Investigative Journalism Practice

Abstract

To understand the nature of Arab investigative journalism, it is necessary to provide examples of what kinds of investigative stories are being conducted in the region. As argued throughout this book, investigative stories and investigative reporters need to play a role in change, be it social, political, or environmental, to name a few. Yet investigative stories do not need to address high-level corruption or major political issues in order to constitute change; in fact, investigative reporting can make a difference by uncovering issues that affect people and society at a grassroots level. Andres Jerichow, who is an Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) board member, comments on this by saying:

In the beginning we had a big ongoing discussion of what kind of stories we would opt for because some people, locally as well as internationally, when talking about journalism immediately started thinking of Watergates and toppling governments and things like that. But for the sake of not only the possibility of work really, but for the sake of the mere improvement of work tools and standards, we decided to try to inspire journalism on very local issues, not on toppling governments. (Jerichow, 6 December 2014)