NAME: IBRAHIM UNOYIZA DORCAS

REG NO: 1901361094

COURSE: INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE REPORT

DEPT: NDII MASS COMMUNICATION

TITLE: ASSIGNMENT

QUESTIONS

1. Write extensively on investigative reporting and interpretative reporting

2. Mention the relationship between the investigative and interpretative report

(GROUP G): Write an interpretative report on the delay in the construction of AGP

School of Communication and Information Technology

Introduction

When you mention Investigative Reporting, the first thing that comes to the mind of your listener

is: Is there any reporting that does not involve investigation? What then sets a particular method

apart from others as Investigative Reporting. In this third post in our series on types or methods

of reporting, we shall examine the characteristics of investigative reports, who can make an

excellent investigative reporter, the role of the media investigative reporting plays and the

availability/popularity of this method of reporting in Nigeria.

WHAT IS REPORTING?

Reporting is not merely the reporting of facts of any event but it is more about the reasons and

purposes of the happenings, the causes of accidents, the aftereffects of natural calamities and the

future prospects of the on going talks between two leaders as well.

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WHAT IS INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING?

Investigative reporting is nothing else but exposing something that certain persons, companies or

government agencies do not want the public to know.

Investigative reporting enables setting right the injustices. It is based on the conviction that the

editors, reporters and photo reporters can improve human rights and set the injustices right.

(David Everett, Detroit Free Press)

WHAT IS INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING?

 Interpretative reporting interprets facts. Reporter tries to balance the writing with reasons

and meanings of a development. Reporter provides the information along with an

interpretation of its significance. He uses his knowledge and experience to offer the

reader an idea of the background of an event and explain the results it could led to.

Besides his own knowledge and research, the reporter also takes the opinions of specialists to

support the report.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERPRETATIVE REPORTS

• Just like straight news stories, interpretative reports are written about important matters which

people are eager to know more about- symptoms of a new disease, ways of preventing its spread

and treatment options available or in the works; the provisions of a new bill in parliament, who

will benefit from it, who is sponsoring it, who is opposing it and why?

• The interpretative report is not written with the straight-forward approach of straight news. The

writer can decide to use a preamble to introduce the subject of the story. For example, a story

that explains how kidnapping negotiations are done can start with two or three paragraphs

narrating the experience of a family whose member was recently kidnapped, showing how heart-

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wrenching their ordeal had been before getting to the issue of negotiations that determine the fate

of victims.

• Interpretative reports are not written with the simplest language possible as straight news

stories are. The writers can use slightly elevated and adorned language but they are not to use hi-

falutin expressions or grandiose language that make their reports incomprehensible to many

readers. Literary devices, like familiar, not obscure, figures of speech, are welcome in

interpretative reports. The attractive language helps to keep the interest of readers since the

explanations might get lengthy and would be boring if presented in plain language.

• Interpretative reports are not usually as timely as straight news reports. When something

important happens, the first stories on it would usually come in straight news format.

Subsequently, reporters in that area (politics, education …) take some time to research the matter

and write fuller reports on it.

• Interpretative reports are not as objective as straight news stories, not because the writers are

allowed to clearly editorialise but because in writing such long reports, they have more latitude

to add from their own store of knowledge and choose sources in such a way that weights the

matter less evenly than straight news writers would.

• Interpretative reporters are not bound to any order of writing unlike straight news writers who

use the inverted pyramid. An interpretative report can start with, among other things, a quotation

from one of the sources in the story, an epigram, a figurative expression or a narration of a key

scene from the original event that warranted the report. Sometimes, deciding how to start the

report can be tasking as the options abound unlike straight news which has a laid-down format.

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ELEMENTS OF NEWS INTERPRETATION

By elements of news interpretation, we mean the things the interpretative report needs to include

to be comprehensive. This refers to those points which help to give the reader a broad and deep

understanding of the subject of the report often lacking or only briefly touched in straight news

reports about it. Note that the interpretative report should contain the 5Ws and H of the story it is

elaborating on to avoid talking over the heads of readers who may not have the basic facts of the

story. They are presented hereunder as things the journalist should do.

• Explanation of meaning: In covering issues and events, journalists come across unfamiliar

terms, some of them technical or foreign. The absence of a proper explanation (in terms a lay

person can understand) of what they mean invariably hampers the understanding of the story at

large. My example on cryptocurrencies in the Introduction refers.

• Ranking: Interpretative reports help readers to understand the relative ranking of persons,

events and other things in the news. This is not only done by how much time or space is devoted

to them but by the use of words that clearly spell out how significant they are, like “history-

making event” and “the most critical decision of this administration.”

• Backgrounding: Interpretative reports help show the history of what they discuss. If someone

wins a public office, for instance, their family, education, professional career and political

journey to date would be provided to the public. If a war breaks out, the beginnings of the

conflict will be chronicled down to the escalations that resulted in the war, along with efforts at

mediation along the way.

• Building of context: There are interrelationships between many people, issues and events that

are not obvious to the average person. Individual stories written separately in straight news

fashion do not always show these interconnections but interpretative reports do. What is the link

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between a political conflict and religious divisions in the country affected? How does the

devaluation of a country’s currency affect the rest of its economy? Since no event occurs in a

vacuum, showing its interrelatedness with other events is an important aspect of interpretative

reporting.

• Presenting diverse opinions: An important part of any news report is people’s reaction to the

issue covered. While straight news stories do include the opinions of sources, interpretative

reports contain more of these by virtue of the research process that precedes their writing and the

length of the resulting stories. Take the Nigerian military’s clashes with the Eastern Security

Network (ESN) formed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as an example. A story on

that, beyond the accounts of those directly involved or affected, would need the views of

supporters and opponents of IPOB, both those who share ethnicity with it (Igbos) and people of

other ethnic groups in Nigeria. It would need the views of military and federal government

sources, state governors in the South-East geopolitical zone where IPOB operates, IPOB leaders,

human rights advocates and constitutional experts too who will weigh in on the constitutionality

of IPOB’s formation of this security outfit or otherwise.

GOAL OF INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING/ROLE OF THE MEDIA IT SERVES

As can be deduced from the discussion so far, interpretative reports do not merely provide

information. They go the extra mile to provide education. They help to produce an enlightened

citizenry by going beyond the superficial accounts in straight news to deepen understanding of

the issues in the news and broaden people’s access to ideas and viewpoints concerning important

current events.

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They also entertain by virtue of the impressive language used to craft them and the beauty of

their organisation because, as stated earlier, the writers draw on their skills to keep readers

engaged to the end irrespective of how long the stories are.

Popularity/availability of interpretative reports in Nigeria

Interpretative reports can be found in news magazines, inside pages of newspapers and in news

and current affairs broadcast shows that do not focus on breaking news but news interpretation

and analysis.

By their very nature, interpretative reports appeal to more educated and professional readers- the

more intellectually curious. As the literacy level of society rises, there is a corresponding

increase in interest in such reports. Many ordinary Nigerians are not literate enough to easily

follow interpretative reports and the prevailing poor reading culture even among the literate here

means that the more lengthy interpretative reports do not get the same attention as straight news

stories.

THREE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS

The three main characteristics of investigative reports that put them in a class by themselves

above the routine investigation and verification process required for most stories are:

• They concern matters, often of a negative or illegal nature, that some people or organisations

want to keep hidden. Those concerned are usually highly-placed people and organisations who

have the resources to stifle attempts to learn anything concrete about the matters in question.

This is why investigative stories are called exposés.

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Investigative reports are primarily the result of the journalist’s original efforts and enterprise.

They are not based on second-hand information or the work done by others. For example, a

reporter gets a tip that a state’s ministry of agriculture is selling at exorbitant prices in cities

fertiliser that the government has directed should be distributed at highly subsidised prices to

rural farmers. He then pursues the tip, organises a sting operation with the support of his

organisation (with or without the collaboration of the police) and blows the illegal diversion wide

open.

• Investigative reports concern matters of public interest. The investigative reporter does not go

about invading people’s privacy unless he gets wind that they are doing something that could

compromise public health and safety or that could be of public concern in some other ways. If,

for example, a celebrity or public official frequents a night club, it does not become the subject

of an investigative report unless something criminal goes on at the club, like sex with minors in

the back rooms or dealing in controlled substances.

Other Characteristics of Investigative Reports

• As seen above, investigative reports are written about important matters of public concern. The

difference between them and the issues addressed by straight news and interpretative reports is

that they focus on important matters pertaining to wrongdoing by people in positions of

responsibility.

• In language and organisation, intvestigative reports resemble interpretative reports rather than

straight news reports. In other words, they call for more creative writing skills than mere use of

the simplest language possible, summary lead and the inverted pyramid.

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• Investigative reports also tend to be long because a lot of investigations are complex and take

many weeks or longer to complete. Some of the stories are presented in a series to cover the

various angles and stages of the investigation. Some are long enough to become the subjects of

books and movies, like the Watergate story- All the President’s Men– by Bob Woodward and

Carl Bernstein.

• An investigative report would have a viewpoint based on the outcome of the investigation.

What would be wrong would be to make up one’s mind, then skew the investigation and doctor

the evidence to fit one’s preconceived judgment. Sidestepping lines of inquiry that might

invalidate one’s initial hypothesis or omitting evidence thereto from the story is unethical. So is

overstretching available facts and pushing unwarranted conclusions therefrom.

Desire for reform: Without a longing to see positive change in society, a journalist will lack the

drive to pursue investigations. When someone feels terrible about institutional failure,

corruption, injustice and the like, and wants to contribute his quota to righting the wrongs in

various sectors of society, he will be committed to taking on the extra work required for pursuing

leads that could blossom into major exposés.

• Doggedness: Investigative stories are not low-hanging fruit. They require a lot of work and

perseverance. The reporter may have to knock on some important doors repeatedly, he may need

to spend hours and days poring over books and documents, he may conduct surveillance for days

and weeks without result until the story breaks.

Some journalists are content to cover events assigned to them and pay perfunctory visits to their

beats. Such reporters are definitely not cut out for investigative reporting. It requires people who

are willing to go the extra mile and people who don’t easily give in to discouragement.

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE

REPORTING

The fundamental difference between the two is that original investigative reporting uncovers

information not before gathered by others in order to inform the public of events or

circumstances that might affect their lives.

Interpretive reporting often involves the same skills but takes the interpretation to a different

level. The fundamental difference between the two is that original investigative reporting

uncovers information not before gathered by others in order to inform the public of events or

circumstances that might affect their lives. Interpretive reporting is as a result of careful thought

and analysis of an idea as well as dogged pursuit of facts to bring together information in a new,

more complete context which provides deeper public understanding. Investigative reporting as it

were could be vague and may make no cogent or reasonable meaning to its reader or general

public without a thorough interpretive reporting a case in point is the New York Times

publication of the pentagon papers in 1971.

The paper themselves were a secret study obtained by an investigative journalist who cover the

American involvement in Vietnam War, this was written by the government reporter Neil

Sheehan. Then a team of New York Times reporters and editors’ expert in foreign policy and the

Vietnam War interpreted and organized the documents into a dramatic account of public

deception.Without this synthesis and interpretation, the pentagon papers would have meant little

to most of the public.In this case the investigative reporters created a platform on which the

interpretive journalist could build. That is while the investigative reporters dig deep and bring to

fore a matter, the interpretive journalists in synergy dig deeper and unravel what was initially

exposed by the former.

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REFERENCE

Nwabueze, C. (2012). The art of investigative reporting: A practical guide. Owerri, Nigeria:

TopShelve Publishers.

Spark, D. (1999). Investigative reporting: A study in technique. Abingdon, Oxfordshire:

Routledge.

Uwakwe, O. (2015). Specialised journalism: Investigative reporting, interpretative reporting,

photo journalism, beat reporting. Enugu, Nigeria: Cecta Nigeria Ltd.

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