Great investigations can and should start on college campuses. Some schools have the student population of a small city, with athletic budgets in the triple-digit millions. And that’s not to speak of the possibilities to hold the powerful accountable off campus, and give a voice to the vulnerable outside your campus walls.
Award-winning investigative journalist Alexandra Zayas will walk you through the investigative process from the very beginning. What makes a good investigative story? How do you get started? How do you get around roadblocks like FERPA to get the information you need?
WHAT WILL I LEARN:
-
What to look for when deciding whether to take on a story
-
How to get information you need beyond public records
-
What to think about when exposing athletic corruption and sexual assault.
-
How to put it all together to make a powerful case that sparks change
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
All students participating in the Poynter College Media Project, including student media staffers and peers in journalism and related courses, should attend.
Alexandra Zayas
Alexandra Zayas is a senior editor at ProPublica. She spent 12 years at the Tampa Bay Times, ultimately as the newspaper’s enterprise editor. As a reporter, her investigation into abuse at unlicensed religious children’s homes across Florida won the 2013 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, the Livingston Award for Young Journalists and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. She has served on the National Advisory Board of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.