David Barstow, a four-time Pulitzer Prize–winning, investigative reporter for The New York Times, spoke to incarcerated journalists at San Quentin, one week before the COVID-19 pandemic changed life at the prison a year ago.
In an interview, Barstow, told the reporters at San Quentin News they have a huge opportunity to tell stories that no one else can tell.
“I think that the hardest thing for you is to wake up and try to see this place (San Quentin State Prison) with fresh eyes,” said Barstow. “It’s a skill you really need to try to internalize.”
Several months after Barstow’s statement, the world viewed San Quentin with “fresh eyes” as Coronavirus swept through the prison, killing 28 inmates and one correctional sergeant, and infecting thousands of prisoners.
Because some of the incarcerated journalists did not want the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to control the narrative about COVID-19 at the prison, they took Barstow’s advice and have been writing stories on the subject for San Quentin News and other publications.
“I think we’re living in a time where truth is up for grabs,” said Barstow. “We’re in a contest between a world of truth and a world of lies.” He said investigative reporting is an important skill to combat lies and to create an “informed citizenry.”
“The ability to speak truth to power is being sharply curtailed,” said Barstow, adding that in other parts of the world it’s not allowed.
“Investigative reporting takes you into all these areas that you would never expect to be,” said Barstow. But the expectations are high on his end too, so he has to hit home runs. “I don’t get paid to hit singles and doubles.”
Barstow told the San Quentin News that investigative journalism takes a certain level of commitment. There are two things he said someone needs. They are relentless persistence and abnormal curiosity. “You have to do your homework,” he said.
During Barstow’s interview, he said, “You have to have a strong sense of justice. You have to have a sense of wanting to let people see what is right and what is wrong.”
Barstow worked for the investigative unit of The New York Times for 20 years. During his tenure there he was awarded his first Pulitzer Prize for his story about a pipe foundry company in Alabama that had a bad safety record.
The second time he won was for a story on U.S. secret propaganda for war in Iraq. Third was for a story on how Walmart bribed its way across Mexico, and the fourth was for Donald Trump’s crime of tax evasion where the statute of limitations has run out and he cannot be prosecuted. “I spent 18 months on that story,” said Barstow.
At the Times, Barstow said the investigative unit was allowed to write about whatever they wanted, anywhere, with the full backing of the publication.
Barstow runs the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. But he imparted his wisdom to discuss the power of investigative reporting with the San Quentin News is what we have found,” he said.
What’s hard about investigative reporting, Barstow said, is “you carry a burden” because “stories have consequences.” He said companies can get shut down, people can go to jail. “It’s an extra burden. It’s also very lonely work. It’s not glamorous.” He said it can keep you up at night knowing that you may have outed someone in a story.
“We have to think in investigative reporting on how to be protective,” said Barstow. For him, he makes a solemn promise that he will go to prison before giving up a source.
“The promise I make to my source is that your life and your family’s life are more important than my story,” said Barstow.
“The promise I make to my source is that your life and your family’s life are more important than my story,” said Barstow.
Barstow said the relationships built with sources are fundamentally different than those in regular journalism, and some people take a huge risk to talk.
Barstow said he disagrees with traditional investigative reporting where there are findings, people are contacted and then every-thing is laid out. He said if a reporter is in pursuit of truth, they should be honest up front. For several reasons, he goes to his subjects as early as possible.
First, because he thinks it’s fair, and when a subject is contacted early they say more.
“You learn a lot by how they react,” he said, such as them being evasive, defensive, threatening, or lying.
For example, Barstow said, “Concentrated power pushes back.” He cited how death threats against reporters have increased in recent years, particularly because of rhetoric about journalists being “enemies of the people” and “fake news.” He said investigative reporting can be aimed at important institutions, such as government, corporations and religions.
Pushback comes in many forms, said Barstow, and he’s been offered all kinds of things to go away, such as flattery and seductive questions like, “Do you like to ski?” He’s even had people take out full page ads in publications to push back.
He urged the men at San Quentin News to do investigative reporting. He said it’s not about getting the right quote, but getting the story in the right context. That’s the essence of investigative reporting, asserting the hard truths. “Are we go-ing to organize ourselves around truths or lies?”
Barstow has been in the news business for 30 years. He said he feels things have shifted, though, like the “nonsense” that’s being spread among business leaders, politicians and churches. “It comes in all kinds of different forms,” he said, adding that business leaders are building their companies on lies.
“I came to Berkeley to recruit,” Barstow said about his work at the university’s Investigative Reporting Program. But recruiting comes in different forms too, such as in a prison newsroom.
Barstow said his approach is that of a human being. “You gotta be able to look yourself in the mirror the next day. When I see things that are fundamentally wrong, that draws me in.”
There is, however, a story Barstow regrets writing. It was a profile on the youngest prisoner in Florida, named Eddie, that ran in the St. Petersburg Times. He said the story stuck with him because of how unpredictable reporting can be.
There is, however, a story Barstow regrets writing. It was a profile on the youngest prisoner in Florida, named Eddie, that ran in the St. Petersburg Times. He said the story stuck with him because of how unpredictable reporting can be.
He said visiting the San Quentin newsroom reminded him of the very first newspaper he worked at. “I feel like I’m home again.”
