X

Exploring the Academic Credibility of Investigative Journalism

Figure out what an investigative journalism is and how it is connected with the academic credibility.

Hashtag: #SwissLeaks

World of Superficiality

Journalism in its original form is a separate world and far removed from academic sphere. The reason is that superficial thought and research are contradictory attributes of a scholarly article that by nature are systematic, in-depth, and well-structured pieces of writing.

An academic complaint article is normally coherent, discusses all sides of the issue, makes use of scientifically acquired facts, properly acknowledged its sources, peer-reviewed, written and presented in technical language for informed readers. In contrast, popular journalistic publications such as newspapers, magazines, and others are mostly for the lay audience, thus informal, skimmed, and speculative. They are sometimes sketchy and one-sided, no author, and lack the credibility of scholarly works.

However, the form of journalism responsible for #SwissLeaks or expose of secret billion Swiss bank accounts allegedly owned by HSBC clients seems unusual and more academic in nature than traditional journalism. The reporters that divulged secret bank accounts of known personalities (some may be facing tax invasion charges afterward) are practitioners of Investigative Journalism, an academic compliant form of journalism. This is the same form of journalism (best known as “Watchdog” journalism) responsible for unmasking corruptions, abuse of power, environmental and health scandals, and publishing of well-researched and written news articles in recent years.

Academic Credibility of Investigative Journalism

The definition of Investigative Journalism varies from author to author but it is commonly about a journalist’s own initiative to look into the significance of the issue, conduct a comprehensive and exhaustive research, make detailed information public, and inspire reform.

Creating an outline of Investigative Journalism features found in literature would give us a form of journalistic undertaking that is truth-seeking, objective, systematic, in-depth, facts and evidence oriented, and consistent. Similarly, a careful analysis of academic research requirements will give us an idea that a certain result of a certain research must add value to existing knowledge. This new knowledge must be acquired through scientific methodologies, ethical, analytical, synthesized, and presented in succinct style and appropriate terminology. In other words, academic research is an objective, systematic, in-depth, and original piece of writing.

Given that Investigative Journalism reports or articles are objective in its quest for truth, systematically and thoroughly researched, structured and presented with supporting facts and evidence, then they must be compliant to the academic standard. The problem, however, is the fact that their method of data gathering will not pass academic ethical scrutiny. Certainly, scientific data gathering in academic sphere is never about #SwissLeaks or systematically stealing data from anyone. In fact, an academic research is about consent and confidentiality. It should be reactive to the welfare of data sources.

There is no doubt that investigative journalists and academic intellectuals both seek after the truth. In fact, they are both systematic and support their claims with facts. However, they strangely vary in their values and ethical practices. For instance, although generating and promoting new knowledge is critical, the academic sphere gives more weight to the transparency and integrity of the research process. It is rational but passionate and sensitive to partiality, exploitation, and morality of its quest for truth.

Categories: blog
J.K. Garcia: <strong>Name:</strong> J.K. Garcia <strong>Education:</strong> University of California San Diego (UCSD) <strong>Current occupation:</strong> Senior editor for PrivateWriting.com, academic writer, and education blogger with more than 170 published articles. <strong>Recent works:</strong> “Full List of the Most Trending Argumentative Essay Topics”, “Descriptive Essay: A Closer Look at Descriptive Essay Writing”, “Definition Essay: A Powerful Guide to Writing an Excellent Paper”, “12 Steps to Writing a Research Proposal”, “The Contribution of Academic Institution in Children’s Well-Being”, “Home Schooling is an Ideal Way to Obtain Quality Education”, “Download Sites Violate Copyright Rules”, “Bullets in Victim’s Head: Hate Crime or Parking Space”, “Scholarly Articles Broaden the Student’s Outlook”, “Commemorating Pi on 3/14/15”, “Honesty is Sometimes Not the Best Policy”, “What Education Do You Need to Become a Master Chef?” Hobbies: Scuba diving, sphynx cats, European football, fine arts. <strong>About me:</strong> I work full-time as a senior content editor for an education platform Private Writing. As a freelancer, I contribute to blogs and online magazines in the fields I’m interested in, which include sports, arts, education, and animals, to name a few. My writing skills are diverse and engaging, giving me an opportunity to write in different styles and genres. I have put on several roles as a writer, from a guest blogger to an editor in chief for an academic writing company. Today it feels like the role of a senior editor suits me the best giving me an opportunity to work and supervise many talented writers enabling them to grow as professionals. My biggest accomplishments as a writer are to always go through with my assignments until the end and giving out 110% of what I’ve got until the final result lives up to the expectations. This one time a colleague of mine, a novice writer with a huge potential in academic writing, approached me for a piece of advice on how to be a better author. This gave me a huge boost of inspiration to be a better mentor for my fellow writers and be a more accomplished author when it comes to my own writing. I’m a native English speaker, also well-versed in Spanish and French, which are both my second languages thanks to my father’s ancestors being half Mexican and French. I read a lot of books and blogs to keep my skills on point. I’m a strong believer in the theory that the English language is an ever-evolving organism that changes every minute. So to keep up with the changes it’s necessary to read a lot in order to be up to speed.