Mr. IntegrityHard working and integrity is the key to good reporting says Steve Andrews.
Andrews is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Executive Producer of Investigations WFLA News Channel 8. He gave a lecture to the Public Affairs Reporting class and I must say he showcased some powerful thoughts about integrity. One thing that he said that hit home for me was to be tough but be polite.
“As you go through your career and as you begin your career you need to know how to be polite… you don’t have to be in your face. You can be tough and hold people accountable but you don’t have to be a jerk,” said Andrews.
For myself being a waitress for 11 years and completely understand what he means. I have been doing it for so long; I had forgotten that my skills can apply to other careers. In terms as reporting career, I think that Andrews’s advice is important because reporters can become de-sensitized and forget that people have feelings.
An example of Andrews not becoming one of those de-sensitized reporters was shown back in June 2007. He was the reporter that demanded the public records from a DCF Investigation to be open. The story was about the neglect of a 85 year old man in a nursing home. Andrews demanded that DCF take a closer look at this problem and sure enough the case was re-opened. In the end, the director of the nursing home told Andrews thank you and that this will lead to more aggressive investigations on the nurses that are hired.
All of this happened because Andrews followed what he preached. That you can get the job done by being tough and being polite and that the people you come across will respect you for that.
During the lecture, Andrews showed a news story about a judge that was corrupt. Not in his court room but in his personal affairs.
Former Judge Thomas Stringer was the first black man to graduate from Stetson Law School. Andrews said this statement several times in his story. For me, the focus statement for the story was not so much that the former Judge had hide money for a stripper but that his reputation has become tarnished. That the young black men going to school for law once looked to Stringer as a public figure, now is looked at as just another black criminal.
Andrews care was for those that who did look up to him. And when Andrews had that microphone in Stringers face, Andrews wanted an answer for all those young law students.
His reporting style should be noted to all young journalists coming up. Be honest to the people in the story you are reporting and have integrity. If anybody wants to email Andrews to ask him any questions go to http://www.wfla.com/personalities/andrews.htm
If you think there is something out there to be investigated in the Tampa Bay area, call News Channel 8 (813)-221-5779, they are waiting to here from you.
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