BUILDING AND LEADING

COHESIVE
INVESTIGATIVE TEAMS
By Ted Bridis
June 2017
@tbridis
WHY THIS IS SO HARD:
Some qualities that make an investigative reporter successful can make us
hard to manage in a corporate newsroom or work collegially with coworkers

Default position to question/challenge authority

Willingness to kick down doors
Quick to take offense, outrage
Abundance of self confidence (All-Star mentality)
Senior levels of experience (been there, done that)
HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO WORK TOGETHER:

Success begins with hiring the right candidates, recruiting internally

Explicitly discuss expectations of newsroom civil discourse, behavior
Build collaboration as learned skill into performance evaluations
Reward terrific successes: Public praise, internal awards, compensation
Privately counsel failures, open door policy
HOW TO RESOLVE NEWSROOM CONFLICTS:
We encourage reporters to work it out among themselves

There is value in robust newsroom disagreements

Appreciate that our interests are aligned
Express respect for opinions, even ones with which you disagree
Look for opportunities to compromise
Understand when to escalate to editor or manager
HOW TO RESOLVE NEWSROOM CONFLICTS:
When all else fails, ask your editor

Our role to help navigate difficult decisions, choices

Editors want reporters to win Pulitzers: Were invested in your success
Expect fair assessment of competing viewpoints
Is there an unconsidered path?
Look for ways subsequently to examine correctness of decision
HOW TO ASSIGN DIVISIONS OF LABOR:
When working with at least one partner (or more)

Brainstorm with your editor and teammates on to-do lists, ETA

Identify needs: Subject expertise? Video? Data? Legal? International help? Travel?
Set individual responsibilities, reasonable project deadlines; communicate!
Be flexible: Best-laid plans may change, especially on timing
Literature check: Read everything written lately on your subject
Identify sources (people & content), develop interview strategies
Carefully plan sequencing of interviews, research
Red team our reporting, writing
Frequently re-evaluate progress, ambition, scope; write as-you-go
CYCLE OF INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT WORK:
THE RED-TEAM CONCEPT:
Expose finished project, pre-publication, to intense scrutiny

Process is identical for every project, every reporter

Step back, challenge any premise or preconceptions
Editor may report behind you
Require evidence of every factual statement, assertion, quote
Reassess adequacy of sourcing
Diligently pursue, promote, highlight fair comment
Acknowledge any unknowns, alternative explanations
Duplicate data analyses (reproducibility is requirement), possibly seek outside review
Brainstorm how reporting might be undermined, how to make it more bulletproof
 APS NYPD INVESTIGATIVE PULITZER PRIZE:
Internal division, tension about propriety of our project
Raging debates served as crucible to purify, refine reporting, writing
Earliest stories convinced whistle-blowers to contact us, share files
Our internal metrics illustrated wild popularity of project
Originally envisioned as 2-3 part limited package; ultimately > 50 stories

AP's investigation revealed that the NYPD dispatched undercover officers into
minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program. Police also used
informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there
was no evidence of wrongdoing.

The AP determined that police subjected entire neighborhoods to surveillance

and scrutiny, often because of the ethnicity of the residents, not because of any
accusations of crimes. Hundreds of mosques and Muslim student groups were
investigated and dozens were infiltrated. Many of these operations were built
with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was
instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit after 9/11.
BUILDING AND LEADING
COHESIVE
INVESTIGATIVE TEAMS
By Ted Bridis
June 2017
@tbridis