subject and
develops it as fully as possible.
DEFINITIONS AND PURPOSE OF INTERPRETATIVE WRITING
At one time in journalism’s recent history, there were only two types of news stories: the spot news
or hard news story and the feature story. Spot news often times also called: straight news, hard
news, breaking news, etc is still predominant in print journalism. But in today’s more demanding
newsroom, spot news and feature are not sufficiently descriptive to classify all the types of news
forms (or formats) being used.
THE ADVENT OF INTERPRETATION
The cult of objectivity: Objectivity in journalism is the practice of reporting facts and opinions
accurately; however, it is often not concerned with establishing the correctness of such facts and
opinions. In the classic model of objective reporting, two sides to a dispute are sought out and
quoted. The reporter doesn’t have to determine the truth or falsify of the quotes. Merely, presenting
the opposing views is sufficient. If politician A charges that the National Assembly is being run
like a private club of the ruling party, the reporter doesn’t attempt to verify the claim; deadlines
wouldn’t permit the attempt, even if reporting methods would. Instead, the journalist, goes to
politician B and perhaps C and D as well to get agreement or disagreement, confirmation or denial.
The more sources react, the more credibility is attached to the story even though the truth or falsity
of the charge is never established.
RELATION BETWEEN INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING
The fundamental difference between the two is that original investigative reporting uncovers
information not before gathered by others in order to inform the public of events or circumstances
that might affect their lives.
Interpretive reporting often involves the same skills but takes the interpretation to a different level.
The fundamental difference between the two is that original investigative reporting uncovers
information not before gathered by others in order to inform the public of events or circumstances
that might affect their lives. Interpretive reporting is as a result of careful thought and analysis of
an idea as well as dogged pursuit of facts to bring together information in a new, more complete
context which provides deeper public understanding. Investigative reporting as it were could be
vague and may make no cogent or reasonable meaning to its reader or general public without a

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thorough interpretive reporting a case in point is the New York Times publication of the pentagon
papers in 1971.
The paper themselves were a secret study obtained by an investigative journalist who cover the
American involvement in Vietnam War, this was written by the government reporter Neil Sheehan.
Then a team of New York Times reporters and editors’ expert in foreign policy and the
Vietnam War interpreted and organized the documents into a dramatic account of public
deception.Without this synthesis and interpretation, the pentagon papers would have meant little
to most of the public.In this case the investigative reporters created a platform on which the
interpretive
journalist could build. That is while the investigative reporters dig deep and bring to fore a matter,
the interpretive journalists in synergy dig deeper and unravel what was initially exposed by the
former.
CONCLUSION
Finally, objectivity also provided fixed guidelines for selecting and evaluating news content, thus
allowing reporters and editors to work quickly and with more certainty. Less obviously, the
standard of objectivity insulated reporters and editors from any unwarranted influence in news
treatment.

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REFERENCE
Houston, Brant (2007). "Interpretive Journalism". In Donsbach, Wolfgang (ed.). The Blackwell
International Encyclopedia of Communication (1. publ. ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
doi:10.1002/9781405186407.wbieci081. ISBN 9781405131995.
Salgado, Susana; Strömbäck, Jesper (2011). "Interpretive journalism: A review of concepts,
operationalizations and key findings". Journalism. 13 (2): 144–161.
doi:10.1177/1464884911427797. S2CID 145169074.
Sullivan, Margaret (2014). "Opinion | 'Just the Facts, Ma'am' No More". The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-28.