Investigative or general assignment research?
Information is gathered and reported at a fixed rhythm (daily, weekly, monthly).
General assignment research
Official sources offer information to the reporter freely, to promote themselves and their goals.
General assignment
Theranos's technology did not work and the company tried to cover up its failures
Prosecutorial story about a company
Information cannot be published until its coherence and completeness are assured.
Investigative Research
The reporter may explicitly challenge or deny the official version of a story, based on information from independent sources.
Investigative sources
For 20 years, Clarence Thomas has been treated to luxury vacations by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.
The story is based on the obtainable maximum of information, and can be very long.
Investigative research
The reporter uses most or all of his sources.
An investigation by The Markup found racial disparities in L.A.’s intake system for unhoused people
Systemic investigation
What people say can be a substitute for having documentation
general assignment research
Sources often cannot be identified for the sake of their security.
Investigative sources
Evictions in Arkansas can snowball from criminal charges to arrests to jail time.
An investigation about a law