Journ 2100 1st Edition Lecture 10 Outline of Last Lecture I Know your rights II When is original work created and covered by copyright III Gray area Outline of Current Lecture i Investigative reporting ii Tips iii Power of public records iv Examples v Beat reporters Current Lecture i ii Investigative reporting a Recounts investigative reporting techniques b Ex Stl dispatch story on government scandal State giving money to people who don t deserve it Shows checks to people Documents helped them prove their story c Ex Stl dispatch story shows billed filed through state to show how much the hours work exceeded how many hours it is possible to work in a day d Documents lead to good stories which lead to investigations which lead to change Tips a Learn to listen b Write simply and clearly c Be fearless when asking questions These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute iii iv v d Don t take no for an answer e Understand that people are not all good or bad f Be accurate g Challenge the conventional wisdom h Learn to use public records Power of public records a Build strong foundations for news stories b Available to all citizens not just journalists c Accessible through federal Freedom of Information laws and state Sunshine statutes d Official records provide more credibility than a simple quote e Records track what we left behind as we go through life f Hold a story together like mortar joining bricks g Records confirm a story exists h Find them i Databases ii Websites maintained by government agencies i Examples i Property and land transfer deeds ii Campaign finance records iii Payrolls budgets receipts iv Contracts bid documents v Marriage licenses vi Birth and death records vii Criminal records viii Military records Examples a Michael brown story links to autopsy b Attorney generals influenced to have less impact in their decisions Shows documents to prove it Also explains documents c Payday lenders argument is one sided The guy giving the presentation owned the company Mary Still had a bill to limit these so they had the presentation around the time this bill was going to be voted on Found a document that stated he owned the company so they used this to write an article Beat reporters a Know where documents exist before dealing with a deadline b Jack Wagman i Covered politics for STL post dispatch ii Had a hunch about Kinder s hotel stays iii Found out it was being paid for with taxpayers money iv Changed his decision not to run for governor when this story came out