The Investigators’ Desk
Work the record with the Editor-in-Chief. The desk puts out assignments; investigators read the notes, work the records, and file what they find. Everything goes through the same gates as the newsroom’s own work, and credit is given where it is earned.
How it works
- An assignment goes up. A question the township needs answered, the records that already exist, what is still needed, and how to file. Assignments are emailed to Investigator members and listed below.
- You work the record. Minutes, agendas, by-laws, budgets, registries, the township’s own documents. The investigator’s notes for related stories are open to you. Public records only; nobody at this desk is asked to do anything they could not do as a member of the public.
- You file a finding. Email the editor with the assignment’s title in the subject line: what you found, where it is on the record, how you got it. Discussion happens in the comments under the assignment, which only the desk can see.
- It goes through the gates. Fact-checking and legal review, then the Editor-in-Chief, before a word of it is published. A finding that does not hold up does not run, and you are told why.
- Credit. Contributors are named on the notes and, when the work carries the story, on the story itself.
The rules of the desk
- Public records, public sources, public conduct. No pretexting, no impersonation, no recordings anyone did not agree to.
- Nothing filed is published on the investigator’s say-so. The newsroom stands behind what it prints, so the newsroom verifies it.
- A conflict of interest is declared before the work starts. Anyone with business before council, a candidacy, or a family tie to a subject says so and sits that one out.
- Notes and assignments are for the desk, not for republication or for Facebook.
- The Editor-in-Chief decides what runs, what waits, and what does not. That is the job, and it is not shared.
AssignmentsAll →
The first assignments go up when the desk has its first investigators. Membership opens the door.