Investigative journalism is the most complex, dangerous and time consuming branch of media activity. It is drastically different from other types of journalism. Investigative journalism usually focuses on the negative and serves to unveil the concealed. Often investigative journalists risk their lives to achieve a goal.
Investigative journalism is a battle to obtain information which is hard to geyt. There is often a loss in this fight as well. As a rule, investigative journalists have to overcome a lot of obstacles in the way of establishing the truth, because in such a case there is always at least one party or one person whose interests do not include publishing the results of the investigation.
Mediacope will tell you about a investigative journalist today. Caucasus International University Multimedia Center presents an extensive interview with investigative reporter Lia Toklikishvili. We will discuss with her the importance of investigative journalism and the dangers that accompany it.
The Significance of Investigative Journalism
Investigative journalism plays a key role in any state. I would say that is is even more significant in non-democratic coutries, since in an established democratic state there should be no expectation that there will be any kind of opposition to investigative journalism. And in countries like ours, it is also necessary to have investigative journalism, because it promotes the establishment of democratic institutions of the state.
Difference between Investigative Journalisn and Other Directions of Journalism
In practice, they differ in one very important circumstance: in a journalistic investigation, a journalist works to find information that is difficult to obtain. Nowayas, news journalism has also almost moved on these rails, but, in the case of a investigative jouranlism, it is an exclusive, especially important, work to obtain information that is socio-politically relevant and different.
Besides that, the most importnat: investigative journalism always works on the negative. We have to discover the negative, the publicity of which is not in the interests of particular individuals.
Non-Democratic Periods in Georgia and the “Birth” Years of Independent Journalism
The Soviet period, a period when it was unimaginable journalists to work on issues that were not in the interests of the government. This is one of the hallmarks of totalitarian, non-democratic countries. In such a period it would be impossible for investigative journalism to exist.
The period that my generation went through, I mean the 90s, was exactly the year of the birth of free, independent media. Why this period was important: we newcomers to the media were fighting on two fronts - first, to create something new, free from old clichés; Second, we were also free from newly formed political parties and political influences.
As you are well aware, there was only one television station in that period, which after a long time was freed from the real influence of the government. In fact, free media came into being with the birth of investigative journalism, since much of the information was under some pressure at the time, so we constantly struggled to obtain covert information. This is how our first investigative materials were created: on the vicissitudes of the civil war, the reasons for the defeat in the war in Abkhazia, etc.
This is the period when there was not even literture in our profession, journalism school was, in fact, the continuation of the Soviet school. The greatest teacher at such a time was the events that took place then: the Civil War, the Revolution ... This is the moment when you make many mistakes, but strongly develop your professional skills.
In addition, there are emotional moments: when you lose Abkhazia, when Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia remain in an information vacuum about the current news beyond Enguri, you are obliged to break this circle, go to Sokhumi and bring the first information from there.
Maya Gogoladze, Khatuna Maisashvili, Zviad Koridze, Giorgi Sanaia, me, etc... this is the incomplete list of journalists who were broadcasting the the locked-in reality of that time. In fact, we hunted for information in the wild.
Journalistic and Official Investigation
Investigative Journalism is research using conventional research methods. As a rule, the same should happen during a formal investigation conducted by law enforcement.
In both cases, the main stages are: information retrieval, processing, analysis and conclusion.
Any research consists of these stages whether it is scientific or other type.
Select the Topic Correctly
Selecting a topic prior to starting an investigation is the most important step, because if you select it incorrectly, it will fail, no matter what kind of great results you achieve.
For example: when there is a war in a country and you are researching some historical issue, do you think the reader or viewer will get acquainted with it when everything around him/her is collapsing, when people’s lives are in danger and the country’s existence is in question ?! - of course, no.
Intersection of Journalistic and Official Investigations
We often have to research topics that are being investigated by law enforcement. For example: murder on Khorava Street.
We were asked by the father of one of the deceased, Zaza Saralidze, to conduct a journalistic investigation. We started investigating the case with our own methods and soon crossed over to the formal investigation as well: when our independent investigation revealed that several children who were first involved in the quarrel and subsequent wounding were not on the list of suspects. Clearly, we asked the prosecution to provide an answer to why he was not questioned, including the son of one of the high-ranking police officials. We have already heard specific questions from law enforcement agencies regarding the results of their investigation.
The prosecutor’s office did not respond, but requested our journalistic investigation not to be aired until their report had been submitted to the court. A war broke out between the journalistic corps and the then law enforcers. We found ourselves in a situation where, in practice, even the heads of our television stations refused to air the journalistic investigation we had already prepared. We had to fight to get this investigative material aired. When this investigation was aired, there was a great response.
About a year after the release of this film, both young men, who were presented as suspects as the result of the materials we found, were charged with complicity in murder.
There are always similar intersections between journalistic and official investigations.
Obstacles in the Process of Investigative Journalism
There is a lot of resistance in the investigation process. Who manages to cover information in the state? - Those who have power. Such is, first of all, the government. That is why we always try to reveal such information that the government tries to conceal. Here, resistance is already being created. If we take any topic, political or financial, criminal ... we have to confront some branch of government.
There are contradictions despite topics. For example, when we observe the elections, at such times we have to get information from political parties, the government, the CEC ... Obviously, they often try not to reveal something to us. Journalistic investigation, first of all, involves unvailing the concealed.
Those who try to get more than they are allowed to face many obstacles on the professional path. We, the investigative journalists, are just like that.
Another Case of “Investigative Reporter”
We investigated why electricity consumers received incorrectly calculated bills. This seemingly small topic has taken us so far that Telasi and Telmiko present themselves as two different companies. In fact, they are two subsidiaries of one Russian company. Obviously, we had a collegial relationship with the press services of these companies, but some kind of contradiction arose between us: the information they officially provided us, we were not satisfied, and we asked for an even more in-depth response to each reply. As you know, the deeper you go, the more you learn new and important details, including those that these companies did not want to provide. Eventually, we created a journalistic product that greatly irritated both companies; however, on the contrary the population learnt about a secret scheme that was not previously known.
Method in investigative Journalism
We use almost all the existing methods during the investigation.
For me, as an investigative journalist, two methods are most convincing: finding witnesses / eyewitnesses and working on documents.
There are a number of other methods, including conducting an experiment, however, I think no journalistic investigation can be complete without using the two methods I have specified above. Especially nowadays, when the traces of any action are always registered.
Know What Kind of Information you have the Right to Receive
If we are well aware of the laws and our rights about what information we can request, what we cannot, etc., then it will not be impossible to obtain the necessary documentation.
Laws open the door for us journalists to have access to everything.
Obviously, there is information that cannot be made public. For example, a state secret. In such a case, you should neither ask for information that hurts the state nor have the right to receive it. Disclosing everything is not ethical.
Confidentiality of Information Source
The source chooses for itself whether you should name it or not. If you promise not to disclose the identity, you have no right to say it.
I had such a case: when Aslan Abashidze was the first person of Adjara, at that time we were publishing the newspaper “7 Days”. It was then that I conducted a journalistic investigation into how the ship “Memed Abashidze” was wrecked. I met sailors who told me very important facts about how they carried the secret cargo and how several sailors were sacrificed to bury this great secret.
When this journalistic investigation was published in the newspaper, some time passed and Aslan Abashidze, who had a great influence at the time, sued us and a trial was held. If I could not prove my truth that I did not invent the news that was written there, I would have been imprisoned.
I had only one way to give away the sailors who provided this information to me. The other party asked me that if I named the source of the information, in such a case, the blame would be shifted to them. Obviously, I did not do this for one reason: if I were to say the names of those sailors, no one would be able to save them.
I must say that then I escaped a very large sentence and all my colleagues helped me in this.
The journalistic corps was not as controversial and divisive then as it is today.
The trial was attended by almost all the journalists of the publications of that time, so as not to allow me to be convicted. Soon Aslan Abashidze withdrew the lawsuit and it was managed by standing together with the journalistic corps.
Once you reveal the source, you lose trust and respect as a journalist. No one should call you that you are the journalist who did harm to a person.
Respondents Killed during a Journalistic Investigation
During the journalistic investigation, a number of respondents were killed. One of them who I remember is Colonel Mikheil Marinashvili. He had to be given important video footage of Gagra falling. We were supposed to pick up these cassettes the next day, but we heard from news about Marinashvili’s death in a strange circumstance. Obviously, we did not believe it was an accident. I suspect he was killed before he could hand over the videos.
There was the second case of getting rid of the source of information, during the investigation when we were making a film about the murder of Giorgi Sanaia. Vepkhia Margoshvili promised us to send a cassette, but he was blown up.
When you are hunting for information that someone does not want to disclose, especially in Georgia when there were more weapons used than law for establishing order, you should not say anything out loud.
Disclosure of Investigation Results: From time to time VS after completion
The topic and the time should dictate how it is better: to publish the results of the investigation from time to time or only after the investigation is over. Tell half, third, did not tell completely to keep them interested.
When you, as an investigative journalist, receive confidential information, you should always try not to own this information alone. As soon as you say more than one piece of information, this is one more weapon for you to secure yourself. When only you know something, you become easily targeted.
When the time comes and we write our memoirs about what we went through in the profession, we should firmly hold the pen in our hands and start writing with the following sentence: I can look in the eyes of all my respondents! - noted the investigative journalist, Lia Toklikishvili.