If an investigative reporter finds out that someone has been robbing the store, that may be 'gotcha' journalism, but it's also good journalism.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
What you realize hanging out with investigative reporters is that, while they may be personally liberal, they don't let that get in the way of a good story.
A duped newspaper or magazine could contend that a fiction-spouting journalist obtained part of his salary via fraud, and use a criminal proceeding to try and recoup that money. Given the profession's notoriously low wages, however, it's probably not worth the publicity headache and legal fees. No news organization has ever pursued such a case.
Crime stories are, as you know, one of the most popular forms of entertainment that exist. If you then try to have something to say... that I have, of course.
Prisons and jails, I tend to feel that you're actually safer as a journalist than you might think, certainly more than it appears.
People just like a good crime story; they want to know who did it.
The thing I don't like about detective stories is looking for criminals.
There's no worse crime in journalism these days than simply deciding something's a story because Drudge links to it.
I'm not an investigative journalist; I don't track crime or police blotters.
Good writers know that crime is an entre into telling a greater story about character. Good crime writing holds up a mirror to the readers and reflects in a darker light the world in which they live.
What passes for investigative journalism is finding somebody with their pants down - literally or otherwise.