Matt Doig: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Matt Doig, an investigative reporter with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, talked to us about the importance of public records with regard to researching for investigative pieces. Doig knows how to make the most of the right we have to view public records and uses programs like Access and Excel to elevate his stories.

The beauty of database reporting, he said, is that it is comprehensive and statewide. Doig was even able to use Social Security numbers to research bus drivers' criminal records and to find out whether any of them had DUI offenses. He managed to get the numbers before a law was passed that required only the last four digits of the Social Security numbers of public officials to be released.

Doig also emphasized the benefits of having an inquisitive frame of mind. For example, Doig was curious about the archives at a police station. He asked an officer what the oldest piece of evidence was in the evidence locker. It was a rifle. Doig started researching it, found out about the unsolved murder of a family of four, and he wrote a story about it. Doig said he enjoyed having the opportunity to be a detective as he looked into this event.

Investigative journalism is something you think you may only find in large-circulation newspapers in big cities, like The Washington Post, The New York Times or the San Francisco Chronicle. However, Doig proved that investigative reporting can make a difference in small cities, too. If you want to distinguish yourself as a journalist, he said, public records must back up your facts. This is what will take a story from a news article to an in-depth, investigative piece.