Page 36 - Veritas - 02.03.22

A forensic journalist must

• Look beyond the information, into the meaning, reason and relevance

of news.

• Must work in accordance with the rules of journalism and the limits

of science.

• Must be able to dig deep into a topic, put it in the law’s perspective,

form an opinion, ensure the opinion is in line with science and pres-

ent it in an understandable fashion.

What are the finer rules of Forensic Journalism?

The Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), a NGO dedicated to safeguarding

rights of journalists lists out ten golden rules of forensic journalism

as follows:

1. Any issue or topic must not be routine journalism. Instead it has to

be dug deeply.

2. The issue or topic that a forensic journalist is interested in must be

a matter of public interest preferably of crime.

3. The work of a forensic journalist is time consuming. So patience is

essential.

4. The work of a forensic journalist must be original and self-explan-

atory.

5. The final output must possess new information.

6. The presentation must be able to highlight the significance of the

findings.

7. The output must not be based on one source alone and must be

multi-sourced.

8. The work gets better results when multi-sourced and must incor-

porate team-work than a one person effort.

9. The report must not have a tone of bias and must not be made with

a prejudice of accusing someone.

10. The work must be objective and truthful.

How is Forensic Journalism different from Investigative Journalism?

Investigative Journalism is a form of journalism which unveils a crime

like political corruption which may be deliberately concealed. But an