Investigative Capacity Building Workshop 3.pptx

A workshop presentation on investigative journalism

1. Investigative Capacity Building Workshop 3 OPEN-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE AND INVESTIGATIONS: SKILLS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES C4 Centre Malaysia, 9 th April 2022 Resource Person: Murray Hunter

2. Intended Program Short introduction: How did I find my way into investigative journalism? Some basic premises Researching and constructing articles Article examples of different types of investigative papers (deconstructing the sources) Group exercise on determining an approach to an issue you want to report

3. Writing Investigative pieces My personal journey Family business background, travelled, then commenced my own businesses in Australia and Malaysia Skills I considered important from school/university: English comprehension, reviewing articles and books, writing essays at university in economics, organizational psychology, methodology in the study of history, my time in ALP, and Malaysian civil service. Writing academic articles in natural product chemistry Writing about the cosmetic industry Writing 3 technical books, 1 on essential oils, 2 on entrepreneurship About 7 years work Working as an academic from Bioprocess engineering to community development Writing and speaking about community development Joining The 4 th Media committee A host of geo-political articles Australia, US, Korea (panel of RT experts on Korea) Correspondent at Asian Correspondent Malaysian political articles Up to 1995 Up 2012 2014 Took a break in 2016-2019 Dr Azly Rahman told me what was happening in Malaysia

4. Some Basic Premises The Scope of Investigative Journalism Monetary corruption, gifts, favours, etc. Cronyism, kleptocratic behaviour Political issues (debate, policy, & action) Regulation, administrative law, & bureaucracy Nepotism, bias, favouritism, discrimination Financial misappropriation, malpractice, & wastage Government, agencies, educational institutions, NGOs Social, economic and humanitarian issues Poverty Geo-political institutions & behaviour

5. Necessary Traits for Investigative Journalism Vision Innovation Objectivity Politically neutral Patience (lots of patience) Willing to do a lot of work Humility Personality: must be prepared for anguish and depression. Able to go through personal crises, and able to receive strong personal criticisms, ad hominem attacks, smear, due diligence, and authoritative attacks. Must be able to be prepared to start projects again and again from scratch.

6. An investigative journalist is not an activist An investigative journalist is a researcher using tools to seek the facts to determine the truth

7. The Differences between various types of journalistic writing Investigative Pieces Based in hard corroborated evidence, usually exposing something Political (or social) Analysis A critical piece laying out the issues within a subject, event, of the dynamics within a chosen domain Op Ed An opinion piece about a subject, event, of the dynamics within a chosen domain A narrative Telling a story about a subject, event, of the dynamics within a chosen domain from another person’s point of view

8. Sources of Information Experience and first hand knowledge Visits Public domain information Statistics, reports, other news reports Whistleblowers What are their motivations? Anger, injustice done to them, hate, revenge, political leanings, sabotage Must understand whistleblower motives Court judgements, Hansard, Parliamentary papers, reports, studies, academic papers, Legislation, annual reports. The key is evidence and documentation Forensic work, synergising, and putting pieces together

9. Some important observations You need to stay in areas you are familiar with or have expert assistance in other areas (i.e., medical issues, Halal, cyber issues, etc. You need to have some set objectives for each investigative piece you write: for example Will it provide important or necessary information to the public? Will it expose wrong doings? Who could this article wrongly hurt? Will it make a difference? Are you prepared for any consequences? What would those consequences potentially be? What media outlet are you writing this for? What are their particular restrictions? Local media Foreign media You own website, blog, Substack , etc?

10. Some important observations continued The temptation to create clickbait Brilliant articles aren’t always the most popular Articles relying on other articles as source material are usually mediocre There is a lot of bad journalism around Don’t panic when you get a lawyer’s letter Holding back on articles (Singapore)

11. News Portal and Website Bias US based International geo-politics plus. More than 500k hits per month. Academic/political analyst orientated. Very liberal in views published, almost without any censorship Formally HK based now Philippine based (US registered) semi-paywall news/opinion portal. Establishment critical opinion articles based upon current news. Centre-left orientated, pro-climate change, anti-Trump, anti-LKY, Mahathir. Executive editor John Berthelesen strong editorial input. More than 200K hits per month to specific professional Asian audience. Reports & Opinion pieces on Asian geo-political issues. Editor Zachary Fillingham liberal on content, although tends to post articles written by experts in specific areas. Around 300K hits per month, professional reader base. Pro-Russian, but otherwise a news portal which is open to alternative views. They are pro-active in seeking writers, rather than accepting cold approachs . Pravda, RT’s sister organization will take submissions. Millions of hits per month.

12. Once known for its in depth articles on specific political and social issues within South-East Asia, the portal has become Woke and LBGT orientated. NM no longer open to a diversity of opinions but follows an agenda. Once a centre left new portal which exposed scandals, Since Michelle Pini took over the executive editor role, the portal has just become and anti-conservative platform. Slightly declining audience over the last couple of years when it took more a propaganda rather than journalism approach. Centre-right portal that encourages diverse views. Editor Graham Young focuses on strong argued submissions. Australia and regional issues of concern to Australia. Now changed its name to “The 21 st Century”. United Front allied media portal, pro-China and anti-US. Mostly systemic exposes and opinion pieces. 500K plus hits per month. An initiative from Krems University, intended to promote political analysis and opinion pieces from students and rising academics. Has grown to become a Euro-centric influential site over the last decade.

13. The baseline of local Malaysian news portals. However, Malaysiakini has published at least 3 articles making ad hominin attacks upon myself, which they refused to either take down or allow me right of reply. Malaysian journalist and lawyer Joe Fernandez was banned from Malaysiakini and Dr Azly Rahman was cancelled for an “# Alllivesmatter ” posting on his FB and an opinion article on the Rohingya people. Up and coming news portal. Practices self-censorship in order to maintain license. Has pulled articles upon request from minister’s staff, rather than stick to reporting. Will selectively take up some social issues. Good for economic or industry sector analysis. Very conservative Both news portals strongly practice self-censorship, even though the appreciate the content of what is submitted to them. Malay Mail will very often run annon. Op Eds from government officials.

14. Independent Journalism Both these North American based Substack sites offer alternative views to the US mainstream news media, but tend to be conservative. Based in Chiang Mai, spasmodically carried excellently researched investigative exposes on Thai criminal world. Erin Cook’s Substack , carries some excellent perspectives not covered by local media in region. Based in Jakarta. Veteran Andrew Macgregor Marshall’s exposes on Thai Royalty. Superbly researched, long and full of information one cannot get anywhere else on the subject.

15. Subject of investigation Approach Can I offer any unique perspectives?