Good stories of journalism require the most thorough of investigations
A shopkeeper reads a newspaper in Mombasa on August 6, 2016. Reporters must be seen to be unbiased and that they are reporting as accurately as humanly possible. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- They used publicly available information to corroborate the information contained in the tax returns, such as Trump’s social security number.
- Times also hired tax experts who confirmed that the documents were in line with the accounting procedures of the US federal tax code.
One of the reasons Court of Appeal Judge Alnashir Visram recently so easily won Sh26 million in damages for defamation was because The Standard published a story about him headlined “Unfit for Justice”.
The story relied on an unsigned document purportedly provided by the Law Society of Kenya, which the LSK disowned.
Journalism codes discourage journalists from basing their stories on unsigned documents, documents sent anonymously, or unnamed sources.
Still, that happens time and again. Thus we have a lot to learn from the best practices.
Last week, we had the shining example of New York Times reporter Susanne Craig, who obtained Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax returns.
The documents indicated that the Republican presidential candidate could have avoided paying income tax for the past 18 years.
The documents showed he had reported a $916 million loss, which could have helped him legally avoid paying taxes for years.
In processing the story, the Times demonstrated the important role of journalism and how imperative it is for journalists to be painstaking in their investigations.
The three photocopied pages of Trump’s income tax returns sent anonymously to Ms Craig looked real.
It is easy to see why an unwary newspaper could rush to publish a story based on such documents.
AUTHENTICITY
But the Times did not, as explained in “Who gave Trump’s taxes to the New York Times? The mystery behind a bombshell story” by Paul Farhi published on October 2 in the Washington Post.
As she opened the thin manila envelope that contained the three pages of Trump’s income tax returns, her first reaction was that it was a hoax.
She worked together with three other reporters to establish the authenticity of the documents.
They used publicly available information to corroborate the information contained in the tax returns, such as Trump’s social security number.
They also gathered background information to help readers understand Trump’s tax returns.
Times also hired tax experts who confirmed that the documents were in line with the accounting procedures of the US federal tax code.
However, there remained one troubling aspect. A line on one of the forms bearing the nine-figure sum of $916,000,000 Trump claimed as his personal loss had the figure’s first two digits — 9 and 1 — typed in a different font from the other digits.
“This raised the possibility that the documents could be fakes,” Paul Farhi writes in his article. So they sought the man who had prepared and signed the returns, one Jack Mitnick, who had retired.
They were able to track him down in Florida. One of the reporters flew to Florida to confirm that the figure had not been doctored.
The accountant explained that the mysterious 9 and 1 had to be hand-typed on the tax form because they kept being wiped off the line when transmitted from an electronic tax-preparation programme.
Not until this confirmation did the reporters decide the story was ready for publication. They were also ready to confront Trump with their findings.
STORY OF THE DAY
The real estate tycoon, who boasts he is smarter than anybody else, did not dispute the authenticity of the documents, nor did he question the conclusions of the reporters.
His lawyer, however, threatened legal action if the newspaper published the story.
In US law it is illegal to divulge a person’s income tax returns without their permission. But Dean Baquet, executive editor of the Times, said he would risk going to jail in order to print Trump’s taxes, as it was a matter of “public concern”.
So the Times published on October 1 the story, “Pages From Donald Trump’s 1995 Income Tax Records”.
As Mr Farhi notes, it may turn out to be one of the most consequential stories of the 2016 US presidential campaign. The story has given American voters an insight into the mystery surrounding Trump’s taxes.
The story of how the Times handled the story is an amazing revelation of the process of investigative journalism and journalistic integrity. It is worth emulating.
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