Who We Are

This blog is for Investigative Reporting (RTV 3305), an advanced reporting class for broadcast journalism majors at the University of Florida. In the one-semester course, students produce in-depth stories on issues of importance to the region, state and nation. Many stories have aired on radio and television and some have won national awards.

Clery Act Violations Cited

Under a mandate known as The Clery Act, the federal goverment requires colleges and universities to accurately report crime statistics so that the public can make an informed judgment about the safety of campuses. West Virginia University recently was criticized by the U.S. Department of Education for not accurately reporting those statistics, according to the Associated Press. Investigative reporters have found these statistics useful in writing stories about campus crime. What do you think? Does the Clery Act provide information that should be available to the general public?

UF Grad Lands Interview with Traveling Dalai Lama

Sara Sidner, CNN’s correspondent based in India, recently tracked the Dalai Lama as he visited China to tour the scene of a devastating flood. Sidner, who is a University of Florida broadcast news graduate, has worked in television journalism for 12 years. She has reported on stories including the Mumbai terrorist attacks while working for CNN International. Backstory, a weekly look at the “story behind the story” on CNN International, featured Sidner’s work in early September.

Class Adopts New E-book

Students in RTV 3305 will test an innovative new e-book dedicated to using public documents for investigative stories during the Fall 2009 semester.

The book, written by Florida Times-Union editorial writer Joe Adams, focuses on how public records can be used to uncover important stories that may otherwise be missed. Adams, the author of  The Florida Public Records Handbook,

Joe Adams

 has given numerous seminars and workshops training journalists in the use of public documents.

His new e-book, The Secrets of the Scoop, has been developed with reporting students in both broadcast and print journalism in mind. Examples of quality journalism relying on public documents are featured at the online site for the book.

Don Bolles’ Killer Dies in Prison

Unlike in many other countries, it is a rare occurence for U.S. journalists to be physically harmed or even threatened because of a story they are working on. However, in 1976, Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles was the victim of a fatal car bombing while he was working on a story exposing organized crime.

The man convicted of his murder died in prison in July of this year, according to the Associated Press.  One other man convicted in the crime served 20 years and was released.

After his death, Bolles’ friends and colleagues joined together to form an investigative reporting team to complete the work he had underway when he was attacked.

Bolle’s work as a reporter is memorialized in the Newseum in Washington, D.C., along with that of other reporters from around the world who have been harmed or killed as a result of their investigations. In addition to information about Bolles and his work, the car Bolles was in when the bomb detonated is on display at the Newseum.

Was justice served in this case?