News Story

The Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism hosted its annual investigative journalism symposium on Feb. 29, bringing together students, faculty, panelists, and former New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet for a day full of chatter regarding investigative journalism.

Three panels were hosted throughout the day — Keeping it Local: Reporting and Editing Community Investigations, Accountability in Sports: Uncovering Abuse and Misconduct, and Investigating for the Eye: Data and Visual Storytelling — with a keynote speech capping off the day from Dean Baquet, former executive editor of The New York Times and current leader of the Times’ Local Investigations Fellowship.

“We can be an odd family,” Founding Director of the Arnolt Center and Media School professor of practice Kathleen Johnston said of journalists. “There are those of us we don’t like in the family and those that are just offbeat, but they’re all good journalists.”

Johnston introduced Baquet after discussing the successes of the Arnolt Center, joking that he didn’t need a lot of introduction.

“He’s got to sit there and watch history unfold,” Johnston said. “He has worked hard to set the record straight on things we may just assume, which is what investigative journalists do. They don’t assume — they look for the facts.”

Baquet appreciated the introduction.

“Everybody keeps thanking me for being here, but I just want to say I get so much pleasure out of talking to students and faculty,” Baquet said. “It’s just eye-opening for me. It’s enlightening. And when I talk to young journalists, it reminds me of why I got into the profession.”

Before jumping into the main points of his speech, Baquet spent time recognizing some of the overarching issues that haunt modern journalism.

“I’m sure you have talked much about the plight of American journalism,” he said. “The financial crisis and the scary state of local news. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about those issues, and I’m happy to talk about them. They’re important and all of us will have to wrestle them in the coming years.”

While Baquet said those were all important topics, he said this was his chance to talk about investigative reporting, which he said must have a place in the future if the journalism industry wishes to survive.

Baquet then told a story of a discussion he moderated in Jackson, Mississippi, with a group of reporters who had exposed sheriffs in rural Rankin County, Mississippi, who had brutalized small-time drug dealers. The sheriffs shocked them with tasers and beat them.

“It was your typical journalism crowd, in an old building in sleepy downtown Jackson, near the capital,” he said. “Or so I thought.”

The crowd in Mississippi had your usual suspects.

“I thought they were journalists who wanted to hear about craft,” he said. “Or editors who wanted to talk about how to do this work in their communities. Journalism students. Reporters networking for future jobs. Some do-gooder politicians who wanted to salute the flag of journalism.”

Baquet said they had their “usual debate” about whether local journalism has an impact in a place like Mississippi. The debate came to a halt, though, when a woman stood up and spoke, saying they had “understated” the impact of journalism on local communities.

“An intruder from the real world had stepped into our discussion and reminded us why we do what we do,” he said. “We were all a little bit emotional, but one of the lead reporters finally broke the silence and told her, ‘We wrote that story for you.’”

Baquet went on to say he loved journalism in “all its forms” and that it has given him a “rich, unexpected” life. One of the overall themes of Baquet’s speech — that he explicitly mentioned — is that journalism is better than it’s ever been before.

After his speech, Baquet took questions from the audience, ending the 2024 Arnolt Center Symposium. The entire recording of the symposium is available to watch for free.