Matt Doig, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Matt Doig, an investigative reporter of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, joined us today. Matt is an expert of not only finding information but knows exactly what to look for to help raise his stories to the next level. Through the use of systems such as Access and Excel he gave us several examples as to how we can not only write amazing stories but help change peoples lives. One of the examples that jumped out at me was the story he told about bus drivers and their criminal records, including many with drunk driving records. In this example he used the social securities numbers of these employees to cross-reference information using the Excel and Access databases mentioned above. Another example he provided was a story written by the Miami Herald-Tribune about mortgage brokers and how many of them are former criminals that were still being cleared to have a mortgage brokers license and write loans. In one case he cited a man who actually killed his wife and threw her in Tampa Bay, then served his time and was later writing loans to people. He noted this is a case where if you just find one person of this nature the government would say you are singling out just one unique situation but if proper research is done, as in this case, the government does not have a leg to stand on as their proved to be many cases of this nature. Since our class has many students that are Broadcast Majors he spent quite a bit of time talking about how this skill can be useful both as a print reporter or a television reporter. Some of the examples above he stated could have just as easily been television stories and the information gathering would have been just a crucial. This is a very important point to note due to the fact that in today’s current media climate it is important to not only be a good writer but a good story teller, that works for both print and electronic media. In all Matt’s presentation was more about what it takes to be the best of the best rather than some new techniques or tricks to get things done. He just laid it out there that if you want to be the best of the best you are going to have to work at it. It seems like with his background and passion for what he does he is a good source to listen to and could even be a good source down the road. His presentation was both informative and motivation as it clearly spells out the way to success and that really is something we all are looking for.