Watchdogging done right: Detroit News exposes the corruption of regulated pot in Michigan
When an investigation succeeds, you can tell it from the lede
From the first sentence of Friday’s Detroit News expose on corruption in Michigan’s pot industry, you knew reporters Craig Mauger and Robert Snell had the goods.
In one sentence, we have:
A former House speaker-turned-marijuana regulator
Voting in support of a marijuana business
Then getting a loan from one of the investors in that business
That direct hit, A to B, is what you look for in investigative stories.
When a reporter has the goods, they write it tight.
When reporters don’t have the goods, they pad their stories by “showing their work,” telling you how many people they interviewed and how many documents they reviewed. As if journalism were about mere effort. It’s not.
After the lede came the kill shot.
It’s bad for a regulator to take a loan from someone they’re regulating. For that regulator to ask for the money is unacceptable.
And for a former House Speaker of Michigan to need such a small sum, and to seek it at such a great risk, indicates the Pleasant Peninsula has too many of the wrong people in the wrong jobs.
Today’s House Speaker is tomorrow’s state regulator and loan-beggar. How sad.
This blog has spilled much ink breaking down what’s wrong about journalism. Today, we celebrate a story done right.
The Detroit News: Michigan marijuana regulator scored $75,000 loan from firm in pot business