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Guatemalan Journalists Receive Training in Investigative Reporting
FrontLines - February 2009
By Eduardo Flores-Trejo
Guatemalans read local papers.
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Guatemala City, Guatemala—Journalists in Guatemala recently had the opportunity to brush up on their investigative reporting skills.
Some 240 radio, television, and print journalists attended workshops on investigative reporting between July and December.
Costa Rican journalist Giannina Segnini, who heads the investigation unit of La Nación, and Ricardo Uceda, director of Instituto Prensa y Sociedad in Peru, taught the seminars which lasted up to four days and were run by USAID’s Transparency and Anti-Corruption Program and Universidad Francisco Marroquin.
Reporters learned how to use media technology and computer assisted reporting, make the case for investigative reporting to news agencies, and work in difficult political environments. The working journalists also had a chance to discuss their experiences in news gathering.
Rodrigo Peréz, a reporter at Siglo XXI newspaper said that “the press plays a watchdog role over government. Training in investigative journalism and computer assisted reporting is a key contribution to strengthening
the tools needed for conducting
more effective and accurate investigations. This translates into journalists who are better prepared to disclose real and potential corruption ….”
Geovany Contreras of Siglo XXI participates in an investigative reporting seminar to help journalists in Guatemala use the latest technology and techniques to gather and report their stories.
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According to Eduardo Flores, director of the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Program in Guatemala, journalists discovered
technology can make up for a lack of resources.
Geovany Contreras, who also reports for Siglo XXI, said that “computer assisted reporting opened up a new world of possibilities
to conduct investigations online. I was used to more basic and traditional sources, but now I have the possibility of deepening my investigations via the Internet. I have a possibility of being able to clarify issues online that were not evident before. Using IT means that sources are no
longer limited to only those in Guatemala. This is opening a new horizon for me and allowing me to consult alternative and parallel sources in sustaining and documenting
investigations.”
Flores said another concern journalists had was how to deal with editors and co-workers who do not understand the process of investigative reporting—as opposed to daily deadline writing—
and how significant it is to the health of a news organization.
“Journalists were concerned that their editors did not fully realize the importance of conducting
investigative journalism, which requires more time to prepare than daily articles,” Flores said.
“They feared that they would not have enough time to complete
their stories. The seminars showed them how to explain to editors how good investigative reporting eventually pays off in increasing the credibility of a publication or news organiza-tion and in enhanced sales of news products.”
Television journalist Francis Urbina from Telediario Channel 3 said skills she gained from the seminar would be beneficial in news gathering, but she also had a philosophical take on the course: “We seek transparency, justice and equity,” she said. “These tools are contributing to a more democratic society and helping us in the fight against impunity and corruption.”
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