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By Mohammed Al Shafey
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Iain Overton is the Managing Director of the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which is a non-profit organization
that aims to produce high-quality investigations for national and
international media, as well as support the education and training of
investigative journalists. Overton studied at Cambridge University and
has worked for the BBC and ITN. He is primarily known as a documentary
maker, and has produced films on a wide range of issues including the
activities of the minutemen on the US – Mexico border, child trafficking
in India, and honor killing in Turkey. His films have won numerous
awards including a Bafta Scotland, a Prix Circom, a Peabody Award, and a
One World media award.
The following is the full text of the interview.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
[Overton] I have been a journalist for 13 or so years. I was at the BBC
for the majority of my tutelage; rising up from being a researcher to
being a senior producer on the international strand ‘This World’. My
time at the BBC was a very happy one and I was lucky enough to receive a
number of awards for some of the investigations I carried out. I got
something called a Peabody Award for an investigation into counterfeit
pharmaceuticals in Africa and India. I won a Bafta Scotland for a
Scottish investigation into organized crime; and I won a ‘One World’
award for a film I made in Somalia. My main focus was on TV
documentaries.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you describe British Journalism today?
[Overton] From a broadcast position, I think that some of the panoramas
have played well internationally. Things like the "Secret Policeman"
[documentary] showed very strong investigation and revealed systemic
racism within the British Police forces. The recent "Dispatches"
exposure of lobbying in parliament showed how things really work in
British Parliament. The sad truth is that such investigations are
increasingly hard to finance and they are fewer and further between.
Most people in Broadcast journalism accept that the amount of slots
available for quality broadcasts has reduced over time. In terms of
journalism at its best, I think that there are some very strong strands
out there; Aljazeera English is a very strong producer of investigative
work, or "60 Minutes" in the US also produces some very strong work, as
do the Germans and Scandinavians. I think there is a very real concern
that in many areas of the world where new economic powers are developing
– places like China and Brazil – their investigative journalism isn’t
yet as developed as it is in Europe.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you tell us a little bit about the Bureau of
Investigative Journalism?
[Overton] The bureau was conceived by David and Elaine Potter as part of
the Potter foundation. David Potter made some money with his computer
company and he and his wife Elaine – who used to be a Sunday Times
journalist – believed that there was a lot of work to be done in quality
journalism and investigative journalism in the UK and internationally so
they initially put forward £2 million to help the process of
investigative journalism. The role of the bureau is to do two things;
one is to carry out investigative journalism, and the other is to help a
new generation to undertake investigative journalism and to look at new
ways in which investigative journalism can be financed. Over time the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism aims to be self sufficient and a
source of both new stories as well as a means through which new stories
can be funded. In some ways out hope is that our model will be a
commercial model, but we cannot discount that philanthropy will have to
play a part in sustaining the financial model of journalism over time.
In terms of what kind of people the Bureau will take on over time,
naturally we will take on freelancers but the relationship that the
Bureau has with City University means that we will [also] take onboard
interns and those looking for work experience from City University to
carry out investigations with us.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What does the Bureau of Investigative Journalism do
with the investigative articles that are written by its staff? Do you
sell them off?
[Overton] There are a number of ambitions and we are currently looking
at different financial models. We just formed a relationship with the
Financial Times where we are collaborating with them on a major
investigation. My hope is that that this investigation, rather than just
being published in the Financial Times, could also be broadcast on other
media networks. For instance, there might be a possibility that just as
we run a newspaper article we can also have a documentary going out on
European television or on satellite TV that mimics the investigation
which is going out on print. My basic belief is that the fragmentation
of the market has meant that publishing on one medium alone is
insufficient to securing a major impact; both in order to earn the money
back [spent] on the cost of the investigation, but also more importantly
in order to have an influence on the public at large.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What’s your view on newspapers selling their stories
via the internet, and what do you about the long term prospects for
newspapers whether this is in the UK or the Middle East?
[Overton] There will be two types of newspapers [in the future]. The
first is the newspaper who will retreat away from the digital medium,
which is a short term solution, so there may be some newspapers who say
"We will take our information off the internet" or "we will set up a
system where you have to pay to access our content." In the short-term
some of these models might work, it's too soon to tell whether the
Financial Times or The Times model where you have to pay via the
internet will work. I believe that the more specialized and the more
expert your opinion, the more people will be willing to pay for it, and
if you are just reporting on general news people will not be willing to
pay for this. My general thought on international newspapers is that
they are struggling with advertising downturn and fewer readers. However
I believe that if newspapers begin to collaborate with broadcasters then
they may find a way of sustaining investigation, particularly long-term
forms of investigation over time, and I think the answer to increasing
audience figures and advertising revenue is collaboration.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do the British daily newspapers carry out good
investigative journalism, and do you think this is something that is too
costly to provide?
[Overton] Investigative journalism is really a gamble. You can chase a
story for 2 or 3 moths and it will reveal nothing in the end. If you
have nothing at the end of it you can still publish something that is
light and weak and possibly libelous and then open up your organization
to being sued, or you can just sign off and accept that you didn’t get a
result…and that is why is it is very costly. Quality journalism – when
it works – can boost ratings and sales and advertising revenue, an
example of this is the Telegraphs coverage of the [MP] expense scandal,
which was investigative journalism to a degree, even if it wasn't true
investigative journalism in the sense that it required the purchase of a
whistle blowing document however this was still of massive benefit to
the Telegraph. But there are also masses of instances where the
investigation didn’t get the results that the journalist hoped to
reveal. So investigative journalism can be extremely costly and this is
why it is one of the fist things which seems to be affected when
newspaper editors have to make cuts.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think the British MPs Expenses Scandal was the
best piece of investigative journalism this year?
[Overton] Yes. It's had the most impact, but there have still been many
others that were very good, although they didn’t have as much of an
impact, but they are powerful stories and are very revelatory, so I
wouldn’t necessarily say that it was the best investigative report, but
it has had the longest consequences.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What other stories have you like this year?
[Overton] I think the "Dispatches" story on lobbying in parliament was
very strong
[Asharq Al-Awsat] what special characteristics are needed for working in
investigative journalism?
[Overton] I think that a quality that an investigative journalist needs
to have is dogged persistence and the ability to spend hours and hours
going over details without giving up hope that there is something at the
end of it. So I think that you need perseverance and determination.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think that the number of investigative
journalists are increasing or decreasing?
[Overton] I think that because of the problems that the media is facing
with costs the number of investigative journalist paid to do the work is
decreasing, however the upturn in social networks and access to the
internet and e-mails and blogs means that there are plenty of amateur
journalist out there also stepping into the gaps, so I think the number
of professional investigative journalist are slowly declining.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you describe what makes a good story?
[Overton] A good story is something that has relevance to people and
shows people how things work. The process, the facts, the problems
behind the scenes, and finally a story that has an effect, that has an
impact, that causes a change and forces society to address the problem.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What names come to mind when you think of good
investigative reports?
[Overton] Well I’m a fan of Ben Goldacre who is a very punchy
journalist, who must be in his mid thirties. Nick Davies is also very
good. And another person who is helping the Bureau and who I have a
great amount of respect for is the ex editor of the "World in Action’
[current affairs program] Ray Fitzwalter.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Is investigative journalism a solitary profession or
is it better if it takes place as part of a team?
[Overton] I think that the best investigations happen as part of small
teams working together, as people working together are able to give each
other ideas on how to progress the story.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think men or women are more suited to this job?
[Overton] Well it would be impossible to say. I have an equal number of
both men and women working here at the Bureau and it is more about the
individual who brings their personality to the story. There are
excellent male and female journalist, and there are also very bad male
and female journalists, so I don’t think that you can say whether it is
about whether you are a man or a woman.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Out of the 15 freelance journalists working for the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism, how many of them are women?
[Overton] We have about 8 women who are all rather youngish, and the
point of the Bureau is to try and train up the next generation of
investigative journalists; so they’re all under 40.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What sort of issues pique your interest make you want
to investigate them?
[Overton] In the UK, I am very interested in public service
accountability and how our public services works. Internationally, I
think that the so-called war on terror is an area that has to be
carefully analyzed and we have to make sure that the governments are
acting within the boundaries of human rights and the guidelines of the
Geneva Convention.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] Is there anything you would like to add to our
readers?
[Overton] I am keen to hear from Arabic speaking journalists who have
stories to tell.
We are a totally independent media organization, and we have no bias
with regards to sex, race, color or creed and I am interested in
exposing all manner of corruption and failings. So I would like to use
this opportunity to tell other journalists that our doors are open for
collaborations.
April 18,
2010
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