1. It must be the work of the reporter, not a report
   of an investigation made by someone else.
2. The subject must involve something
   of reasonable importance to the reader or viewer.
3. Others must be attempting to hide these matters
   from the public.

Source: "Investigative Reporting: Advanced Methods and Techniques," by John Ullman, St. Martin's Press, 1995.

• Where should your focus be?
  Local? Regional? National? International?
  

• Is it relevant to your community?
• What are the most important stories
  you can tell for your place and time?
• Guard your time jealously.

• Homicide detectives don't waste time trying to solve 
  murders if they're not sure somebody got killed.
  
  Neither should we.

• A prominent local politician is operating a squalid motel and an illegal trailer park, where he houses a steady stream of homeless people. 
• He crammed in the trailers behind the motel so that he could house still more tenants.

• Where did this situation come from?
• What had to have happened so that it could exist today?  
• On whose watch is it happening?

• What's the scope?
• What's the harm?
• Who's to blame?

• Sources? Can you realistically get the documents
  or interviews you'll need to get the story done?
• What's the best story you can deliver at a minimum?
• What's the best, most ambitious story
  you can realistically tell?

• Property
• Unsafe housing conditions
• Crime
• Government subsidies

• Police reports
• Court records
• Property records
• Business records

• Who to target as sources?
• Seek out the subjects of your investigation as soon as you start. Sit down and talk to them. Tell them what you're doing.
• Go in knowing more than they think you do, but not much. Ask general questions and let them give you their versions of the facts.
• Let them lie to you. When they do, perk up. Tell them it's interesting. Ask for more detail.

• Have your questions prepared ahead of time.
• Tape record when possible.
• If you can't tape it, get another journalist to sit in with you. Have them off to the side, out of the subject's sight line, taking detailed notes while you guide the subject through the interview.

• Share your findings with the subject of your investigation. No surprises.
• Stay cool. It's not a confrontation. It's not personal. You're sitting down to ask for help making sense of what you've learned. You're getting information, not making judgments.