On The Project Management of Investigative Journalism

[danieldwilliam]

I am genuinely curious about what is actually driving the timing of the news reports about Russell Brand.

I very definitely do not mean, what Establishment Secrets or Deep Truth was Brand about to reveal that meant that he needed to be silenced.

I mean, what’s been the project plan for the investigative journalism, the investigation and research, interviews, verification, editorial and legal review. How does that all work. Why has the story broken this weekend and not a weekend last spring or next spring?

Comments

[mountainkiss]

One significant gate must surely be input from either police or CPS.

[danieldwilliam]

Which I think operates in more than one direction. If the police and CPS were close to making an arrest you might not want to run the story for fear of fouling the proscecution or you might draw comfort from the fact that they thought the evidence was strong. If they weren't going to proscecute that might actually make you more keen to run the story to get the victims' heard.

[mountainkiss]

Yes, this must be so. In this case part of the intention of the story must be to catalyse or maximise likelihood of prosecution, at least in part to validate and signal-boost the story but also I am sure that (whatever their other motives might be) the reporters must feel some sense of responsibility for the girls and the desire that they not suffer from or regret going public.

In other cases this is clearly more complicated, e.g. partygate.

[danieldwilliam]

The counter-balance to some lawyerly caution is likely to be some journalistic courage and solidarity.

[mountainkiss]

Yes and you must have to make some very good choices in the people you hire to be a press lawyer. They can’t just operate from the mindset of “the safest aeroplane is the one that never leaves the ground”.

[danieldwilliam]

And also I think accept that the cost of getting it wrong occassionally is part of the cost of doing business.