Watchdog Workshop at the University of Memphis shows journalists the power of investigative reporting



Russ Ptacek of WUSA shows some of his work.

Journalists from the Mid-South joined students and faculty for a Watchdog Workshop Jan. 25-26 where participants learned how to maximize Google searches, unleash the reporting power of Excel spreadsheets and expand the investigative muscle of Twitter.

Investigative Reporters and Editors presented the workshop, which was sponsored by the U of M Journalism Department and the student Society of Professional Journalists chapter. It attracted more than 50 people to the all-day Friday session, and another 25 to the hands-on Saturday classroom training.

“The most interesting thing I learned was how much information is waiting to be found online,” said Taylor Smith, a junior journalism student. “It really is true that everything stays online, and if you know how to find it and analyze it. You can get some incredible stories.”

Presenting at the workshop was Mark Horvit, executive director of the IRE; Russ Ptacek, investigative reporter for WUSA in Washington; Brian Faughnan, Memphis attorney Alison Young, investigative reporter for USA Today; and Doug Haddix, director of the Kiplinger Program at Ohio State University.

Horvit discussed how most people, journalists included, rarely use Internet search engines to their full potential. Offering some concrete examples of how it is done, Horvit showed how within minutes a reporter can gain valuable background information on just about anyone in the world.

“The Internet's a big storage file of personal and private information. I'm not sure a lot of people realize that,” said Beth Cooper, a senior journalism student. “In the workshop we learned how to use that to our benefit as journalists, looking for associations and information that may lead to the formation of a story idea, or just to fill in the holes inside a story with more factual information."

Ptacek discussed his own work as a reporter to identify unsafe restaurants, corrupt politicians and social injustices. In one piece, he demonstrated how asking the right questions uncovered discrimination in the way Washington cab drivers treated black customers.

Faughnan discussed some of the pitfalls with Tennessee’s open records law while Young showed how to complete quick investigations. Young’s work at USA Today and at the Atlanta Journal Constitution included examinations of toxic chemicals near closed factories and her coverage of issues associated with the Centers for Disease Control.

At the hands-on training, Horvit showed how a journalist can use an Excel spreadsheet to organize information and come to conclusions about issues that otherwise no one would know.

“I learned how simple the process of analyzing information actually is,” Smith said. “It can be a little intimidating when you're handed an Excel sheet for a story, but going to the workshop taught me how to break documents like that down and wring out all the data I could possibly need.”

Haddix showed how social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are valuable reporting tools. Any journalist not using social media to report a story is missing out on half the news. A journalist using Twitter can identify news stories, locate news sources and uncover information.

Investigative Reporters and Editors is a nationwide organization of reporters dedicated to improving the quality of journalism. It conducts Watchdog Workshops around the country as well as training programs at his base in Columbia, Mo.

“The workshop helped stimulate me to find better stories, not just everyday story ideas, but ones that really inform about key issues,” Cooper said “I think the IRE is doing great work and I'm really satisfied with how much I learned in such a short time.”