Broadcast Journalism:
Creating A Culture For Award Winners
VOLUME 20, NUMBER 6
FEBRUARY 7, 2000 |
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Three of the duPont - Columbia awards for 2000 went to
stations that devoted time and resources to major investigations.
We spoke with the news directors who helped to create newsrooms where investigative
reporting was encouraged and valued. |
| Scandal rocks the city |
In Salt Lake City, the story of international bribes and
influence-peddling in the practices of the International Olympic Committee began as a
political story.
It was KTVX's political reporter, Chris Vanocur, who weathered substantial pressure from
hometown interests to break a story with world-wide repercussions. "We have an
atmosphere here at the station that fosters reporters breaking their own stories,"
said News Director Tom Sides.
"We want our reporters to compete with every reporter on their
beat --- newspaper reporters as well as television reporters. When they break a story,
they are breaking a story. They are not just breaking it for television."
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Tom Sides
News Director, KTVX - TV
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"Chris was able to break the Olympics story because of
ongoing diligence, and because of having developed sources in the community," said
Sides. Vanocur and KTVX have won a duPont, the Peabody, and the Edward R. Murrow Award
for this story.
But in spite of all the recognition and accolades, Sides can still recall how it felt in
the early days of their investigation when those involved were denying the allegations.
"It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. We were out there by ourselves
for a number of days before any of the other news organizations could catch up and develop
sources to confirm parts of our stories," he said.
The story was being strongly challenged by a number of principals involved.
"Although it wasn't the most comfortable thing, you must have faith and stay with it,
which is what we did," he added.
The initial story focused on the giving of a scholarship to the daughter of an IOC member.
It blossomed from there.
"We were all surprised at how once the story got momentum, it exploded on the world
stage. We were somewhat taken aback by that," he admited. The newspaper assigned a
team of reporters to the story. By that time, everyone was doing what they could to claim
pieces of it, and there was plenty to go around.
"It became a very big and complex piece of journalism," said Sides.
Sides added that the Olympics story was so sensitive that they went above and beyond to
make absolutely certain their information was correct.
"We realized we had a significant story here. Right from the beginning, we knew it
was going to cause trouble. We definitely wanted to be right," he said.
"As opposed to having two sources, we wanted to make sure we had at least three solid
sources. Chris went out and got the three sources," said Sides.
When you are doing investigative reporting, particularly on an issue where there are
strong hometown interests, some people will think you should leave it alone.
"Initially, some people wanted to 'kill the messenger.' They thought the problem was
not with influence-peddling, but the fact that we reported it," he said.
"I am pleased to say that it wasn't a widely held notion. But there were some people
who wished we never reported it," he said. Sides believed that in the long run the
community will appreciate the good work that was done.
"We know there is an expectation in the community that this station takes on the hard
and difficult stories," he said.
With the demands of the newscasts that stations air these days, Sides said it was
sometimes hard to avoid the trap of just picking the day's stories and throwing your
reporters out the door.
"While you must put good newscasts on the air every day, you must be willing to
encourage reporters to bring their original ideas and notions to the table. And, you must
let them do their best to break those stories, to do original journalism," he said.
"It's good to be recognized. It was certainly gratifying for Chris, and gratifying
for all of us. We were very pleased to receive the duPont along with the other
awards," he added. |
Beefed up unit
delivers great stories |
In Indianapolis, WTHR - TV took on powerful hometown
interests to reveal abuses by the court-appointed guardians of an elderly pharmaceutical
heiress. While Ruth Lilly's guardians maintained she was too frail to appear in court,
they took her on sight-seeing trips abroad.
On one trip, the entourage of so-called "family and friends" included 80 people!
The price of the trip: $2 million!
WTHR had a history of strong investigations, according to News Director Jacques
Natz, but like many stations, people come and go and support may fade from year to year.
To beef up the investigative unit, Natz sought out "the best reporter in town."
He ended up hiring two print reporters who worked well together, and assigned two
broadcast journalists and a veteran photographer to the new unit.
"From an editorial point of view, the two print reporters give us the direction of
the kind of stories we are going to look at. They have the sources to be able to do the
work, and they have been doing it long enough that they can spot a good story from a bad
one," he added.
Natz said there was a learning curve as the print reporters transitioned to
broadcasting, but it wasn't too difficult.
"Basically, we let them do their work. We haven't given them a quota, but with that
amount of commitment, we expect there will be some strong journalism," he said.
"The Ruth Lilly story was the epitome of what they have done, but there were many
good stories before that and afterwards," he added. |
It's expensive,
but worth it |
Natz believed that news managers should make investigative
reporting a priority, but he admitted it is expensive.
"You might go after 10 stories and come back with one. Not all of the investigations
we have done were at the interest level of this one," he said.
"You must be patient. If you don't have patience, you will be frustrated," he
warns.
Natz said even the reporters in the unit can get frustrated, particularly if they come
from a general assignment background where they are used to turning stories every day.
It is a different mind set.
Natz said your I-Team must be part of the newsroom team.
"If you create an investigative unit, don't leave them so isolated that they don't
have some accountability in the day-to-day operation," he said.
If you don't manage how the investigative unit fits into your newsroom, they may be
resented by other staff members who are doing live shots and producing one or two stories
every day --- and wondering what the I-Team is doing for weeks on end. "The way to
neutralize that feeling is to find a way that the people in your investigative unit can
also contribute on a daily basis," said Natz.
"Every day in our morning meeting, they contribute ideas. They
aren't necessarily investigative ideas, but because their sources come through for us,
they help us by enhancing pieces we are already doing or by alerting us to stories we
aren't doing."
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Jacques Natz
News Director, WTHR - TV
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The investigative unit included: investigative producers Kathy Johnston
and Gerry Lanosga; reporters Jeremy Rogalski and Amanda Rossetter; photographer Bill
Ditton; and graphics producer Steve Wolf.
Natz added it is important to have a graphics producer who can make the paper trail a
palatable story.
"Many of these stories surround documents or video that you can't capture. You must
have someone to move the piece along visually beyond the pictures the photographer
provides," Natz said. |
| Long-form journalism is part of the mix in
Maine |
In Portland, WMTW - TV won its duPont for a series of reports
that examined the financial practices of a conservative lobbying group in Maine.
The Christian Civic League was accused of violating IRS rules by channeling donations into
political campaigns against gay rights and late-term abortions, and then refusing to open
their books to their membership. Several years ago, WMTW began a special projects unit
that produces long-form pieces for a segment called "The Maine Point."
Investigative reporter Christine Young and videographer John Pertel, who won the duPont,
were regular contributors to this unit.
"Christine tends to do stories of an investigative nature. In the past when she has
seized upon a topic of importance, we have given her more time to develop it, and to air
it," said News Director David Baer.
"This consumed our team for weeks. There was a series of 10 reports over the course
of a year that culminated in this award," he explained.
"We encourage investigative reporting here, and we have set up
the mechanism to allow it. Although it is a strain on limited resources, it is a
tremendous way to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace."
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David Baer
News Director, WMTW - TV
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| Pressure was intense |
There was concerted pressure from some members of the
community in this story, too.
"There was no question there were letter-writing and telephone campaigns. Every time
one of these stories ran we got a spate of phone calls, e-mails and letters objecting, and
claiming the stories were unfair and untrue. We expected that going in. Our defense is
that we felt it was an important story, and we were meticulous in our research," he
said. "I have always maintained that as long as you are scrupulously fair in your
stories, and you are meticulous in your methodology, you will emerge victorious," he
said.
"This was good journalism. These were important reports, and we played them fairly.
They were balanced and accurate. Although they generated controversy, they also generated
a good amount of positive reaction. There were many people who felt this was an important
piece of work that we had done," he added.
Baer said the newspapers were very late getting into the story, but nonetheless,
because of WMTW's investigation, these became important stories for the whole area.
The Attorney General began investigating whether there were violations of election law as
it related to PAC contributions. |
| A reputation for investigations |
When you do long-form pieces on a regular basis, people call
with ideas and tips. In fact, this investigation began with a tip.
"When a community realizes that a station is interested in this type of reporting,
and is willing to devote the resources, you start to generate tips. It feeds upon itself
--- the more you do these stories, the more reaction and the more tips you get down the
road," he said. "We are recognized now that we do investigative stories on a
regular basis. It contributes to the feeling in the community that this is the station
that will look into this kind of story," he added.
Baer said a careful, thorough investigation added credibility to a station.
"It positions you as a station that is interested in serious journalism and as a
station that is willing to look into those stories that take time and that are important
to the community," he said. |
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See also: Invest time and interest to get stories that can't be shot quickly
WABC - TV, New York, won a 1998 duPont-Columbia Award for a documentary about serious
overcrowding in New York City schools.
The 1988 Winners: How They Did It
Here are details of three winners:
--- Florida: State of Neglect. Severe mistreatment of abused
children, the mentally challenged, and the elderly was revealed by WPLG - TV, Miami.
--- Jacksonville's Roads: The Deadly Drive Home. Highway hazards
and construction design help kill many motorists. This was documented by WJXT
- TV, Jacksonville.
--- Sauget: City of Shame. A tiny town was being operated by
politicians as a haven for virtually unsupervised alcohol sales and consumption. The
story was broken by KMOV - TV, St. Louis.
Check the
duPont-Columbia Web site for full background.
Here are th entry rules, past winners, and the full explanation of the awards.
See also: Winners
awarded in 2000.
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Since 1981, the top television executives and newspeople have
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Copyright 2000, Standish Publishing Company. This
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