Whistleblowing has a long and rich history in the United States. To prevent government suppliers from over charging on their invoices, the False Claims Act was instituted in 1863; employees who reported their employers received a percentage of the money that was refunded to the government. In response to the misdeeds of Enron and other publicly traded companies, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was instituted; it requires publicly held companies to create policies that allow employees access to company reports and create a system for reporting concerns about company conduct. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act added more protection and incentives for whistleblowers.

The first whistleblower to gain attention was Karen Silkwood, a chemical handler with Kerr-McGee who informed authorities at the Atomic Energy Commission about health and welfare violations in 1974. Sherron Watkins was the Enron whistleblower who informed the Senate of her company’s attempts to manipulate financial statements. Erin Brockovich was a whistleblower portrayed by Julia Roberts on the big screen.

In some ways, a lack of independent journalism is what makes totalitarian governments so dangerous.  These governments override the free press and control the media messages that are transmitted to the population at large.  Many state owned monopolies are present in these governments and have free reign to engage in business practices that would be frowned upon in other countries with a free journalistic spirit and often lead to significant damage to the environment and higher prices for customers. 

In democratic capitalist societies, individuals vote with their wallets and are often influenced by the ideas that journalists expunge, which often lead to better business practices for all of the stakeholders of a business, including both the customers as well as those who are impacted by the environmental ramifications of a businesses’ decisions. 

 

Newspapers have been experiencing serious drops in revenue because of the struggling economy and the shifting to advertising via free alternatives online. This has forced many newspapers to lay off important staff members and shrink the size of their publications. The FCC report states that levels of available staff have been reduced by over 25 percent since early 2000. This means that there have been a lot of important stories which have gone unwritten and the ones that have been recorded might not have gotten the care that they deserved.

Laws currently going into place are making it easier to institute public cable channels similar to C-SPAN, but at the state level, by easing up on tax rules for non-profit news networks and directing a larger number of federal advertising dollars to local outlets.Take a look here to learn more: FCC Tells Retailers to Stop Selling Mobile Phone Jammers

To gather information on the meat packing industry, Sinclair worked seven weeks under cover disguised as a meat packer in a Chicago plant. Sinclair being an avid socialist wanted change in the way business was ran but did not intend for the response that came from his writing. Sinclair wad hoping to bring attention to his views of how corrupt the American economic system was and show people how capitalism was ruining life in America.

The uproar from the Jungle was so intense that the U.S. passed the 1906 Food and Drug Act and the related Meat Inspection Act. Because of Sinclair’s book, American meat processers were literally forced to clean up their mess. Work conditions improved making it safer for workers and customers also saw an improvement in the quality of the meat they were buying.

We can all learn something from investigative reporters such as Mayers. The simple task of asking questions and wondering why. Beyond just asking these questions, to explore and attempt to find answers. As a mom I hope that my children always take the time to go beyond what is known to find out more. To question our understanding of a topic is all to often something we avoid. Investigative reporters such as Mayers has served as an inspiration. Jane Mayer is a prize winning investigator.

Investigative eyes see things much differently than ordinary people. These are people that are trained and licensed to see things that everyday people may not notice. Individuals that take on these types of professions have be quick on their feet. They have to be discreet and know what they should be looking for. They also have to look at things more than once and make conclusions based on bits and pieces of information.

Individuals that build a career in the area of investigation will discover that they aren’t always on the right trail. It takes a certain amount of character and professionalism to backtrack and start a new trail. It’s important to know that the path will never be certain, but good investigators will never quit. Individuals that are passionate will uncover the things that need to be revealed.

Weinberg expressed journalism of investigative as: “Coverage/reporting, during one’s own inventiveness plus significance to reader’s matters, work product, spectators or listeners. In a lot of cases, the reporting issues wish the matters beneath inspection to stay behind unidentified. There are at this time departments of university for teaching journalism of investigative. Meetings are performed currently research of peer reviewed to investigative journalism.

“A journalist of investigations is a woman or a man whose line of work it is to find out the fact plus to make out slides from it in anything media may well be offered. The being lively of responsibility this in general is described investigative/analytical journalism and is separate from in fact the same work done by auditors, lawyers, police furthermore authoritarian bodies in that it is not inadequate as to aim, not lawfully established and very much linked to media hype.

Ida M. Tarbell of McClure’s Magazine published a history of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Co. Tarbell interviewed Standard Oil magnate, Henry Rogers, regarding Rockefeller and the Standard Oil’s business practices. Tarbell’s series was made into a book in 1904. Besides interviewing Rogers and other executives, Tarbell went through documents from regulators, antitrust lawyers, and academic experts. Her reports lasted for nineteen issues and provided insight into Standard Oil’s tactics against rivals, railroads, and anyone who got in the company’s way.

In 1973, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, writing for The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Watergate break-in and the Nixon Administration’s crimes. The break in occurred on June 17, 1973 and they were the first to report on dirty tricks used by the Nixon reelection campaign. Woodward continues to work at The Washington Post reporting on politics, intelligence and Washington affairs.