Journalist’s Resource: It’s no secret that a lot of the public does not trust the news media. Can you please talk about the reasons you decided to rely on anonymous sources for this investigative series and whether you think it’s a good practice for journalists, generally speaking?
Palazzolo: “We were reporting on a contract that, by its nature, legally bound the parties involved to secrecy. And the president has a history of filing lawsuits that can cost defendants a fortune in legal fees, even if they are ultimately thrown out. We couldn’t have got this information to the public without granting our sources anonymity. But that’s not true for all our stories. We all need to push harder to get sources on the record.”
Journalist’s Resource: You wrote in your award submission paperwork that the most rewarding element of this investigation is how organic it has been. Can you elaborate, please? Can you also talk about how “organic” news investigations differ from other kinds — for example, a planned series?
Palazzolo: “It was like building a house from the ground up. We had no idea where our reporting would take us when we started making calls in October 2016, after receiving a tip about a lawyer entering into secret settlements to hide Trump’s past. We had to develop sources in world of adult entertainers, gossip brokers, lawyers who help clients profit from dirt on celebrities and lawyers who help celebrities keep their secrets under wraps.
When we discovered that a woman named Karen McDougal had been paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, we published a story four days before the election, noting that the CEO of the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, was a friend of Trump and an unabashed supporter of his presidential campaign. We also reported in that story that McDougal’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, represented another woman reported to have had an affair with Trump — Stormy Daniels, who like McDougal had been in talks with ABC before the election and abruptly cut them off.
We spent the next year trying to figure out whether Daniels or other women were paid off, and if so, whether Trump knew about the hush payments. Our reporting built little by little to our January 2018 story revealing Cohen’s payment to Daniels.
Organic doesn’t mean haphazard. We planned each step, strategized the best ways of getting the information, sussed out the motivations of our sources.”
Palazzolo: “I work in the Journal‘s legal group and have experience rummaging through court documents and other public records. My editor reached out to the investigative team for help. Michael Rothfeld and I had worked together previously and our skills were complementary. He also has a deep knowledge of public records and is one of the most talented interviewers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Lukas Alpert, from our media team, was well acquainted with the tabloid world. His sources and knowledge were invaluable. At the Journal, teams typically come together based on need.”
Journalist’s Resource: Can you please share a couple of examples of techniques you used to get a reluctant source to speak to you or share information they had with you?
Palazzolo: “The key is finding what would motivate someone to speak to you. Maybe they have an interest in making sure they have a say in how they are portrayed in your story, or they want to protect someone else, or deflect attention from themselves, or they believe — like you do — that the story you’re working on is in the public interest.
Be honest about what you know and what you don’t know, and build trust with them by doing right by them. That doesn’t mean going soft on sources. It means that you let them know exactly what you intend to say about them in print, that you hear them out and that you treat them fairly.”
Journalist’s Resource: If you were talking to an entry-level reporter who hopes to someday do investigative work on national leaders such as the president, what are three or four tips you’d give that person?
Palazzolo: “1) Make the extra call. You may think that a given person will never speak with you, why bother calling him or her? Don’t think that way. Call people, call everyone. Our source lists for these stories have close to a thousand names. Pick up the phone.
2) All the phone work can be tedious. If you suspect someone has information that’s important to your story, meet them in person. You will always get more.
3) Familiarize yourself with as many categories of public records as you can: regulatory filings, court documents, property records, loan records, corporate records. Mine them for potential sources.
4) Stay organized. Big, sprawling stories have lots of dots that need to be connected. Keep your sources files updated. Note the last time you spoke with them and what happened. Make searchable databases for your public records. The more organized you are, the more you’ll be able to connect the dots and see the big picture.”
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