Expert Speaks To Journalism Students

Special guest speaker, Michael Schmidt, spoke to students about Investigative Journalism in South Africa.

Michael Schmidt

Second year and third year Journalism students were invited to attend the lecture on 17 April, in order to gain a more in-depth view on what the field of Investigative Journalism is all about.

Michael Schmidt is an investigative field reporter, journalism trainer, free press activist and former special investigative writer for the Independent Newspapers Group and his book, entitled Drinking With Ghosts: The Aftermath of Apartheid’s Dirty War, has been long-listed for the 2015 Alan Paton Award.

Schmidt began his talk by asking students whether they thought the ‘Investigative Journalism hat’ fit them or not. He continued to speak about the different forms of investigative journalism including Systematic Investigation (document-based), Narrative Investigation (interview-based) and Experiential Investigation (legwork-based). He also spoke about the different forms of journalism found within these categories including counter-intelligence, structural, conflict, forensic, sociological and process journalism.

Schmidt says, “Investigative Journalism is great because it gives you a holistic and nuanced understanding of your world – behind the curtain of PR, propaganda and appearances, self-confidence to speak to anyone at any level of society at any time about anything, a passport full of stamps relating to unbeatable experiences that will be the envy of dinner-party conversation anywhere, and the respect that comes with the ease with which you will wield the combined skills of a lawyer, negotiator, researcher, political analyst, psychologist, historian, raconteur and sociologist – not to mention multimedia expert.”

Schmidt added, “People in power sure don’t like investigative journalists and yet they get some of their most crucial non-intel information from us.”

He ended his talk by asking students, “So, do you want to venture behind the curtain? Does the Investigative Journalism hat fit you?”

During the question and answer session, when asked about the impact of journalism and the difficult scenarios field journalists are exposed to, Schmidt explained, “Most journalists excel by getting their hands dirty. But you have to keep your mind clean.” He also shared that he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but has received help for it. Schmidt added, “You’ve got to be human in whatever situation you’re in. It is difficult sometimes to talk about it, but you have to learn sometimes to not emotionally overcommit. It’s important to look after your own mental state. Investigative Journalism changes you, but you’re still human.”

 

 

After the first Mental Health Awareness Day held on the Monash campus in March, Journalism students were able to identify with Schmidt and understand what could lay ahead when venturing into the journalism field. Cameron Gunn Mackay, a second year journalism student said, “After listening to Michael, I personally feel very motivated to go into the field of investigative journalism. It seems exciting and you get to see the world and experience things that others can only dream of.”
For more of what Cameron thought of Michael Schmidt, listen to the clip below:

Students say that they hope more guest speakers like Michael Schmidt will visit the campus and speak to them in the future.