Paul Lashmar gave a talk to level one journalism students at UCF on Monday in order to illustrate what it take to be a successful investigative journalist.
He explained that he feels journalism has become to much of a process, writing about the facts presented and so investigative journalism is necessary to provide a balance in society which is having it's civil liberties ground down.
His advice was to ask 'why is this lying bastard lying to me?', illustrating that some in depth research must be carried out, rather than just accepting things at face value.
An example of this research is the lack of transparency he found when looking into the activities of SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) the UK equivalant of the FBI. When SOCA announced it had seized 73 tonnes of drugs abroad it failed to mention how much it was directly responsible for. When he asked questions, SOCA simply replied 'we are not willing to discuss this.'
Many newspapers lack sufficient funding to allow journalists free reign to dig so deep, but it is necessary to show the initiative and willingness in order to build a reputation as being the one who will look at the finer details.
Lashmar began his career as an investigative researcher for the Observer in 1978, and became a staff reporter in 1980. During his time there he teamed up with a fellow reporter, David Leigh. Working together for eight years they covered many of the biggest stories of the time, winning the Reporter of the Year award in 1986 for their story on MI5 vetting staff at the BBC.
He left the Observer for Granda TV’s World in Action series in 1989 where he worked for three years, breaking stories on Brazilian child killers and the Queens failure to pay income tax.
In the years that followed he has worked in a number of freelance roles, including as a print journalist and a TV producer.
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