Author Description

Digging Deeper is a comprehensive manual of investigative techniques and a guide filled with practical tips on how to find information on the public record in Canada. Too often, journalists and other researchers take the lead from others, allowing governments, corporations, and other organizations to define the news, deciding what is newsworthy and how a story will be told. Digging Deeper shows how investigative journalists escape the 'handout mentality' by thinking independently and developing the research techniques necessary to produce investigative reports. Award-winning investigative journalists discuss how to develop story ideas, how to develop research strategies, and how to pitch stories to editors and producers. Individual chapters offer practical tips on how to research individuals, businesses, and public institutions, including how to use freedom of information laws to access information on the public record. Following the paper trail may lead to other avenues for investigation: surveillance and undercover work. The chapter on interviewing explores who to prepare for interviews, techniques for gathering information from an interview, and how to deal with difficult or reluctant sources. Finding information is only half the battle. The authors also discuss how to effectively catalogue, index, and organize the vast amounts of information collected during the course of an investigation. They show how Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) can be used to extend the reporter's research capabilities. And finally, the authors show how to bring it all together: how to use the results of research to write investigative pieces for print, radio, and television for maximum impact and audience interest.