Your Best Investment: An Investigative Reporter

By Drew Johnson
Published on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
ARTICLES

In February of 2007, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research hired former Tennessean and Denver Post investigative reporter Trent Seibert as its Director of Government Accountability to help uncover government waste, fraud and abuse in Tennessee. Within a week, TCPR uncovered Al Gore's immense home electricity consumption, making headlines worldwide.

Since then, our investigative journalism has uncovered over half a billion dollars in wasteful spending, forced the resignation of a powerful state senator and generated improved open records laws. Along the way, TCPR garnered tens of millions of dollars in earned media and helped create a more transparent, accountable state government.

An investigative reporter makes a think tank's policy work more relevant. Imagine that a state-focused think tank writes a policy paper about preventing eminent domain abuse. If it's like many reports, it gains little traction and creates little impact.

Now imagine the think tank has a reporter on staff who, before the report is released, uncovered that a city is about to condemn homes to make way for a new shopping center. Now there's a news hook for your policy report - a news hook that your organization created - and a greater opportunity for the report to make an impact.

To create a successful investigative program, it's important to hire an investigative reporter. This seems obvious, but many think tanks have considered hiring general assignment or editorial page writers to perform investigative reporting. That makes about as much sense as hiring a chef to be a farmer, though they both work towards the same end - feeding people - they wouldn't have the first clue about how to do the other's job. Likewise, the skills necessary to be a good investigative reporter are very specific: knowing and utilizing the state's open records laws, understanding where to look and what to look for, and building contacts for leads. So, hire an investigative reporter. And hire one from your state, if at all possible, since building contacts and acclimating with the peculiarities of a new state's open records laws can make for a steep learning curve.

I'm frequently asked how to find an investigative reporter who shares our free market beliefs. Frankly, it doesn't matter what the investigative reporter's ideology is as long as he's a good investigative reporter. After all, an investigative reporter's job is to investigate, not to opine about school choice or write a policy primer on privatizing Medicaid.

Most investigative reporters got in the business to uncover corruption or expose wrongdoing. They are a suspicious lot who generally don't have a partisan or ideological slant, but simply want to stop those in power from taking advantage of the public. This makes them a natural fit for many think tanks.

Finally, think tanks hesitant to uncover and expose the misdeeds of Republicans or friendly lawmakers should not hire an investigative reporter. You probably won't like what you find.

Almost without fail, corruption and wrong doing in government will come from the party in power and the longest-serving legislators, since they've learned how to work the system. In Republican-controlled states, Republicans are more likely to be corrupt than Democrats.

TCPR exists to advance liberty, limit the size and scope of government, and bring about a more open, transparent government. We don't mind exposing anyone who works against those ideas, regardless of party affiliation. What that mentality has cost us in "friends" has been more than made up for in respect from the media, lawmakers and the public for being fair, principled and non-partisan.

If used correctly, an investigative reporter is the single best investment a free market think tank can make. Investigative journalism will make your organization's policy work more credible and successful.

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Drew Johnson is president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. Write him at drew@tennesseepolicy.org.

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