Dave Levinthal works for the Center for Public Integrity as a senior political reporter concentrating his investigations in the influence and flow of money in politics.
“Public records are a wonderful resource and something that can really built the foundation for your reporting in all of its dimensions. These documents often times will give you the details and the dirt of whatever it is your covering in a much greater degree,” Levinthal said.
Lobbying is something that is greatly practiced and sometimes, abused by many politicians. Even universities are sometimes involved in these activities. Levinthal said that with the help of public records we can also see who is lobbying who, that way citizens could petition the government to look thoroughly into this issue. Levinthal said that he couldn’t underscore how critical it is—particularly—for student journalist to learn how to use these documents and to take advantage of them.
“Some of the best stories you can write are going to be found in this very arching, sometimes difficult to use public records, which when nipped together, snitched together can really form the tapestry you need to tell a story,” Levinthal said.
When a student asked Levinthal about his personal views and possible bias influencing his interest on the stories he chooses to report on, he replied that he feels very liberated.
“I don’t care who you are, what your political linings are, what your political philosophy is; I want to cover this issue without favor of any source. Something I feel incredibly strongly about—particularly—when you’re dealing with republicans and democrats in a daily basis. The last thing I want to be seen as, is somebody who is ever favoring one party over another,” Levinthal said.
Levinthal talked about one of the examples of why journalists are so important in our government. The annoying e-mails the political parties—more often the democrats—send to people are more commonly now than they were before. He explained that these e-mails are to collect personal data; the information they collect can be used however they choose to do it, because they grant themselves the legal right to do it in the fine print that people don’t see or read.
“This is something that without journalists looking into it and looking at the fine print and writing stories about it, a lot of people are just simply not going to be aware of the ramifications—potentially—of them engaging in politics at this level,” Levinthal said.
One of the best advices Levinthal gave to the student journalists was on how to handle interviews and things that don’t involve numbers.
“If I can I make a phone call instead of sending an e-mail, I’m going to do that. If I can have a face-to-face meeting instead of making a phone call, I’ll do that. Not always practical, but an ambition I have,” Levinthal said.
Levinthal also talked about the advantages that technology has had on the communication business. There are many platforms, not just newspapers anymore, where you can communicate with the world, which opens a lot of opportunities for students to select where they want to be part of.
The students were very inspired by Levinthal. They were shocked by many of the issues Levinthal talked about during his conversation. Such as, universities participating in lobbying and possibly use the students’ tuition to do many of these kinds of things.
“It was very inspirational, I was more motivated,” Jacqueline Sirianni said. Another student gave his opinion on the possibility of Levinthal using his position to abuse power and he said that he thinks he has a moral standard.
“I do think that selective reporting it’s important to tell the whole story,” Elias Losego said.
Another student said that, “To be literate across platforms is a great advise,” Stephanie Parra said.
