PPS 196S.10 Muckraking to Data Mining – Stories that made a difference Spring 2009 Sarah Cohen, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy [email protected] Office phone: 613-­‐7348, room 140 Sanford Course Description Investigative reporting prompted a president to resign, spurred Congress to create consumer safety laws and uncovered war crimes from Vietnam to Bosnia. These works are tied together by a drive to make public material that is secret, to uncover unimpeachable facts and to hold powerful institutions and people accountable. They have played a critical role in American-­‐style democracy and provide a unique, contemporaneous glimpse into the social issues and the context around changes in public sensibilities and, sometimes, policy. Much of this course will involve a fresh reading of original works from the 18th century to the present; a critical examination of the changes they brought to American society in local and national affairs; and a review of the evolution of investigative methods and techniques. You will leave this class with a strong basis for evaluating accountability reporting and its role in American government and civic life. Required reading Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America, Bruce Shapiro, 2003. Most of the rest of the required reading will come from the original works as a combination of web links and reprints provided on Blackboard. A weekly review of the stories listed on Investigative Reporters and Editors’ “Extra Extra” blog. You don’t have to read all of the stories, but you should be aware of what has been listed each week. The easiest way to keep up with it is through the RSS feed. Recommended: The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism, James L. Aucoin, 2005 Muckraking! The Journalism that Shaped America, Judith Serrin and William Serrin, 2002 Grading It is crucial in this class that you keep abreast of class announcements, documents, assignments and discussion boards on Blackboard. This is the primary way I will communicate with you, and failure to notice an assignment or a change is not an excuse for missing one. While I will try to post an announcement whenever important changes are made, you shouldn’t count on them for updates to classes more than a week away. Class Participation: 40 percent. Participation is crucial in this class. Attending class and occasionally participating is a basic requirement – doing well on this element of your final grade consists of much more: • Questions you post by 9:00 am for that day’s guest speakers any week there is one on the schedule. They should reflect the entirety of the reading for that day’s subject as well as a review of the speaker’s body of work. Many of our speakers have won numerous prizes for their work and have been prolific investigators. Your questions should reflect that. Your questions should be posted on your personal journal blog on Blackboard. No one else can see •
•
them. One or two really thoughtful questions is just as good or possibly better than many questions. Discussion board entries posted by 9:00 am the day of class that reflect a close reading of the assignment, which should help us frame the discussion in class. These are public. I will create a discussion board each week – some weeks may have specific prompts, but mainly you should provide one or two paragraphs of your reaction to the reading, as a whole or in terms of the significance of either the method or the importance of at least one or two of the stories. I only expect a paragraph or two -­‐-­‐ maybe 150 words – each week. Presentations of your story reviews (at least one during the semester). You can either volunteer these or wait for me to ask you for yours. It will be easier on you if you volunteer so you’re not surprised or unprepared. You must give a 15-­‐minute presentation of a story review at least once during the semester, including a review of the stories themselves, why you chose them and why you put them together, and your analysis of methods, evolution, etc. You should also lead a discussion on any topics that come up in this presentation. Participation in class, including both the frequency and the thought that goes into your comments. The best discussions include your views reflecting a close reading of stories and stay on point. Expect to be called upon at least occasionally. You will be given an A, B, C, D or F for participation, but individual elements will not be provided. I will give you a mid-­‐term evaluation of your class work as a whole. •
Story reviews: 40 percent You will be required to write four reviews of 3-­‐5 pages (1,500-­‐2,500 words) reviewing stories, their methods and their impact. More detail on these reviews will be provided well before the first one is due. These are due BEFORE the class begins on the day due. One extension of up to 2 days will be granted without penalty or cause. Any others must follow the university policy outlined in your student handbook. (See note below on deadlines.) Final paper: 20 percent A review of about 7-­‐10 pages (up to 5,000 words) covering several stories you select on your own on a subject of your choosing, comparing historical treatment of the issue in journalism and the results the stories have, or have not, prompted. My goal is to make the final paper interesting but not overwhelming. Because of this, you will be required to submit a proposal about a month before it is due and are invited to submit a draft outline or a draft paper up to one week before it is due. I will provide more detail later in the semester. However, you should take note of subjects or stories that interest you as you do your reading and story reviews as they may end up being of part of your final paper. You can revisit and extend any of your story reviews for this, but it should include substantial new material that you have not already covered. You should not expect any accommodation for late papers other than those outlined in the student handbook. A note on deadlines Please review the guidelines in the student handbook on missed classwork and assignments at http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-­‐requirements?c=class-­‐attendance-­‐and-­‐missed-­‐work You should expect no accommodations other than those that are required by the university. Late papers will be penalized as follows: •
•
•
One minute to 24 hours late: One full grade level 24 hours to 48 hours late: Two full grade levels More than 48 hours late: Automatic F. Blackboard’s timestamp will be used to judge whether you met the deadline. It is your responsibility to leave enough time to post your work, but you can use e-­‐mail in an emergency only. Where to find stories Much of your written work will involve finding stories to review that are not part of our reading list. It will be much easier to find stories that are either very old or very new – it’s hard to find the original works between about 1920 and 1980. That said, the books on reserve at the library will lead you to good stories. You should expect to have to review several stories for each assignment before you settle on anything for your written work. The key element to consider is whether the work is simply opinion or routine reporting from official sources (which we are NOT interested in) vs. accountability or investigative reporting (which is what you are looking for). Much of what you will see in the books is opinion. We’ll talk about ways to distinguish them and I’ll give you more details on the papers. Other sources: • The Pulitzer Prize site, which includes historical winners from 1917 and finalists from 1980. The actual works are only included in this site beginning in the mid-­‐1990s, but excerpts are in the Pulitzer archives books on reserve. • Investigative Reporters and Editors, which has a database of contest entries beginning in the late 1970s – look under “Resource Center” on the site. You can order packages from them, but you should give them several days to get it to you and you will have to pay a modest fee. Even when you can find the stories elsewhere, IRE requires a detailed description of the stories, their methods and their results, which will help you tremendously in your research. That form is worth getting. You will need to pay $10 for a semester membership to use many of the resources at IRE. Information is at http://www.ire.org/education • Other key prizes are the Selden Ring (UCLA) and the Goldsmith (Harvard Shorenstein center), which will have details of their finalists and winners. • The series “Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports” on PBS (sometimes standalone, sometimes as part of Bill Moyers’ show). Weekly schedule The weekly schedule is currently envisioned as follows but you should check on Blackboard and listen in class for changes. I am still arranging to get original stories and for guest speakers, so the final list of readings will be available at least one week before the actual class. Please let me know if you plan to read ahead. The list below provides you with a sampling of the kinds of stories you will be reading and anticipated guest speakers. Use instructions on Blackboard for the final list – some of the reading lists will let you choose within sets of stories. You should expect a fairly intensive reading schedule for this class, though it should be less painful than academic reading. I am attempting to include as many North Carolina stories as I can. Please let me know if you are aware of local stories that should be added. Jan 13: Introductions •
•
•
•
•
Course requirements What is “investigative reporting?” Video from Expose, America’s Investigative Reports, PBS Discussion of the tradition of exposure in American journalism Deconstruction of an investigative report – distinguishing original work and methods from derivative work and opinion. Jan 25: Workplace safety and labor Readings •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Herman Melville on treatment of seamen, 1850 Slave trade, John Swinton, 1884 The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, first-­‐person accounts, 1911 Farmworkers, Cary McWilliams, 1939 Workplace disasters, including the Centralia mine disaster, 1948 Clark Mollenhoff, Denny Walsh and Albert Delugach, and Mary Heaton Vorse on corruption in labor unions, 1950s and 1960s Brown lung in North Carolina, 1980 The Baltimore Sun on shipbreaking, 1996 Feb. 1: Consumer protection and environment In recent years, these two subjects have converged, but are closely related to next week’s stories on health care. Readings •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Swill milk trade and its effects, Frank Leslie, 1858 Upton Sinclair on contaminated meat processing leading to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration, 1908. Early warnings on cover-­‐ups by tobacco companies, 1952, paired with similar stories from the 1990s (Walt Bogdanich at ABC, and Lowell Bergman at 60 Minutes) Auto safety, from Ralph Nader to the Ford Explorer rollovers, 1960s and 2000 Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962, launching environmental movement Aircraft safety from the Seattle Times, 1996 Karen Silkwood as a whistleblower, killed on her way to meet investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, 1972 Boss Hog, Pat Stith and Joby Warrick, 1995 •
The Toxic Pipeline and other contaminated products in mainstream U.S. products, 2007 (Bogdanich & Hooker) Feb. 8: Health care First story reviews due by the beginning of class. Readings •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nelly Blye undercover on mental hospitals in New York, 1887 Harold Eugene Martin on the use of Alabama prisoners as test patients, 1969 Philadelphia reporters on the treatment of state wards, 1976 Undercover investigation of Medicaid, William Sherman, 1973 Organ transplant abuses from the Pittsburgh Press, 1985 The FDA 100 years after Upton Sinclair, LA Times, 2000 Walter Reed, The Washington Post, 2007 Feb. 15: National security and war Guest speaker: Bruce Shapiro, editor of Shaking the Foundations, executive director or the Dart Center on Journalism and Trauma, Yale University faculty. This is your chance to ask big-­‐think questions on investigative reporting and on its meaning and future. Readings: •
•
•
•
•
•
Exposés of the Nazi concentration camps, 1942 Jack Anderson and Drew Pearson on McCarthy and the tradition of “Washington Merry-­‐Go-­‐
Round,” especially uncovering some of the backgrounds of Communist-­‐hunters in Congress and investigations of J. Edgar Hoover, 1950s and 1960s I.F. Stone Stories from Texas to Michigan on abuses within the military and military contracting Friendly fire in the first Gulf War, 1992 Post-­‐9/11 changes in coverage of war, national security and Iraq contracting and reconstruction, 2002-­‐2009 Feb. 22: Social issues Readings: •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jacob Riis on poverty in New York, 1890 The Palm Beach Post on slums in Florida, 1957 Ambulance service in Chicago, 1970 Lead poisoning (“Zombieland”) in the Baltimore Sun , 2000 Child deaths in Washington, 2001 Legacy students from the Wall Street Journal Child care abuses in Milwaukee, 2009 March 1: Civil rights Story review due by the beginning of class. Lynching and the Ku Klux Klan dominated much of the 20th Century reporting. Pay particular attention to Stetson Kennedy, who infiltrated the Klan. More recently, reporting on civil rights has focused on disparate treatment by banks, courts, schools and other institutions. Invited speaker: Philip Meyer, professor emeritus, University of North Carolina, and founder of “precision journalism.” Prof. Meyer has an award named after him because he revolutionized methods in reporting by bringing more rigor to the trade. • The story of the Amistad, a slave boat, 1840 • Ida B. Wells on lynching, 1897 • “Superman” radio shows, where Stetson Kennedy arranged to publicize some of the most sensitive details about practices in the Ku Klux Klan gathered after he infiltrated the organization. 1952 • The first “precision journalism” story, Philip Meyer, Detroit riots, 1968 • The discovery of the syphilis project in Tuskegee, 1972 • Housing and mortgage discrimination, 1988 and 1996 • The Charlotte Observer on the potential effects of eliminating race-­‐based school assignments March 15: Mid-­‐term review / story review presentations Guest speaker: Pat Stith (rescheduled from the snowed-­‐out session). Review again the stories from Boss Hog that you read earlier in the semester. Also review Stith’s series on contaminated drinking water that ran March 26-­‐29, 2006. I could only find them on Factiva. There is no other required reading for this class. Instead, you should review the readings from the beginning of the course – Aucoin, Hamil and Shapiro – on the evolution of investigative reporting. The second half of class will be used for presentations of your latest story reviews. You should be prepared to give a 10-­‐15 minute presentation of your latest story review and your analysis. March 22: Business Much of the early investigative work was on abuses in business, before there was much regulation. The recent emergence of non-­‐profits and religious organizations as big businesses makes this week tightly coordinated with next week. • “Chapters of Erie” on the attempt to monopolize rail lines, 1872 • Ida Tarbell on Standard Oil, 1903 • The Boston Post on Charles Ponsi, uncovering the first Ponzi scheme, 1920 (the spelling seemed to change over the years) • Jack Anderson and the ITT scandal, 1972 • America: What Went Wrong, Barlett and Steele, 1992, which arguably played a role in that year’s presidential election. We’ll read Part I, which focuses on corporations. Steele will visit class later in the semester and talk about some more recent developments on this story. • Diane Henriques on insurance abuses on military bases and for-­‐profit educational testing companies, 1990s to present. • The Wall Street Journal on backdating of stock options, 2006 March 29: Elections, campaign finance, lobbying and politics Story review #3 due at the beginning of class Guest Speaker: Andy Curliss, Raleigh News & Observer, lead reporter on questionable spending and favors by former Gov. Mike Easley. The trial should be underway at this point. Reading: •
Election fraud from the 1930s to the 1990s •
•
•
•
•
““King of Frauds,” the Credit Mobilier scandal, 1872 Watergate Bob Dole’s campaign finance problems and Clinton’s White House sleepovers, 1990s Jack Abramoff and lobbying abuses, 2005 Gov Mike Easley coverage from the Raleigh News & Observer, 2008-­‐2010 The second half of class will be devoted to your presentations of your story reviews. April 5: Non-­‐profits and religion Coverage of nonprofits and religion started much later than for-­‐profit businesses. Now it is the more common form of investigative reporting on private institutions. Guest speaker: Joe Stephens, co-­‐author of “Big Green,” a Pulitzer finalist series on the Nature Conservancy. • Sun Newspapers of Omaha, on the legendary Boys’ Town of the movies, 1972 • The United Way scandal, 1992 • The PTL Club in Charlotte and other abuses in the financing of religious groups, 1990s • Sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church, Boston Globe, 2002 • “Warehouses of Wealth,” from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gil Gaul and Neil Borowski, 1993 • Diane Henriques and Andy Lehren on earmarks for religious groups, 2006 • “Big Green,” Joe Stephens and David Ottaway, 2003 • James Grimaldi and others on the National Zoo and its parent, the Smithsonian Institute, quasi-­‐government, quasi-­‐private institutions, 2002-­‐2009 April 13: Crime and justice / More on national security Some of the most important work in investigative reporting has been done on crime and punishment, including police corruption, unfair courts and abuses in prisons. Readings •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Chicago Tribune on the Richard P. Robinson ax murderer case, 1836 “A Burglar in the Making,” Everybody magazine, 1908 Reporting by David Burnham on corruption in the New York City police department, leading to reforms and the movie Serpico, which you should watch, 1960s Don Barlett and Jim Steele with Philip Meyer on the Philadelphia court system, 1972 Wrongful convictions, from the Miami Herald, 1967 Pontiac State Prison investigations, 1978 “And Justice for All,” on discrimination in North Carolina courts, the Fayetteville Observer / Times. The Chicago Tribune on unfair death penalties, 1999-­‐2000, forcing a nationwide debate on the practice April 19: Government Story review #4 due. This is also the final deadline for any wild-­‐card make-­‐up review. Anything after this date won’t be graded. Guest speaker: Jim Steele, half of the team Barlett and Steele, whose work you have been reading all semester. There is more today. • John Foord of the New York Times on Tammany Hall, 1871 • The World Telegram & Sun on Robert Moses’ empire in New York, 1956 •
•
A set of stories on corruption in Chicago denied a Pulitzer Prize because of its methods: The Sun-­‐Times opened a bar called the Mirage and paid the bribes demanded by officials. 1978 The first in-­‐depth coverage of favors given in tax laws, Barlett and Steele, 1988 April 26: Course wrap-­‐up Be prepared to give a presentation of your most recent story review.