Transcript sabew.org
Between Mistakes Adventures in Journalism Do you know the difference? Lesson One When you start out, work for obscure places. When you make mistakes, only a small group of people will know. Lesson Two Facts are important, but they don’t tell the story. The story needs context and perspective. You need to think big. A story needs to be right. Lesson Three Ask stupid questions Lesson Four Listen to cranks and outsiders Lesson Five Be prepared for resistance magnetar Journalism and the Financial Crisis Big Simple Questions National Public Radio came to us in the summer of 2009. They asked a very simple question: What did bankers know about the financial crisis? The Project: The Wall Street Money Machine The dominant narrative: 100 Year Flood When? Great financial journalism focused on the events of the fall 2008: fall of Lehman Brothers, AIG We decided to look at late 2006 early 2007 What did we find? Some investment bankers and investors took advantage of the crisis, made it worse One hedge fund called Magnetar had helped create $40 billion worth of bad mortgage securities deals: Worked with investment banks to make them weak, then bet against them Built to Fail Results Magnetar: under SEC investigation JPMorgan: paid $154 million fine State Street Global Advisors: $5 million fine Merrill Lynch: under SEC investigation Standard & Poor’s under SEC investigation Multiple private lawsuits How did we find Magnetar? Sources! Hurdles No SEC filings No list of CDOs No list of investors No list of employees at banks who worked in CDOs No prospectuses No lawsuits No investigations Constellations We actually had to go down a list to figure out how many constellations there were Draco: How did we find people? Asked people for suggestions, and then asked those people for suggestions Google searches for people who had talked about structured finance to the media Searches of conference attendees Facebook, LinkedIn, other social media Tips for finding sources 1. 2. 3. 4. Think about who speaks to journalists, who would speak to you Find former employees Find disgruntled workers, whistleblowers, people who have sued (for any reason): they may be crazy but they may be useful. Surround a story: Find competitors, suppliers, customers, regulators How do you get people to talk? Once you have a source, how do you get them to talk? Emphasize fairness and accuracy Honor them by listening, trying to understand the depths and complexity. You aren’t there just for a quote. Flattery. It never hurts! Alcohol helps! Reporting principles Get documents Balance? No. Your job is truth, not balance. Multiple sources No surprises: Every subject gets a chance to respond. They should know everything you are going to report about them. THIS PROTECTS YOU! Writing the story Clear: Even on a complex subject, write for everyone (This will help you think about a subject). Try to be entertaining and interesting! “Investigative” journalism in the U.S. is often boring. We try not to be. We use cool graphics We will try anything Lessons Don’t be afraid to revisit a story that seems old It’s not a matter of whether something was illegal – it’s a question of right and wrong. Does it shock the conscience? Don’t be afraid to be entertaining and interesting