The investigative process

The investigative process

 Tip –Tipsters

 Formation of story idea

 Formulation of the problem

 Preliminary research feasibility study

 Plan of action-Synopsis

 Minimum and maximum story

BASE BUILDING: THE SPIRAL OF RESEARCH

 Written sources

 Experts- the sources of knowledge

 Sources of experiences

 Reportage- Field trips- Observations

 Key interviews


Assessment and analysis

• Conclusions
• Outline of story
• Writing and revising
• Hand in before deadline



Functions of Media
Information
Education
Entertainment
Agenda Setting

Three streams of new media

News- “Page One” journalism

Entertainment – “Page Three” journalism

Education- “Page Seven journalism”


Emergence of infotainment
Commercialization of Media
Media as a Profit making business venture
Reader/ Viewer/Listener as Consumer



For citizens and information consumers, it is important to develop the skill of detecting bias

Objectivity and Bias

 Human communication always takes place in a context

 Through a medium, and among individuals and groups

 Who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially


Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message



Journalist attempts to be objective by two methods:

 Fairness to those concerned with the news

 A professional process of information gathering that seeks fairness, completeness, and accuracy


Critical questions for detecting bias

The media applies a narrative structure to ambiguous events in order to create a coherent and causal sense of events

 What is the author's / speaker's socio-political position?

 Does the speaker have anything to gain personally from delivering the message?

 Who is paying for the message? What is the bias of the medium? Who stands to gain?

 What sources does the speaker use, and how credible are they? Does the speaker cite statistics? If so, how and who data gathered the data? Are the data being presented fully?

 How does the speaker present arguments? Is the message one-sided, or does it include alternative points of view?

 If the message includes alternative points of view, how are those views characterized? Does the speaker use positive words and images to describe his/her point of view and negative words and images to describe other points of view?




Kinds of Biases
Commercial bias
Visual bias
Bad news bias
Narrative bias
Status Quo bias
Fairness bias
Glory bias


Two Major Streams in Journalism

Episodic Journalism
Thematic Journalism


 Reporting Event: What was happening
 Reporting the process that goes into happening of the event
 Explain why it was happening


Dominant Models in Today’s Journalism

The Watchdog
CNN Effect
News Management
Thought control
Manufacturing Consent
Mutual Exploitation
Role of News Media
How things work
How things are supposed to work
How things normally work