Investigative Journalism: Tips on how to get a scoop

(Conclusion)

Last Saturday, I gave a few suggestions on what reporters — whether those covering news and public affairs or entertainment — should do to get their stories. Below is the concluding portion.

Maintain a pool of sources — But rule No. 1 here is: Never reveal your sources. No, not even at gunpoint. I may be overly dramatizing this, but I’d rather die than betray a person’s trust. You should, in fact, protect your sources at all costs because these people are helping you put together your story. Never get them into trouble so that the next time around you can still count on them.

How do you get your sources? Either you look for them or they come to you. Some need to be charmed. I now recall a chapter in my life when I was just doing print and I kept getting scoops for my paper. Over beer and cashew nuts in some cheap joint in Cubao, Mario Dumaual (this was also before he got into TV) asked me half-jokingly: “Do you go to bed with your sources?” Ha! Ha! Ha! Does that really happen in real life? I’ve always known that news reporting is never boring, but I never realized it could be that exciting and fun.

Always be fair — Never use the medium as a tool to get back at a person you are warring with or simply dislike. Strike a balance by getting both sides all the time. Some parties may prove to be elusive, but try your best to get their side anyway and always point this out in your report.

In the Jason Ivler case, media was pilloried by some quarters because we gave the suspect’s mother, Marlene Aguilar, all the airtime on television and hardly interviewed the family of the victim. We would have loved to interview each member of the Ebarles — the mother in particular (or did the victim have a girlfriend?), but like what I said in a previous column, they seem to prefer to grieve in private and media had been respecting their decision to remain low profile (again, that’s their option and we should leave them alone if that’s what they want). Lately, even Jason’s uncle, Freddie Aguilar, had been turning down interviews because he feels that everything that there’s to be said had already been said.

Fraternize — The object of the game is to get the scoop at all costs and beat everyone to it. But you can’t win all the time and you have to learn to accept the fact that others are faster and luckier in some instances (or you’ll end up a wreck).

If it’s an affair open to all media, share information you know with your colleagues and they will return the favor in time. I noticed that during events, the Startalk crew is usually chummy-chummy with the staff of The Buzz and even SNN — never mind if they are from the rival network. And when I’m part of a coverage, I tend to gravitate toward The Buzz because their segment producer/reporter is Mylene de Leon, who was one of my favorite staffers when I was still with Showbiz Lingo.

Among the technical crew, they borrow lights from each other. Now, who says there is a network war?

Don’t be corrupt — Envelopmental journalism is a ticklish issue among media people. It is wrong. It is bad. But it’s now part of the system. Those little tokens distributed around I guess are pretty acceptable, but I still feel a bit of discomfort as I type this statement. Unfortunately, we’re sending the wrong signals here because some aspiring writers may want to become journalists not because they love to write, but because of those little benefits that are extended to members of media.

A no-no (although this happens mostly to radio anchors) is the practice of the ACDC (attack and collect, defend and collect) style of journalism. Never, never abuse the powers of media because that may come back to haunt you.

I’m not trying to play it clean, but my advice to young journalists is to hang on to your integrity and try to earn the public’s respect. Trust me — that could lead to bigger things for you in the end.