You’ve made your list of TV interviewees, checked it twice, and (if you are a true journalist) are letting the audience figure out who is naughty or nice. Think your HFR or long-form piece is ready for air? Think again!
Make sure you’ve crossed your “T’s” and dotted your “i’s,” because there are a number of you who have made the news naughty list for not doing the right research.
Here are three major things you might have forgotten in your last long-form piece.
Check the SEC
If your subject is a publicly traded company, or owns a publicly traded company, you need to check the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for any recent or pertinent litigation.
This happened recently with a NewsNation special on a doctor treating cancer. The special was well done, had an interesting choice of graphics, and was informative. However, the producers failed to mention that ImmunityBio’s senior executives were recently investigated and settled because “the site where Anktiva was manufactured suffered from rampant and myriad CGMP violations.” That is a direct quote from the settlement earlier this year. (https://pomlaw.com/monitor-issues/pomerantz-secures-105-million-settlement-for-immunitybio-investors).
CGMP stands for Current Good Manufacturing Practice. These are regulations put in place to ensure pharmaceutical manufacturing safety. The FDA often stalls or delays approval for any drug if there are questions about manufacturing safety. One Google search of Anktiva and SEC can provide anyone with this information.
Failure to mention this in the original piece about Anktiva is a failure of journalistic duty. The team also failed to mention that if a drug is FDA-approved for one type of cancer, you can petition your own health insurance company to cover the drug — but that’s a different rant for a different day. Onward!
Opposing Opinions
Jacob Riis is often taught in J-school (which I did not attend) as great journalism. His muckraking style exposed “how the other half lives.” His series of photographs was a shocking reality for many Americans. But never once did he ask or show how the squalid lifestyle was better than the life this group of newly minted Americans was fleeing. In fact, this was an upgrade from the three months they spent on a boat and the possibility of starving to death in another country.
While Riis’ work is important, calling it journalism is a disgrace because it does not provide the full scope of the story, nor does it present opposing sides.
I know what you’re thinking: “But Krystina, it’s muckraking journalism. Doesn’t that count for something?” Adding “muckraking” in front of journalism is equivalent to saying “we are news from the left” or “news from the right.” The fact that you need to place anything in front of or behind the word “journalist” to define what you are doing negates the entire purpose of journalism.
Tell the full story, not just the parts you want.
Follow-Up
So many of us live for the “F— it! I’ll do it live!” vibe. We have a great story, it gets approved by our editors, it makes air, and some of y’all are so proud of the work that you start filling out the Emmy form well before submissions even open. Girl, bye.
The story is not done because you produced a long-form piece. You still need to push the story forward. This is often where local news is king and national news fails abysmally.
A great example of local news following a story comes from PIX11 in New York. James Ford, who is an incredible journalist and an even better friend, had the scoop on a whistleblower suing NYCHA. For those who don’t know, NYCHA stands for the New York City Housing Authority. It provides affordable housing for one in 17 New Yorkers. The problem? In many NYCHA developments, the elevators do not work or repeatedly break down.
Ford spoke with a whistleblower (link to the piece here: Whistleblower alleges NYCHA elevators are not monitored in new lawsuit), who is suing NYCHA for negligence. Some would have said the six-minute exposé was enough. But nay, nay — not a true journalist like Ford.
He went back to NYCHA, received a detailed tour of their training facility, then returned to the whistleblower for his response, only to go back once more to NYCHA and press them on key elements of the story. (Link here: Exclusive: NYCHA responds to claims of unsafe elevators.) Needless to say, the follow-up is ongoing, and the impact this lawsuit has on the lives of PIX11’s audience is profound. Ford and his management team understand how important it is to follow stories like these and refuse to let them fall by the wayside.
National news outlets need to take note, because there are so many issues affecting Americans across the country that are reported on once and never heard from again, like the cleanup in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Oftentimes, the media becomes so accustomed to “feeding the beast” by chasing what’s new that we forget the most important part of our job — staying connected to the stories and people we showcase.
So, happy Christmas, merry New Year. Take this time to reflect on the work you’ve done and make next year’s work better.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll contributes features and columns for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
