5 takeaways:
➀ Think analytically and plan in advance. Journalist and author Diana B. Henriques has tackled some of the most complicated business investigations of the past few decades, including the story of Bernie Madoff, who engineered one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. One key: Plan ahead and “apply the scientific method in a kind of journalistic application.” (Hear Henriques describe the process here.) She develops a working hypothesis for what she’s trying to prove, casting it as a statement. “Frame a working hypothesis for your project,” Henriques said. “Step two, assess your existing knowledge that can help you prove that project. … Then step three, analyze what you will need to know to prove your hypothesis.”
➁ Cast a wide net for sources. Whatever the topic, make note of potential sources, even if they are only on the fringes of the story. “I actually make a list of everybody I know, everything I’m already familiar with, that will help me do that story,” she said. “That gives me a sense of what resources I’m bringing to the table.” Then, figure out who knows the most about the subject, and go to them. Who has a vested interest in tracking the issues? “You just need to think … a little bit more conceptually about what you’re doing while you’re doing it,” she said.
➂ Remember that no matter how good you are, some stories might be out of reach. Henriques told the tale of one potential story involving mutual fund managers that — maybe, possibly — were on the take. Getting that story would be a tough get: “What would you have to prove that the money fund manager or mutual fund managers were being bribed to buy dodgy stocks from an underwriting house?” Henriques asked. “Well, obviously, video would be good, right? The bag man handing the cash over, that would be nice. Bank records would be good showing unexplained supplies of cash hitting the records. Documentation of a standard of living that’s different from what their probably-not-public salary is. So you start looking at what you need to know and you realize the surpassing difficulty of getting it. At that point, you say, ‘You can’t get that story. You need subpoenas to get that story. You need handcuffs to get that story. You can’t get that story.’” All is not lost, however: There might be a lesser story you can execute that touches on the issues at play, even if you don’t have the goods on the home run story.
➃ Figure the answer to the question your audience will have from word one: Why does this matter? After 25 years of judging journalism prizes, Henriques knows that most reporters don’t bother with her step four: The ‘So what’ question. Said Henriques: “You prove your thesis. You got it down, you nailed it, bullet-proof. So what? Why does it matter that you’ve proved that? What is the public stake in that issue?” If you can’t answer that question in a simple sentence, you have more work to do. Henriques relayed the story of a public spectacle in the 1990s about who wrote the novel “Primary Colors,” which was very loosely based on the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Like the 30-year hunt for Watergate hero “Deep Throat,” the public — at least for a little while — was captivated by the hunt for the book’s official author: “Anonymous.” And Henriques’ editor wanted her to use her significant investigative skills to find that author. She pushed back. “So I prove who it is. So what? Why would it matter to anybody except 12 journalists in New York?” she said. She convinced her editor to back off. (In fact, the author was not some Clinton insider but a clever journalist for Newsweek, Joe Klein.)
➄ Prove your case — but don’t over-prove it. Good investigative reporting relies on facts, of course. And readers expect you to be able to prove your case. But a newspaper or newscast is not a court of law and readers above all else want stories, not legal briefs. “Facts are there to meet your burden of proof — that is to prove your hypothesis,” Henriques said. “… And you must use enough facts to prove your thesis and not one fact more.” She shared the wisdom of her long-ago editor at Barron’s magazine, Alan Abelson. Henriques was always worried about whether she had proven her case. Generally, she had: “He would come into the office, my office at Barron’s, and say, ‘Diana, once you’ve hung him, and shot him, and stabbed him, you don’t have to poison him and drown him, too. You just need to kill him once, okay?’”
Speaker: Diana B. Henriques, Contributing Writer, The New York Times; Author, “The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust,” “A First-Class Catastrophe: The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History” and other books.
This program was funded by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content.
