{"id":42579,"date":"2025-05-27T14:42:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=42579"},"modified":"2025-05-30T12:46:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:46:27","slug":"investigative-journalism-students-shine-a-light","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/investigative-journalism-students-shine-a-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigative Journalism Students Shine a Light"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin bu-blocks-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default has-media has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1427\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Group of students at the NICAR 2025 conference.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner-636x454.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner-1024x731.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner-1536x1096.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2025\/05\/comtalk-ire-banner-1402x1000.jpg 1402w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Maggie Mulvihill (in red) with her students at an Investigative Editors and Reporters (IRE) conference. Photo courtesy of Maggie Mulvihill.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInvestigative Journalism Students Shine a Light\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">COM students are breaking stories, winning awards, and moving on to even bigger assignments after they graduate<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-categories\">\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/journalism\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJournalism\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/student-work\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Work\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 27, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/authors\/steve-holt\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSteve Holt\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-inner js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t<h4>Share<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-title\">Investigative Journalism Students Shine a Light<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-link\">\n\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/investigative-journalism-students-shine-a-light\/\" readonly>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<label>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Copy URL:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Copy<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">If democracy dies in darkness, investigative journalists are often the ones keeping the lights on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/maggie-mulvihill\/\">Maggie Mulvihill<\/a>, an associate professor of the practice of computational journalism who has broken many stories over a decades-long career, created the COM\u2019s first data journalism course in 2015 and is working to make sure COM can offer paths for students who are interested in careers in data or investigative journalism. This involves expanding course offerings, bringing in working journalists to speak to students and even starting the process of establishing a campus chapter of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ire.org\/\">Investigative Reporters and Editors<\/a> (IRE), a national membership organization. Perhaps the most important path offered to students is the opportunity to work on deeply reported investigative and data stories.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, faculty from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland invited BU student journalists from Mulvihill\u2019s data journalism course and an investigative reporting course taught by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/shannon-dooling\/\">Shannon Dooling<\/a>, an associate professor of the practice of investigative reporting, to dig into lobbyist-paid travel practices of members of the US House of Representatives. In April, the resulting series of articles\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/cnsmaryland.org\/congressional-travel\/\">\u201cPlanes, Trains and Luxury Stays: Despite reforms, lobbyists still involved in House travel\u201d<\/a>\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ire.org\/announcing-the-2024-ire-award-winners-and-finalists\/\">placed first<\/a> among large-school student groups in the IRE Awards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-teal-background-right\"><p>Students break a lot of great stories. Just be curious, ask questions and don\u2019t assume that because you\u2019re a student, somebody won\u2019t talk to you.<\/p><cite>Maggie Mulvihill<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe looked at private entities that pay for members of Congress to travel, from nonprofits to educational institutions, many of whom have lobbyists on their boards or lobbyists as employees,\u201d says Mulvihill. Thirty students across the two classes pored over thousands of pages of records, including more than 600 individual trip disclosures from members of Congress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the five-part series, which includes a searchable database of congressional travel records, the student journalists found that members of Congress often bring family members along on lobbyist-funded trips, which ethics experts told them is \u201cnothing more than influence peddling.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re supposed to report these payments, which for a member of Congress and a wife or husband could be twenty grand per trip, as income,\u201d Mulvihill says. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t get a straight answer from any member of Congress about whether or not they did that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>From BU to Breaking Newsrooms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The journalism department\u2019s success training investigative journalists is already evident in the alumni who now regularly break stories for national publications.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just a year after graduating from BU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/kirsten-berg-profile-pulitzer-prize-winner\/\">Kirsten Berg (\u201911)<\/a> worked alongside her former professor, Mulvihill, to report on deep inequities in the penalties passed down by Massachusetts judges and juries to juveniles convicted of first degree murder when they were 15 or younger. The New England Center for Investigative Reporting series\u2014\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/fij.org\/our-youngest-killers\/\">Our Youngest Killers<\/a>\u201d\u2014also appeared in <em>The<\/em> <em>Boston Globe<\/em> and won several awards. \u201cShe was a natural\u2014just had the stuff,\u201d Mulvihill recalls.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 2024, as a research reporter with the nonprofit <em>ProPublica<\/em>, Berg was part of a team that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/series\/supreme-court-scotus\">won the Pulitzer Prize<\/a> for its investigation into the ethics and oversight of the Supreme Court.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mulvihill introduced Shwetha Surendran (\u201922) to ESPN investigative reporter Paula Levigne at an IRE conference several years ago. Just a few months later, as an incoming journalism master\u2019s student at American University, Surendran was named the first recipient of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espnfrontrow.com\/2023\/08\/updated-shwetha-surendran-completes-inaugural-espn-investigative-journalism-fellowship-joins-espn\/\">ESPN investigative journalism fellowship<\/a>. Today, as a writer in ESPN\u2019s investigative and enterprise unit, Surendran has covered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/espn\/story\/_\/id\/39865981\/crypto-lawsuits-targeting-athletes-tom-brady-cristiano-ronaldo\">connection<\/a> between high-profile athletes and cryptocurrencies, how a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/espn\/betting\/story\/_\/id\/39288068\/nfl-bills-steelers-weather-edge-betting-under\">snowstorm affected betting results<\/a> in a January 2024 NFL game, and athletes, such as baseball star Shohei Ohtani, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/espn\/betting\/story\/_\/id\/39288068\/nfl-bills-steelers-weather-edge-betting-under\">who have been scammed<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s one of our huge success stories, and now she\u2019s breaking stories left and right at ESPN\u2014all because of this encounter in a hallway at this conference,\u201d Mulvihill says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Expanding Opportunities to Dig<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>COM may soon have a new way for student investigative journalists to receive tools and support to take with them into their reporting careers. BU is one of nine schools where IRE is looking to launch student chapters in a pilot program intended to \u201cintroduce more students to the organization and bring investigative training to college campuses,\u201d according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ire.org\/new-student-chapters-on-college-campuses\/\">press release<\/a>. Once the University formally recognizes the group, Mulvihill says students will have access to thousands of tip sheets, data sets, examples of investigative and data stories, trainings, conferences and mentorship opportunities with professional journalists. As cochair of IRE\u2019s Academic Task Force subcommittee, Mulvihill has led the charge to see these student chapters spring up not only at BU, but across the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat I really love about IRE, and why I\u2019m such a champion of it, is that it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re at the<em> <\/em><em>Cape Cod Times<\/em> or a little nonprofit or the<em> <\/em><em>New York Times<\/em>, you\u2019re treated the same\u2014every reporter counts,\u201d she says. \u201cVeteran members like me know how critical it is for this next generation of journalists to come behind us and do good work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amanda Brucculeri (\u201926) is part of that next generation. The journalism major took Mulvihill\u2019s data journalism course but says she is interested in all aspects of the industry and is eager to get involved with an IRE chapter on campus to learn about investigative journalism outside of class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope this chapter will teach students the necessary tools to be a good investigative journalist, like visualization tools and basic coding, which are not really taught in classes\u2014besides data journalism,\u201d Brucculeri says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Journalism Chair <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/brian-mcgrory\/\">Brian McGrory<\/a> praised the expansion of IRE on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a faculty that is uncommonly accomplished in terms of accountability reporting, and talented students who are ready to hone their investigative skills on even more and better stories,\u201d he says. \u201cHaving our own IRE chapter is a smart, logical next step for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mulvihill anticipates interest from COM students in the IRE campus chapter will be high. For one, she already takes one of the largest and most engaged groups of students to IRE conferences each year. And a COM event in April featuring award-winning current and former <em>Boston Globe<\/em> investigative reporters Walter Robinson, Patricia Wen and Stephen Kurkjian (CAS\u201966) drew upwards of 50 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cStudents asked a lot of great questions, and these three editors were really honest with them that, number one, they can do this work as students. Students break a lot of great stories,\u201d Mulvihill says. \u201cJust be curious, ask questions and don\u2019t assume that because you\u2019re a student, somebody won\u2019t talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If democracy dies in darkness, investigative journalists are often the ones keeping the lights on. Maggie Mulvihill, an associate professor&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1654,"featured_media":42581,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[3,876],"tags":[123],"bu-publication":[],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/42579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/42579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42603,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/42579\/revisions\/42603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=42579"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=42579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}