TIP SHEET – IRE 2019

“How to Launch a Successful Investigative Unit”

Ziva Branstetter, corporate accountability editor, The Washington Post, ​@zivabranstetter

Manuel Torres, Senior News Editor, NOLA.com & The Times-Picayune, ​@1manueltorres
Mark Albert, Chief National Investigative Correspondent, Hearst Television: ​malbert@hearst.com​; ​@malbertnews

STANDING UP A UNIT:

● Identify key talent in your organization that you can tap on loan, on assignment,
freelance to stand up an investigative unit. Who has an analytical mind?
● Manager, reporter, data analyst/researcher, editor.
● For multi-property units, draw talent from other locations; assign one
producer/researcher from each property to one story in your unit; work remotely.
● Set standards EARLY: visual, audio, writing, mandates, coverage scope, graphics. Choose
a standard that will distinguish your unit.
● Set a budget for travel, staffing, equipment, CapEx
● Seek people with a record of working well with others (in smaller stories or breaking
news, for example), who keep their cool under pressure and leave their ego at the door.
● Pick members of diverse backgrounds and experiences. It will produce better
journalism, with a wider range of stories.
● Be ambitious, but realistic. Start small (singles, doubles) but set up a schedule that also
aims for home runs down the road.

KNOCKING DOWN SILOS:

● Which divisions in the newsroom/company can be flattened (encouraging stories run

cross-platform, not just on newspaper, radio, TV, or web).
● What departments can assist your unit with newsletters, promos, recruiting, podcasts,
special reports.
● For bigger media outlets with multiple locations (station groups, newspaper chains,
radio networks), set up monthly or bi-monthly calls to brief them on your unit’s
upcoming stories and share what they’re working on. Ideas might be transportable from
market to market.
● What stories can unite various beats in your newsroom or various properties across
your company’s media empire to have the broadest appeal. On these stories, offer local
market-by-market data to expand interest (e.g. on rail safety, hand off rail safety
numbers for each state).
● What can Graphics, Digital, Data, Legal, Research departments do to help your unit turn
a story with limited staff? Ask for help! Tap under-used talents and resources in your
own organization.
● If involving several divisions or newsrooms, set up early an instant communication space
(Slack, Microsoft Teams, Chanty, etc.) so everyone can keep up with each other's work,
resolve smaller issues, and share files in between team calls.
TIP SHEET – IRE 2019
“How to Launch a Successful Investigative Unit”
WINNING THE STORY:

● Use ‘force multipliers’ and establish source-tracking systems/best-practices: ​Trackly​,

Nexis SmartLinx​, ​PACER​, ​Courtlink​, individual US District Court media ECF account/case
alerts, listservs from inspector generals across beats, ​FBI FOIA vault​ for instant postings
of files (and on Twitter ​@FBIRecordsVault​).
● Enterprise: FOIA + state-level public records requests. Set goals: 1 a week? 5 a month?
10 a month?
● Bounce pieces: react to the story of the day with an investigative angle (e.g. deep dive
into Mueller Report, safety record of Boeing 737MAX and whether pilots have
anonymously filed safety concerns for incidents in your area by searching ​Aviation
Safety Reporting System​, etc)
● Data analysis to create hard-to-replicate stories that will smoke the competition.