Course Goals
In this course you will learn the approach, mindset, tools and skills used by investigative reporters. You will learn a fundamental approach to journalism that takes you beyond day-to-day, event focused reporting, adding context and meaning to your stories. You will work on improving your credibility and accuracy by using documents and data, and interviewing more effectively. This course is intended to be practical, while at the same time causing you to think deeply about the stories you do and why you do them. This includes dealing with the ethical questions investigative journalists face. By the semester’s end, students will be able to integrate multiple sources to produce a well-written and constructed investigative text and multimedia project, producing investigative stories worthy of publication in student and professional media outlets.



Theme
Students will work in pairs to complete a semester-length investigative reporting project on a topic of their choosing. Students will identify the key questions related to their issue, conduct research, gather materials, interview sources and prepare materials for print and multimedia presentations. The completed project will include written stories, illustrations such as charts and graphs, and a multi-media element. The story and the multimedia element will complement each other. Students will work with campus and other media to find publication, social media and broadcast outlets for their projects. Other class elements will include discussions, an in-class presentation and assessments of investigative ethical issues.