Managing Management p. 16

By: Allan Wolper Investigative reporters discuss ways to
squeeze out more time for their projects
"LEARN HOW TO manage your boss."
"Don't come in with an idea, come in with a story."
"Life is short. Don't work for an asshole."
Those were some of the ideas a panel of journalists gave to 200 people at the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference in New York City who wanted to know how to produce investigative work on skimpy budgets.
Mark Middlebrook, assistant managing editor for news of the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union and president of IRE, said managing management is a key to getting some free time to pursue an investigation.
"You have to learn your boss's problems," Middlebrook said. "Learn the dynamics of the newsroom, and learn the difference between real time and project time. If you think you can do a story in two weeks, it probably means it will take you four weeks. If you think you can do it in four, it probably will take you eight weeks."
Middlebrook said investigative reporters should set a deadline for the completion of the project, then work backward. "It is very difficult to get a reporter to set an arbitrary deadline and then keep it."
Middlebrook also noted that some of the best investigative pieces can be found simply by following up on commonplace stories.
"We developed a great series by checking to see whether people sentenced to community service really perform that service and how that community service really helped the community."
The IRE president also said that journalists who wanted to do investigative work should help their editors become "risk takers" by doing preliminary legwork before proposing an idea.
Lonni Leavitt, a reporter and anchor for WTVD-TV in Raleigh, N.C., complained that her station's need to produce high viewer-interest stories during rating periods sometimes will hurt her investigations, "but I make my boss let me do it. We have a tight budget, but I've learned how to survive. I've also gotten used to working on my day off. It also is important to find a story that a viewer can identify with, what we call the I'll-be-damned factor."
She believes reporters can sometimes find resources in the most unlikely places.
"One way to get help is to find a really talented intern to do some of your legwork," she noted. "I looked at a recent group and found one who wanted to do investigative work and had her assigned to me. She did a wonderful job."
Michael Connor, managing editor of the Syracuse (N.Y.) Post Standard, said would-be journalistic investigators should make certain there is "probable cause" to pursue an investigation, especially at newspapers where project journalism is seen "as a luxury."
However, he told the audience that the age of "shrinking staffs" should not discourage would-be investigative reporters. He said a journalist at his newspaper had become the "de facto investigative reporter" simply because he was so good at it.
Connor also suggested that journalists who want to do long-term projects think about a budget before they propose an investigation.
"One reporter at our paper came up with a idea that we rent a car instead of paying mileage for a project," he said. "It was a great idea. It saved us money and helped pay for the project."
Mark Lagerkvist, projects editor for the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J., and panel moderator, had a suggestion that drew the most knowing reaction.
"Time is important in this business," he said. "You need time to do your job. If your boss is not giving you the time to do your job, then the best thing you can do is leave.
"Life is short, don't work for an asshole. Use your resources wisely. Before you go to your editor with an idea, make sure that it is feasible."
Lagerkvist said because his staff has no full-time investigative journalist, he has to beg and borrow and steal reporters from various sections to work on investigative projects.
"We are democratic at my paper so everyone gets a chance to do it," he explained.
Middlebrook admitted he uses subterfuge to free a reporter for a project.
"We sometimes are deceptive," he observed with a smile. "We don't ask for permission. We just do it, and then later we show it to them and say look what we got."