Student passion and outrage needed says leading investigative journalist
Good investigative journalism that exposes and brings change will always be prized by the public despite the predicted demise of newspapers and big media, according to a leading US investigative journalist who is visiting the Pacific and Australia.
Speaking at the School of Journalism and Communication at The University of Queensland, former NBC TV investigative reporter Lea Thompson said she was “confident and not pessimistic” that the public wanted “in depth journalism” and journalists to be “watchdogs for our society”.
“I cannot imagine that citizens not demand we as journalists keep looking out for them. Our [USA] constitution and the First Amendment almost demands … journalists go in search of documents available to us,” Ms Thompson said.
She said the public would soon be getting most of its news from the Web, which she claimed made it easier for digital-literate journalists to investigate issues and stories.
“All those things that took a hundred phone calls, we can do very quickly now, so hopefully we can take time to do the enterprise stuff and really talk to sources.”
She said that in the United States special foundations were being established to fund web-based investigative journalism including the contracting of high profile journalists to investigate specific stories.
It is an exciting age for journalism students, according to Ms Thompson who admitted to having forced herself to learn more about digital and web-based technology and journalism practice.
She said there would always be journalism jobs for passionate young people, and she urged students to take up the opportunity to make a positive difference to the lives of other people.
“Their purpose is not to cover something but to uncover. They have the opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives. They can save lives.
That’s what’s driven me, that if I can do one more story that has made me feel as good as when those kinds of stories make air … and you don’t ever want to give it up,” Ms Thompson said.
Video: Lea Thompson talks about her favourite investigative stories and the people she admires the most.
Dur: 2.00
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