BECOMING AN INVESTIGATIVE
JOURNALIST
Cont'd......
3. Logical thinking, organisation and self-
discipline
Investigative reporting takes time and
because of the legal risks it often carries,
fine-grained verification. So you need to
become a careful planner to make the
best use of your time, be obsessive about
checking and re-checking facts and make
sure the story fits together.
4. Flexibility
An investigation can take unexpected
turns. Sometimes, the first question turns
out to be a dead-end or opens the door
on a far more interesting, but less obvious,
question. Investigative journalists need to
be prepared to rethink and redesign their
research when this happens and not stay
wedded to their initial ideas.
5. Team spirit and communication skills
Movies often portray the investigative
reporter as a ‘lone wolf’. Sometimes, there
are situations where secrecy is so
important that a story cannot be shared
with others until certain safeguards are in
place. But very often the best stories come
out of a co-operative effort that uses all
available skills in (and even outside) the
newsroom. Good communication forms
another part, ensuring that the team
understands the story’s purpose and the
standards (accuracy, honesty,
confidentiality) expected by everyone
contributing to it.
Those are a few tit bits to guide you in
your decision to become an investigative
journalist. All the best!
TRANSFOROMED BY LOVE
Cont'd.....
Not wanting to give up on him, she built
him a house and continued to show him
God’s love. Now, this once rascal boy has
filled his home with orphans. His life has
been totally transformed through the
experience of God’s love.
Friend, the transforming love of God is
available for you today. You could be
unaccepted and despised in society Jesus
will have you, just the way you are.
Maybe you are struggling with the notion
of a loving God due to past experience
and wrong doctrines. Why not open your
heart to him and find out for yourself?
And if you have already been touched by
this love, it is now your responsibility, like
that once - rascal boy to turn around and
show this love to others. God bless you!
"O taste and see that
the LORD is good:
blessed is the man that
trusteth in him " Psalm
34: 8 KJV
THE INSPIRER, PAGE 30