Why Student Journalists Should Venture Into Investigation -By Mudathir Hayatullahi Folorunsho

Enterprise Journalism which is also known as Investigative journalism, is a form of journalism in which reporter(s) go in-depth to investigate a story that may uncover illicit acts, or draw attention of masses to social, economic, political or cultural trends.

The practice aims at unveiling public matters that are otherwise concealed, either intentionally or accidently.

Unlike regular reporting where reporters rely on story tips, or materials supplied by the government (press release), non-governmental organisations and other agencies, investigative reporting depends on materials gathered through the reporter’s own initiative. An enterprise journalist may spend weeks or months researching on just a single topic while he/she continues to dig deeper.

Why should student journalists embrace this form of journalism?

Journalism has been modernised and people have been schooled enough beyond listening to or reading regular reports of events and incidents. The people are desirous of wanting to know the reason behind a particular event and how such event happened.
As at 21st century student journalists dreaming of going into mainstream journalism after their graduation, have enough reasons not only to embrace enterprise journalism but also demonstrate such adventure as undergraduates.

Be aware that, enterprise journalism is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, exploring the unknown and taking risks. They should be able to dig deep about any act of corruption and other unlawful acts on their campus and reveal them to the world, not minding the punishment that could arise from management as a result of their action. Such daring students will make impact on their campuses because, investigative journalism always have impact on their readers and followers.

Unfortunately, corruption has found its way in every facet of our society including the academia. Issues such as sex for marks, indiscriminate scores grading, victimisation of students, and plagiarism, among others, are a recurring decimal; hence the need for more investigative reporting on our various campuses.

Another reason why student journalists should also be embraced is to be free from disseminating fake news which has become the business of some jobless students nowadays.

Meanwhile, enterprise journalism is not an instantaneous process. It develops through recognised stages of planning, researching and reporting, such that they go far beyond simply verifying the story tip, and adhering to acceptable standards with respect to accuracy and evidences.
Since it is only investigative stories that explain the full context and intricacies of an issue, this, I suppose, is what the citizens desire so as to separate the grains from the chaff.

Mudathir Hayatullahi Folorunsho is a 200-Level English Language undergraduate of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.