CIMA-Investigative Journalism - Dave Kaplan

CIMA Research Report: Global Investigative Journalism
The Role of Journalism Schools
Gauging the presence of investigative reporting in journalism education is difficult at best. A
global census of journalism education has identified some 2,300 programs worldwide, but it
is unknown how many include coursework on investigative reporting. 61 Complicating matters,
some investigative journalism courses overseas are steeped in theory and bear little resemblance
to what is taught in modern journalism departments or practiced by professionals in the field.
Still, some universities and nonprofit media groups have made progress working with individual
schools overseas to modernize their curricula.
The International Center for Journalists set up a U.S.-style program that features investigative
reporting at the Caucasus School of Journalism in Tbilisi, Georgia, and ICFJ’s staff works with
China’s prestigious Tsinghua University on a global business journalism program that includes
in-depth reporting. IREX has also worked with universities across the Middle East on developing
a modern journalism curriculum that includes investigative elements.
Another force for change is the large number of foreign students at leading U.S. journalism
schools. Some have returned home to challenge and change how investigative reporting is
taught. After graduating in 2010 from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism,
for example, Mar Cabra returned to her native Spain to co-found that country’s first-ever
master’s degree program on investigative and data journalism, at University Rey Juan Carlos of
Madrid. 62 The various fellowship programs at U.S. universities—the Niemans at Harvard, the
Knights at Stanford, and various Fulbright awards, among others—have also made a substantial
contribution. When the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists was formed in 1997
and sought to create a global network of top-flight reporters, it used as a base the alumni from
the Knight and Nieman programs.
Universities and other institutions are also sponsoring summer schools that attract a wide
range of international students. In 2012 five sessions on investigative journalism were held in
the United States and Europe: at the Centre for Investigative Journalism at City University in
London; Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York City; the Stockholm School
of Economics Riga Centre for Media Studies in Riga, Latvia; the Balkan Investigative Reporting
Network in Mavrovo, Macedonia; and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at
Boston University.
UNESCO has made important contributions to the field, as well, starting in 2007 with Model
Curricula for Journalism Education, a 150-page guide targeted at journalism faculty in
developing countries and emerging democracies. 63 The guide stresses the importance of classes
on in-depth and investigative techniques, and includes a detailed course plan on the subject
by the University of the Philippines’ Yvonne Chua, former training director of the Philippine
Center for Investigative Journalism. The guide has been published in nine languages, including
Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, and Russian. UNESCO followed up in 2009 with Story-based Inquiry,
an investigative journalism manual, issued in collaboration with Arab Reporters for Investigative
Journalism, and then reissued it as a global edition accompanied by a book of case studies. 64
42 Center for International Media Assistance