Investigative journalism masterclass, with Mark Lee Hunter and John Sweeney

How do you go from an idea or a hunch, to a fully fledged investigative report? How do you convert your hypothesis into an investigation that can underpin a feature, documentary or book? In the first part of this masterclass, Mark Lee Hunter teaches us the basics for starting an investigative report using the story-based inquiry (SBI) method, which has been used by thousands of journalists, academics and NGO researchers since its publication by UNESCO in 2009. It's a method that can be used for feature writing or documentary filmmaking as well as reportage. Mark has written more than 100 investigative features and is a founding member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network. In the second part of the masterclass, Mark is joined in discussion by John Sweeney, an investigative journalist who has worked for The Observer newspaper and the BBC's Panorama and Newsnight programmes. His investigation topics have ranged from Scientology to North Korea. John's investigative reporting helped clear the names of five mothers wrongly accused of killing their children, who had in fact died of cot death – work that won him the Paul Foot Award and a Royal Television Society award. This masterclass is brought to you by the Civic Journalism Lab in association with Newcastle University.