Investigative Journalism PDF

Running head: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Investigative Journalism
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
The report aims at providing an insight into journalism since mid 1900. The discussion
therefore focuses on the how journalism became more dangerous during the middle of the 1900
by taking into account the standing of the reporters and the developments in the reporting. In
present times, there has been a change in the aspect of journalism due to the change in the
structure of the businesses that constrains and sustains it. In present times, people access the
news in different manner and via the different platform that ranges from radio, print and
television to the various mobile applications. With the emergence of the developments in the
reporting journalism has also become more dangerous with the passage of time. Journalism puts
forward the need for in depth research into a particular topic. The primary purpose of journalism
lies in exposing something for inciting changes. The stories mainly relates to the crime,
corruption, abuses and the financial crimes. The report tries to provide a deeper overview of how
journalism is gradually becoming dangerous from the perspective of the development in
reporting.
History of Journalism
According to Hoffman (2014), the history of the journalism or development of
transmission and the gathering of the news spans around the technology and trade growth
marked by the emergence of the specialized techniques for dissemination and gathering of
information on a constant basis. This led to the steady enhancement in the scope of news
availability and the speed of its transmission. Before the invention of the printing press the
primary sources of the news has been the word of the mouth. Returning sailors, merchant and the
travelers often brought news that spread from town to town. During the 15th and the 16th century,

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England and France, published long news account known as the relations. It was during the 1600
the idea of the printing press emerged in Germany and the national governments of England and
France started printing the newsletters. It was during the 17th century that the newsletters were
published through the established channels (Díaz-Noci 2013). The newspaper has always been a
primary medium for the journalist during the 18th century, the television and the radio during the
20th century and the internet during the 21st century. With developments in the styles of
journalistic reporting, journalism has gradually become more unsafe. The reporting styles
include objective reporting, interpretative reporting, investigative reporting and crime reporting.
Journalism and the Unsafe Environment
Journalist unlike the past is more progressive these days but the worrying patterns lies in
the eroding freedom of press that has led to the violence against the journalists, ownership
concentration and the repressive legislation that has put strain on freedom, safety and the
journalistic independence. According to Danilevskii and Woodburn (2013), in Europe, the
widespread threat for the safety of the journalist remains in the police violence against the
journalists undertaking any demonstrations. This issue was prevalent during the Gezi event in
relation to the Turkish government where the police made use of excessive force against the
journalist and the demonstrators who were not only injured but also faced equipment damage
(Kaymas 2014). In Ukraine, too there were also heightened tensions during February where close
to hundred journalists faced the attack with usage of rubber bullets and stun grenades (Nygren et
al. 2018). Even some journalist were not only beaten but also shot in the face or the eye. During
one of the demonstrations, a journalist shot lethally in chest by some unknown thugs. Since
February 2013, Europe reported the death of close to five journalists. In Bosnia, the police
treated some of the television operators and journalist tried to cover the demonstrations against

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the austerity and corruption (Radin 2014). Policing of the demonstration has also impinged on
Spain’s press freedom. A group of photographers and journalist also received beating from the
police in spite of providing identification as members of the press. According to an observatory
based on the freedom of press in Italy close to 1900 journalist has been the victims of some
violence that included threats and arson since the year 2006 (Catellani and Bertolotti 2015). The
lack of impunity and safety for the crimes against the journalists is a grave problem in
Montenegro that has witnessed many unsolved cases of brutal assault on the journalists masked
by assailants. In Bulgaria, journalist organized protest solidarity along with television journalist
whose car was set ablaze outside her house (Kirova 2015)
According to Mortensen (2014), conflict zones remain one of the most dangerous places
for the journalists. In Crimea, the press members were not only intimidated, kidnapped and
denied access but their material also remained confiscated by the armed people. Moreover, the
tensions between Ukraine and Russia had repercussions on media of both the countries. There
were increased pressured on the independent Russian journalist and Ukraine prevented them
from entering the country thereby leading to newer tensions. However, the east of Ukraine has
detained some journalist and has ill-treated, harassed and threatened them.
Journalism under Siege across the World
As per the reports of the 2017, the global death toll of the journalist stands at fifty-four.
Out of the fifty-four killings, thirty-four confirmed to have journalistic motivation (Cottle 2013).
Non-lethal violence, intimidation, prosecution and threats are rampant from Mexico and Brazil in
America for swathing of the Soviet Unions and ensure freer jurisdictions. The killing of the
journalist in Europe portrayed the fact that violence can even happen even in the affluent

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societies. According to data put forward by the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) countries
like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan considered the deadliest countries for journalism.
Mexico:
According to Arden (2017), Mexico is considered one of the dangerous places in the
Western hemisphere where close to 100 journalists have been killed since the year 2000. In the
month of May, a journalist named Javier Valdez was shot dead after being pulled from his car
who was assigned for covering the corruption and crime in cartel infested city of the Culiacan.
Another reporter named Miroslava Breach working for Norte and La Jornada and covering issues
like drug cartels and human rights also met the same fate.
Although the Mexican extended complete support for the press freedom but that hardly
had any impact and resulted in the increase of the death toll. The more dismaying fact lay in the
agency coming under the threat which was created for the protection of the journalist. The
special prosecutor appointed for resolving the cases also failed badly.
Brazil:
The journalist in Brazil works in one of the dangerous reporting environments however
they remain increasingly under the pressure from the internet trolls and the law suits (bbc.com
2013. There are close to around fifteen journalist death in past decade and the assassins never got
caught. Brazil therefore ranked as one of the worst country in the global impunity index of CPJ.
Reporters particularly remain at risk when they are cover crime in the smaller cities and towns
with minimal policing. However, in the month of June, a blogger named Luís Gustavo was shot
in the head for posting a report about the drug dealers in the town of Aquiraz. Journalists are also
facing increasing amount of harassment. Moreover, journalist also faces online intimidation

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along with legal and physical threats from the other authorities and the police especially during
the demonstrations. In the month of April, a journalist was not only accused but faced arrest
while covering the protest of Free Pass Movement.
India:
According to Sampathkumar (2017), the journalists reporting from the remote regions are
less visible and face greater risk. Three journalist were murdered, the most prominent being the
case of Gauri Lankesh who was not only a fierce critic but also an editor of the Hindu extremist.
There was another crime reported who was also shot dead in the parliamentary base of Tripura
where he undertook investigations against the allegations of corruptions. There was another
Tamil Nadu based investigative journalist who also faced sufficient level of harassment after she
published reports on the illegal sand mining of the state. Her phone number not only went public
in the social media but she also received call of threat and abuse. The police complaints went in
vain as they did nothing for investigating the case.
Turkey:
The threat remains in being juridical than existential in Turkey although there has been
close to 10 journalist death. After the coup attempt of last year, close to 200 media organizations
were shut which also included websites, newspaper, news agencies and TV stations with the
laying off of close to 2500 journalist. In the month of April, there were close to 152 journalists in
the prison thereby displaying the highest number across the world.
Russia:

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For independent journalist, Russia is not only a difficult but also a dangerous place. This
is due to the shrinking of the place for the media and few of the raised voices are either attacked
or are forced to flee (Politkovskaya 2015). In the month of September, a journalist named Yulia
Latynina had to flee when her car was set on the fire and her face sprayed with the faeces. A
reporter working for Novaya Gazeta had to spend months outside the country after the
publication of the story about the gay men in Chechnya.
Many of the liberal journalists from Russia blamed some of the counterparts on the state
television for aiding in whipping up the hatred against them. In the month of October, the
television news report put forward allegation against the liberal radio station of the Ekho Moskvy
for taking money from the NGOs in destabilizing Russia which also posed a threat to the Russian
state. There were reports of a journalist being stabbed in the neck by assailants in the Ekho
Studios.
Conclusion:
Thus to conclude, one can say that the grim statistics for the broader discussion on the
safety of the journalist. The yearly statistics put up helps the members, industry practitioners and
the general public in understanding the hard cold fact that reporters often succumb to death in the
process of seeking truth and sharing it to the world. There is however other dangers that the
journalist faces but the statistics of them are hard to find as most organizations do not publish
them. It is therefore harder to track the unseen wounds of bearing the witness. Psychological
trauma has become an integral part of news reporting since the journalists have to cover things
like car accidents, natural catastrophes, war and shootings. Recently, there has been an

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emergence of various organizations that now speaks about the problem and provides necessary
encouragement to the journalists.

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References:
Arden, D. 2017. Mexico journalist shot dead in Gulf state of Veracruz. [online] Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/mexico-journalist-killed-veracruz-leobardo-
vazquez [Accessed 12 May 2018]
bbc.com 2013. Shot Brazil journalist becomes fourth killed this year. [online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-17836570 [Accessed 12 May 2018].
Catellani, P. and Bertolotti, M., 2015. The Perception of Politicians’ Morality: Attacks and
Defences. In Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology (pp. 1-15). Psychology Press.
Cottle, S., 2013. Journalists witnessing disaster: From the calculus of death to the injunction to
care. Journalism Studies, 14(2), pp.232-248.
Danilevskii, N. and Woodburn, S., 2013. Russia and Europe. Slavica Publishers.
Díaz-Noci, J., 2013. A History of Journalism on the Internet: A state of the art and some
methodological trends. Revista internacional de Historia de la Comunicación, (1), pp.253-272.
Hoffman, E., 2014. Exit into history: A journey through the new Eastern Europe. Faber & Faber.
Kaymas, A.S., 2014. When the Journalist Meet to the New Media: Some Reflections on the
Interactions between Journalist and New Media Driven Journalism in Turkey. Acta Universitatis
Danubius. Communicatio, 8(2).
Kirova, M., 2015, July. Bulgaria Imagined: English Travelnotes on Bulgaria from Mid 19th
Century. In Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum (Vol. 1, No. 1).

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Mortensen, M., 2014. Journalism and eyewitness images: Digital media, participation, and
conflict (Vol. 8). Routledge.
Nygren, G., Glowacki, M., Hök, J., Kiria, I., Orlova, D. and Taradai, D., 2018. Journalism in the
Crossfire: Media coverage of the war in Ukraine in 2014. Journalism Studies, 19(7), pp.1059-
1078.
Politkovskaya, A. 2017. To be a journalist in Russia is suicide. [online] Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/nov/24/anna-politkovskaya-russia-press-freedom
[Accessed 12 May 2018].
Radin, A., 2014. The Misunderstood Lessons of Bosnia for Syria. The Washington
Quarterly, 37(4), pp.55-69.
Sampathkumar, M. 2017. NewsWorldAsia Three journalists killed in 24 hours highlights India
press freedom problem, watchdog groups warn. [online] Available at:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-journalist-killed-dead-sandeep-sharma-
death-press-freedom-a8278641.html [Accessed 12 May 2018].