I’ve been an investigative reporter most of my career, and I feel lucky because long ago, when I was starting out, I didn’t take the advice of one of my elders. I learned a lot of the basics in that first job, but I learned nothing about investigative reporting. Because the paper did almost no investigative reporting. The definition of investigative reporting began to change during the Vietnam War. One of the earliest investigations I undertook with Don Barlett—a fellow investigative reporter with whom I worked for more than 40 years—reflected this approach.

Source: Washington Post February 14, 2026 22:08 UTC