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Teaching Investigative Journalism in the

Arab States

Dr. Yasmine Dabbous

The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of UNESCO.The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This Policy brief is based on lessons learnt and recommendations of the UNESCO Investigative Journalism Workshop at the Lebanese American University, November 30 - December 2, 2012.

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Teaching Investigative Journalism in the Arab States

Dr. Yasmine Dabbous*

1. Why teaching Investigative Journalism?

Investigative journalism helps uncover corruption using secret and open sources and documents. It “digs deep to find the wrong.”1 Unlike conventional news reporters, investigative journalists go beyond the standard interview and material provided by others.2 They work independently, sometimes at great personal risk, to expose facts –thus highlighting the “how” rather than the “why” as their conventional counterparts do.3

The first form of investigative journalism rose during the progressive era of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency in the United States. Renowned muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell investigated public hygiene, corporate corruption and other significant issues.4 Their writings created an outcry that helped generate laws to fight the wrongs of US pre-war society.

This first era of investigative journalism and the social and institutional changes that it created shed a light on the importance of investigative journalism. Indeed, this special breed of reporting helps foster democracy by acting as a watchdog to government and by providing citizens with information needed for the democratic exercise.

With the rise of the Arab Spring and the demand for journalists who can uncover the corruption of ousted leaders, the field is particularly important in the Arab world today. The media market is open for young talents specializing in investigative reporting. These reporters will play a vital role in the anticipated transformation of the Middle East into a more democratic and progressive region.

On a more global note, investigative journalism may be a viable answer for the difficulties print publications experience with the rise of new media. Unable to compete with the speed of the Internet and 24-hour news stations, newspapers and magazines are losing money. Many are closing down their print versions and going online-only. In such a difficult environment, investigative journalism may provide publications with an edge that other media cannot match –mainly because investigative reporting is very time-consuming.

1 “Bad Business: Politicians and Investigative Journalists.” www.muckraker.org/bad-business-politicians-and-investigative-journalism

2 Mark Lee Hunter. Story-Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists. (UNESCO, 2009).

3 Ibid.

4 “Bad Business: Politicians and Investigative Journalists.”Yasmine Dabbous is an assistant professor of journalism and media studies at LAU’s Department of Communication Arts and the head of the Institute for Media Training and Research. Her research falls mainly at the intersection between Media and Cultural Studies. She has been published in several journals such as the International Journal of Communication and the International Journal of Cultural Studies. Dabbous received a BA in Journalism at LAU, an MS in Communication Studies at Boston University in Boston and a PhD at Louisiana State University.She has over eight years of experience working in journalism and public relations.

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This, however, is not to undermine the challenges facing investigative journalism in Lebanon and the Arab World today. As renowned investigative reporter Yosri Fouda puts it, to be an investigative journalist “is to look for trouble.”5 In a region ripe with corruption among power holders, and known for the unforgiving measures taken against those who question these powers, to be an investigative journalist is to put oneself at great risk. This is particularly true for Lebanon, where the corruption plaguing all levels of government has been documented in most reports about the country.

The challenges are even more daunting because Lebanese media laws (1962 Print Law, 1994 Audiovisual Law) do not protect the country’s journalists. Quite the contrary, actually. The Penal Code makes defamation a crime and truth is most often not a defense for investigative reporters. The president, the army, heads of friendly states and their representatives as well as governmental officials are practically off-limits based on the law. Also significant is the fact that media laws do not provide journalists with free information access to governmental documents. They do not deny it but do not guarantee it either.6

Finally, the media culture in Lebanon is not an especially nurturing environment for investigative journalism. Highly partisan, most media support the agendas of local political parties and personalities.7 Many are financially supported by regional and local powers.8 Journalists often have a friendly relation with politicians who give them exclusive scoops, reported as “information provided by sources” at this or that center of power. In fact, many of the recent investigative reports undertaken in Lebanon have largely been attempts to bring down politicians favoring the opposing agenda of the medium in question. In such a biased environment, independent investigations are not necessarily encouraged.

2. How to teach Investigative Journalism?

Recommendations in this section are based on the workshop organized by UNESCO and the Lebanese American University (see section II). They include:• Defining and explaining investigative journalism. Many students and even journalists do

not recognize the difference between conventional and investigative reporting• Teaching students how to set a hypothesis, develop it and verify it• Focusing on reporting skills, the uncovering of documents and the cross-checking of

sources• Enhancing students’ computer-assisted reporting skills. Today’s students use the Internet

on daily basis but few know how to research information online in an efficient way• Including a section on writing investigative stories• Providing students with examples of investigative reports to help them grasp all of the

above concepts• Inviting journalists who have worked on successful investigative reports. Such models

offer students inspiration and an opportunity to network.

5 Yosri Fouda. “Preface: Investing in Investigative Journalism,” in Story-Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists. (UNESCO, 2009).

6 Dima Dabbous-Sensenig. “ACRILI 2007 Country Report: Media in Lebanon.” Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity (2007), www.arabruleoflaw.org/Files/Outline/EN_MediaReport_Lebanon.pdf.

7 Nabil Dajani. Disoriented Media in a Fragmented Society: The Lebanese Experience (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1992); Mamoun Fandy. (Un)Civil War of Words: Media and Politics in the Arab World (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007); Yasmine Dabbous. “Media With a Mission: Why Fairness and Balance Are Not Priorities in Lebanon’s Journalistic Codes.” International Journal of Communication, no. 4 (2010), http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/view/487/444

8 Ibid.

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• Including a detailed study of the country’s laws and of the ethical questions investigative reporters face

• Balancing the class between lecturing and exercises• Providing students with an opportunity to work on independent investigative reports.

These do not have to be greatly ambitious (e.g. uncovering the corruption of high power) and put students at great risk. Students can start with an investigation of social issues such as the state of public schools or organizations for the elderlies

• Providing useful resources for further development

3. Role of Policy Makers

As explained in section I-1, investigative journalists face major hurdles in Lebanon. The first and main recommendation for policy makers to alleviate these problems is to amend media laws in Lebanon in a bid to protect journalists from physical assaults and law suits. Also important is passing the Access to Information Act.

Encouraging and supporting Lebanese universities to include investigative journalism in their curricula is essential if the field is to develop in the country. To date, none of the Lebanese universities offer such a course.9 The Lebanese American University is working on including one in its revised Communication Arts B.A. The course will be offered as of Fall 2013.

Providing training and workshops in investigative journalism is important in the meantime. Such training, however, must target students as well as practicing journalists as the concept is very rarely practiced in a professional manner at many of the country’s media.

Providing training and workshops in journalism in general is also important in a bid to fight partisanship and foster a more independent media system. 4. Recommended readings and useful resources

The following sources are good references for students and journalists who want to become investigative reporters:• Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalists (www.arij.net)• The Investigative Reporting Workshop (www.investigativereportingworkshop.org)• The Investigative Fund (http://www.theinvestigativefund.org)• Investigative Reporters and Editors (www.ire.org)• International Journalists Network (http://ijnet.org)• Investigative journalist Mark Hunter’s official page (www.markleehunter.free.fr)• Story Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists (Mark Hunter, 2009)• The Hidden Scenario (Luuk Sengers and Mark Hunter, 2012)• The Global Investigative Journalism Casebook (Luuk Sengers, ed., 2012)• The Data Journalism Handbook (Jonathan Gray, Lucy Chambers and Liliana Bounegru, 2012)• UNESCO publication (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/

resources/publications-and-communication-materials/publications/full-list/story-based-inquiry-a-manual-for-investigative-journalists)

• Global Investigative Journalism Casebook (UNESCO publication): http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/publications-and-communication-materials/publications/full-list/the-global-investigative-journalism-casebook)

9 This fact was confirmed during the meeting with representatives of Lebanese universities at the Fifth ARIJ Conference in Cairo, Egypt, last November.

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II. The UNESCO investigative journalism workshop at LAU

This section will discuss the investigative journalism workshop organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the Lebanese American University late November.

1. Brief overview

The investigative journalism workshop, took place from November 30 until December 2, 2012 at LAU’s Beirut campus.

The workshop came as part of UNESCO’s commitment to foster better journalism, more civic engagement and a more democratic environment in Lebanon.

For the LAU Communication Arts department, the workshop was a welcome opportunity to fill a gap in the program –namely that no investigative journalism classes are currently offered at LAU, although the field is acquiring great importance around the world. The workshop was also a chance to pretest an upcoming course in investigative journalism (to be offered as of Fall 2013).

Seven students from LAU and ten from various Lebanese universities attended the workshop daily from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. (see appendix A for a complete list of participants). Students were selected by their respective departments based on merit and recommendation from instructors.

2. Agenda

The workshop focused on various areas of investigative journalism, from research and computer-assisted reporting (CAR) to writing techniques, law and ethics. A full overview of the program agenda is available in appendix B.

The workshop was divided equally between theory, reading of investigative reports and practical exercises. Students, for example, learned about developing hypotheses to be investigated, read examples of investigative reports based on such hypotheses and were then asked to build their own.

Trainers at the workshop included: 1. Ms. Marlene Khalife, veteran investigative journalist at Assafir and two-time winner of a

prestigious award for investigative journalists (main trainer)2. Yasmine Dabbous, assistant professor of journalism at LAU and head of the Institute for

Media Training and Research3. Tarek Harb, Al Hayat journalist and CAR trainer for Arab Reporters for Investigative

Journalism (ARIJ)4. Paul Morcos, lawyer and founder of an NGO dedicated to the promotion of freedom of

speech

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3. Evaluation and lessons learned

The workshop ran very smoothly based on the agenda. Students were extremely happy with the sessions. Several of them voiced their desire to become investigative journalists. Many did not know what investigative journalism is before they took the workshop and were now sharply interested in the topic.

All participants called upon organizers to have a follow-up workshop during which students can actually engage in investigative journalism.

No negative comments were voiced out by the workshop participants but several students asked that more time be devoted to the law lecture –which may suggest a need for a workshop on this topic.

The workshop created an opportunity for networking between journalism students of various universities. It also fostered a good working relationship between the UNESCO Beirut office and LAU –which will hopefully lead to further collaborative projects. Finally, the workshop suggested that adding an investigative journalism course in the reviewed LAU Com Arts program is an excellent idea and will provide added value to the journalism program at the university in question.

III. Appendix A: Workshop participants

A. LAU students1. Amal Baba2. Hiba Salami3. Hiba Zibawi4. May Rizk5. Ferdaus Naili6. Majdoleen Al Chmouri7. Christine Saifi

B. Non-LAU students1. Silva Karavartanian (AUB)2. Stephanie Faddoul (USEK)3. Léa Azzi(USEK)4. Kafaa Msaed (Balamand) 5. Judy Metry (Balamand) 6. Hussein Kassab (AUST)7. Layal Abou Reslan (AUST)8. Zeina Merhi (AUST)9. Josaphine Skandar (USJ)10. Rachelle Ashkar (Antonine University)

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IV. Appendix B: Investigative Journalism Workshop (November 30, December 1- 2, 2012)

Agenda

Friday, November 30, 2012

9:00 - 8:30 Registration of participants

9:00 Workshop opening - Lebanese American University speech - UNESCO Beirut Office speech

9:30 - Ice breaking exercise - Confirmation of the agenda

10:15 Break

13:00 - 10:30 - Building investigative reportage - Investigative reportage writing techniques

14:00 - 13:00 Lunch break

16:00 - 14:00 - Choosing a story - Training: the angle used to write the story

Practical exercises :Exercise: the World Bank report entitled “is the quality of education in Lebanon receding?”Practicing how to write the introduction , the core and the body

Saturday, December 1, 2012

9:00 - Conducting Interviews in investigative reportage

- Presenting (audio) examples of Interviews

10:15 Break

12:30 - 10:30 - Presenting (audio) examples of Interviews Hand out: - The Interview is not… - Using the Internet to find sources of Information

12:30 – 13:15 Lunch break

14:00 - 13: 15 Legal protection and precautions raised by the investigative reportage in Lebanon

15:00 - 14:00 Second exercise: transform the text of journalists regarding the facilitation and the obstacles of the state into an Interview and questions to the Lebanese minister of information

16:00 - 15:00 Preparation for writing and for investigative reportage

Sunday, December 2, 20129:00 - Media ethics in investigative journalism

- Distributing several examples about compromising media ethics

10:15 Break

12:30 -10:30 - Distributing several examples about compromising media ethics- Exercises about drafting investigative reportage

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch break

15:00 -13:30 - Exercises about drafting investigative reportage- Exercises about writing the introduction and the body

15:30 - 15:00 - Evaluation and distribution of participation certificate

© UNESCO Beirut, 2013LB/2013/SS/PI/58

UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States - BeirutSports City Avenue, Bir Hassan, P. O. Box 11- 5244, Beirut - Lebanon

Tel: +961.1.850013 /4 /5 Fax: 961.1.824854E-mail: beirut@unesco.org • Website: www.unesco.org/beirut