Can I speak to an investigative reporter?

We had an interesting story last Sunday that looked into questions that surround a steel-mill project proposed for Campbell by a company called Sherman International.

We follow up today with more reporting of the cleanup plans for the property owned by that company.

The steel-mill project is vital reading for various reasons.

But also interesting were the number of readers who saluted The Vindicator for the investigative work involved in the story.

“Finally the VINDY put a great story together and dug into the past where none of these blowhard politicians wanted to!”

“Great job VINDY!”

“Congrats to The Vindicator for exposing this fraud.”

“I’m usually very critical of the Vindy, but this kind of investigative journalism I enjoy and expect.”

There are many parts of the newspaper that we know resonate with readers: weddings, engagements, obituaries, local sports, police and court news, etc.

Investigative journalism such as the Sherman story strikes a chord with the most people inside and outside the newsroom.

Everyone wants to know the story behind the story; to separate fact from fiction; to see beyond a particular spin.

The search for truth, or the attempt to force some folks to confront a particular truth, is a pretty cool feat.

In our industry, it’s almost clich in terms of our role and a community’s interest in that role. If I had a quarter for every phone call that started “I want to talk to your investigative reporter ...,” well, I’d have a lot of quarters.

Here are some realities of investigative reporting:

It takes a lot of hard work, it requires a sense of knowing when to kick the tires on something, and it requires some luck.

Business reporter Grace Wyler worked with Managing Editor Mark Sweetwood for about four weeks on last week’s steel story.

Ten or 20 years ago, devoting that much time was easier because of a larger staff.

We’re smaller today due to advertising decisions nationally and locally. (Yes, those who advertise in The Vindicator allow us to do our job. So, indirectly, they help make stories like last week’s possible. So if you liked that story, remember that when buying a car, a home or groceries or whatever.)

Putting in that much time to one story means other stories Wyler would have worked on don’t get done. Period. And that’s a tough “period” to rationalize when you’re on the phone with a bank or a new store or a community group.

So we’re cautious when tackling such a story. We kick one tire, so to speak, to see what happens. Depending on that one kick, we proceed to another or not.

We do it for businesses such as V&M Star or VXI or for candidates for office or for a new top public job.

The Sherman International project may or may not be feasible.

Time will tell.

But at least through our stories, we’re a lot more aware of what to look out for as this project advances.