IRE Conference, January 23rd. It was freezing!

The weathermen lied to us. That’s all I have to say. On to the review!

The IRE conference at the University of Alabama at Birmingham this past weekend was certainly eye opening, if nothing else. I made sure to take notes during the presentations to keep for future reference. Some of the stuff discussed, like tips on handling multiple investigative stories at once and how to go about filling out and submitting a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) form, was invaluable advice. I’m glad I took the time to attend the conference and learn from professionals working for other professionals. The conference was definitely a far better experience than many of the student-only meetings I have attended in the past with other organizations.

Scott Zamost, senior investigative producer for CNN’s Special Investigations Unit, gave a presentation about “breaking down walls,” centered on a story that he and a colleague had put together over a course of more than six months about the murder of Iraqi detainees by American soldiers. Key to the story were recordings of the army interrogations of the soldiers involved. However, despite repeated requests for the tapes, along with consulting all legal methods to obtain them, the army still refused to release them. However, after months of waiting and refusing to give up, copies of the tapes finally made their way to Zamost from an inside source.

Inside sources was how he found out about the newsworthiness of the story in the first place. The story was rather well-known overseas, where the trials were held, but not on American soil. One of the soldiers involved, who had broken the silence on the murders, was also the one who notified CNN’s office to what had gone on.

All sources have some sort of motivation for giving out information. Zamost said that the most important thing you can do as an investigative reporter is make new contacts and accrue sources wherever you go. When you leave somewhere, don’t leave your sources behind. Take them with you. Anyone and everyone can be a source. Don’t pass up office workers because they are usually the ones who know what is actually going on and can give you the information that you need.

When official gatekeepers, such as the government, give you a hard time about getting information, don’t give up. There are always many different ways to get the same information. Some examples are public court records, official forms and other seemingly unrelated documents. Where there is a will, there is a way. And always be transparent in your motives and actions. If people understand where you are coming from, and what you are doing, they are more trusting and willing to share information.

In the end, Zamost did get the tapes he needed and the story aired not only with footage of the trials, but with interviews of the soldiers involved, Iraqis who were from the area, and the families of the accused soldiers. It took many months to complete, but the reward was well worth it.

-

So I heard IRE also hosts national conferences, with far more people and panels. If they are anything like this small gathering was, I would love to attend sometime in the future.