out of all aspects of journalism we have talked about thus far, i believe that investigative journalism is my favorite. i am naturally a nosy person. i love getting into people's business and finding the truth in most situations. especially when it's people i know.
i have recently been presented with a story i would like to do a little of my own investigative reporting on. the causes of autism. has anyone else noticed the spike in the amount of kids diagnosed with minor to severe autism in this new generation? one theory that i find very interesting is that it could be due to what is now called the thiomersal controversy. basically, there used to be mercury in each shot that was injected to a body (used as a preservative) and this could be the cause of the rise in autism. talk about potential law suits!
while i aim to find out more on that story on my own, i will look at the process that i need to go through according to the text.
i have already gone through the sniff stage, my story search is done. now it's time for serious investigating to begin. hello wikipedia. honestly, it has a lot of information on thiomersal. and while i tried to search 'autism' and 'mercury in vaccines' on the website, nothing came up. its hard to rely on the internet for a source, because you can never be sure that everything you read is completely truthful. and, as the book states, accuracy is tres tres importante! "check and double-check. there is no good excuse for an error."
i like the pushiness of investigative reporting. i feel like the people who work as investigative reporters should get a lot of respect when they weasel a story out of a source. it's harder than it seems.
on another note, i never realized there were SO many different types of public records. property records, loan records, minutes and transcripts. along with that, there are nonpublic reocords, which are not always impossible to obtain, just a lot more difficult.
i found it interesting that investigative reporting is the most expensive type of reporting. and that these reporters are normally the best-paid. now the idea of an investigative reporter is even more tempting.
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