Investigative jounalism

Raycom Media’s InvestigateTV has released Killing Pavel, a documentary focused on the death of journalist Pavel Sheremet, killed in a car bombing two years ago. Sheremet was an investigative journalist from Belarus, known to be critical of authoritarian leadership in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Despite a call by the Ukrainian president for police to solve […]

Raycom Media and partners are highlighting the work of investigative journalists while making the reporting process more transparent to audiences with a new show Post. Show host Jamie Grey discusses recent investigations with an Investigative Reporters and Editors staffer and journalists. The monthly show, which is recorded at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, features investigative projects from documentaries to newspaper data stories published by all newsroom sizes.

In a move to advance high-quality enterprise journalism, the Scripps Howard Foundation today announced a $6 million investment into the creation of two centers for investigative journalism.   Arizona State University and the University of Maryland will each receive $3 million over three years from the Scripps Howard Foundation to establish a Howard Center for […]

WSNS is the ninth Telemundo-owned station to launch a Telemundo Responde unit charged with speaking up for consumers who have been wronged.

NBC’s Miami O&O is joining the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting on local investigative newsgathering efforts. It’s the sixth such arrangement entered into by NBCU-owned stations.

Here’s another small sampling of the investigative reporting being done at stations. The stories turned up breaches of airport security in Nashville; abbreviated prison sentences in Indiana; industrial pollution in North Birmingham, Ala.; and uncertified, previously owned mattresses in Detroit.

The I Files, a YouTube channel for curated and original news videos from the Center for Investigative Reporting and started with an $800,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, is tapping into the video site’s popularity to find the same alchemy for investigative videos and mass audiences that 60 Minutes has struck in television.

The Scripps Washington bureau, home of Scripps Howard News Service (SHNS), is becoming a fully multimedia, national news organization pursuing enterprise and investigative stories for broadcast TV, newspapers and digital platforms.

A 10-person team at the NBC-owned station will cover in-depth issues from consumer complaints to government corruption.

With the return this week of Peabody Award winner Katy Smyser as one of two new investigative producers, NBC’s Chicato O&O WMAQ signaled a renaissance of Unit 5, its once nationally recognized brand for first-rate local reporting.

In the last year and a half, Scripps Television has made new hires and put existing staffers through special training  as part of a concerted effort to improve investigative reporting at its nine news-producing stations. “It’s about serving your community and providing them with journalism and stories they need to know about,” says Bob Sullivan, a former Scripps station news director who, after a hiatus from TV news, rejoined the company in January 2010, in part to lead the effort.

Stations must also distinguish themselves when the forecast is clear and sunny and there is no gunman running amok downtown. Too few do. With the recession behind and a strong 2012 ahead, my hope is that every station owner and manager sets aside more money this year for enterprise reporting and that it pays off in great stories that bring honors to the station, the group and to broadcasting. I also hope they pay off in higher ratings and revenue.