Investigative Reporting Analysis: Chapter 13 & 14

Investigating For-Profit and Non-Profit Businesses and Religious Organizations

By Shea Northcut

In an investigation done by Lynda Carson from San Francisco, Carson found out about a nonprofit housing organization named Oakland Community Housing, Inc. After a long duration that city members spent complaining about this organization, the tenants and activists were happy to hear that they were no longer being ignored by the city. It was believed that this organization was spending millions in tax payer dollars on their housing projects.

One member of the community complained that “millions of dollars in funding that has been given to OCHI has corrupted the housing organization. It’s staff stole much of the money through the years and as soon as the City stopped giving money to the organization, everybody disappeared.”

After the city members constructed a petition with over 500 signatures on it and delivered it to the City Council, there was a request to do an investigation on civil actions and criminal charges against Oakland for “fraud, misappropriation and endangering of senior citizens by using City funds for their salaries instead of repairs at their properties.”

Through investigating before any anyone was actually caught, the community members actually became the investigative journalists at first because they did not wait but started their investigation before there was any real proof and evidence. According to Investgatve Reporting, it explained how journalists should request employer’s inspection histories and go to the actual corporation or the worksites to see what the situation is like.

Also, it is vital to conduct interviews in person rather than just making phone calls and to use other forms of documentation. Within this investigation, other non-profit organizations came under scrutiny as well after tenants and activists realized that there was rampant corruption and a lack of oversight occurring.

When doing investigations with non-profits and other religious organizations, it is vital to start looking for the initial signs as soon as possible. Usually, a journalist can start pinpointing signs by looking at other documentation for failing to pay specific wages or monitor and repair specific things within a site.

Chapter 12 Analysis of Investigative Reporting

Investigations in the Education System

By Shea Northcut

When looking into the education system during an investigation, it is vital for an investigator to look into all aspects of the school system to find where people are cheating the system. In the 2007 article from the Dallas Morning News about “TEA: Agency officials got friends contracts,” Joshua Benton went into the Texas Education Agency to see where there was unjust hiring that was happening behind the scenes.

“These contracts were not competitively bid,” the report states. “Several associated subcontracts were awarded to individuals with ties to TEA senior staff. Key participants in the contracting process do not agree as to how subcontractors were chosen.”

Benton went into the school system and found data through past records and graphs that have been recorded over the past couple of years. Investigative Reporting talks about how it is important to find out how scores are reported, look at data on graphs,examine results over time, pay attention to the number of students taking a test, and check your findings with an expert.

In the article, Benton found that “For the past several years, Mr. Wynn has used those connections with the Gates Foundation, the philanthropic body that has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into improving the quality of American education. Mr. Wynn did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday. But the report said he “is adamant that, because of the wishes of his clients, he does not get involved in state procurement processes.”

Also in Investigative Reporting, it talks about how it is vital to for a journalist to check whether administrators had any training before they were promoted and follow money by looking at budget. In this article, the investigation began in February, after Dr. Neeley received a complaint about a grant program that trained principals. According to the report, “the original complainant expressed the belief that the Education Initiatives Division [of TEA] regularly and systemically manipulated the contract and grant process.”

Other Things Learned            

Within chapter 12 of Investigative Reporting, I also learned about the importance of questioning schools about neglecting special needs children. It is also crucial to look into the quality of teaching in the classroom to see how students are learning.

In higher education, a journalist must track money to see how the endowment is being used and know where the money is going. Also, by looking into the quality of personnel on campus and researching retention rates, a journalist can see how the quality of education is on a college or university’s campus.