IC News

While declining newsroom budgets have taken their toll on resources for investigative journalism, savvy media outlets still recognize the importance of that type of reporting, especially given how easily misinformation can spread in the Internet and social media age.

The online publication “The Intercept” is one such outlet. Last month, two members of its staff — senior director of communications and strategy Rodrigo Brandão ’01 and investigative reporter Sharon Lerner — took part in a roundtable discussion to highlight the role of independent, investigative journalism and the critical thinking skills required to produce it.

Co-sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF), the discussion reflected the “Infiltrations” theme of this year’s FLEFF festival and highlighted the role of journalism to expose profiteering that harms the public. 

Brandão spoke about the role the publication plays in holding both powerful institutions and the media accountable

“It's just a reality that these organizations are not going to audit themselves,” he said. “It has to come from outside and some of that has to be confrontational.”

Adversarial journalism is at the heart of the publication’s mission. Lerner’s most recent reporting focused on the impact of ethylene oxide — a carcinogenic gas known to cause cancer.

And Brandão believes that budding journalism students can aspire to engage in fair and transparent reporting.

“Journalists play a really vital role,” he said. “You have to really lead the narrative as opposed to just react to the narrative.”

Brandão also touched on the role the communications field plays in amplifying the work produced by media outlets.

“Communications is about sort of figuring out what kind of partnership opportunities exist, how to (...) reach a wider audience and communicate the importance of what you're doing,” he said. “There's a need for people who can do that kind of work.”

That’s the kind of work that the PCIM can expose current IC students to, while also highlighting the ideas and critical thinking that will make them more informed citizens and agents of change.

“The Park Center for Independent Media strives to sensitize the campus community to independent media outlets that exist outside the corporate structures and practice adversarial journalism,” said PCIM director Raza Ahmad Rumi. “‘The Intercept’ is one such outlet, which has exposed the [flawed] policies of the government, its lack of transparency and how private interests undermine public welfare.”