WVU Investigative Journalism

In the wake of fake news and the rise of white supremacy leaders in the media, reporters have to consider the public’s best interest now more than ever. At the Huffington Post, Senior Politics Editor Paige Lavender and her team are faced with this dilemma everyday when reporting on white supremacy leaders, such as Alex […]

To Neal Justin, then a young regional reporter in Illinois 25 years ago who had been tipped off about a local judge who, because of an alleged addiction to alcohol, usually slept through court sessions only to later hand down “irrational” judgements, getting to the bottom of the matter was a no-brainer. However, Justin, 23 […]

At some point in his/her career, nearly every journalist will face some sort of ethical dilemma and will have to make a decision on how to handle it.  Lacie Pierson, courts reporter for the Charleston Gazette Mail, knows this all too well. “The stakes are higher on this beat,” she says of covering crime and […]

As professional journalists must filter through mass amounts of sensitive information every day in order to provide the public with the knowledge it needs, ethical dilemmas are inevitable. Ashley Craig, now the assistant city editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, has dealt with her fair share of ethical issues in her nine years working as a […]

A group of about 300 persons on Saturday, September 23, held a walk in Morgantown, WV, to create awareness about Chiari, an acute neurological condition, and to also raise funds for research.   Dubbed “Conquer Chiari Walk Across America”, the event was attended by persons living with the disorder – believed to affect 1 in […]

By Erin Drummond A journalist’s career consists of making difficult, ethical choices. Some take a hazardous route, resulting in “fake news,” lawsuits, and other negative outcomes. Others follow what they believe in, doing their best to prevent unethical situations. Emily Daniels, the City Editor for The Journal in Martinsburg, WVa., recalled a personal ethical dilemma […]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette started in 1786 and is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nicholas Tolomeo is a part-time sports writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He covers various high school sports around the Pittsburgh area. Every week the editor assigns each writer to an area they must cover whether it is North, South, […]

Journalism is defined by the American Press Institute as, “the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information.” While a journalist is presenting news and information they must know how and be able to present it in an ethical way.  By “ethical way,” I mean that a journalist must portray the information with […]

My short time as a journalist has been no cakewalk and anyone trying to track down a good story knows the struggle I’m referring to.  As journalists, we have an idea of the story we want to write and then plan out our interviews by the minute. We sketch out every question we need to […]

When a victim calls The Charleston Gazette-Mail newsroom, editors know exactly who to hand the phone to: Erin Beck, a West Virginia University alumna. She might be one of the youngest in the newsroom, but you wouldn’t know that from meeting her. “I try to take the victim’s perspective whenever I write about crime,” she […]