The Indian Express team consisting of Ritu Sarin, Executive Editor, News and Investigation; National Affairs Editor P Vaidyanathan Iyer and Associate Editor Jay Mazoomdaar received the 2016 Ramnath Goenka Award for their investigative reportage of Panama Papers, an investigation initiated by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists into offshore shell companies and tax havens based on leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Speaking to Newslaundry, Sarin talks of the challenges and hardships faced while working on investigative stories of scale, as well as the impact of a country’s political landscape on such stories.

What is the biggest challenge of working on such investigative stories? 

The challenges are manifold. First, for such a large collaboration, you have to work in a global online newsroom with the proviso that all leads and news breaks are shared with the others on the project. This needs a change of the typical mindset when reporters tend to keep anything “scoopy” to themselves. The second is the technology since the ICIJ [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists] platforms work with a large number of complex firewalls; all communications are done on encrypted emails and so on. Finally, there is the challenge of the data itself — there are thousands of documents to be scanned and they are not loaded on the search engine in one go. The data and spreadsheets themselves are very complex, which required a sound understanding of business and finance.

Did you face any threat or intimidation while pursuing this story?

In stories like the Panama Papers and more recently, the Paradise Papers, there were pressures but this comes once reporters begin approaching subjects for comments. Then the cat is out of the bag and questions have to be framed in a very calibrated manner so as not to give away too many details but at the same time, let the subjects know you have a lot of deep data and documents. Then there are pressures the reporters are oblivious of and that is the way it should be. But serious intimidation and threats? Fortunately, this has not happened.

What role do you see media ownership and availability of funds playing in investigations in India?

In The Indian Express, we are committed to good investigative journalism and even for projects like the Panama Papers, there are huge expenses. First, there is the issue of a senior team of reporters/editors being dedicated to a single story for long months and thus being taken away from the daily news cycle. Then, there are costs, say, of attending ICIJ project meetings abroad and of sending out reporters across the length and breadth of the country for physical address verifications which is absolutely essential. For Panama Papers, besides the dedicated team of three editors who worked full time on the project, there were 25 other reporters pulled in for address verifications and writing what we call the “quick takes” which are the smaller profiles of Indians who had incorporated offshore entities via Mossack Fonseka.

In the current media landscape and the political environment, what future do you see for investigative reportage in India?

Any change in political regime brings fresh challenges for investigative reporters and this is the case currently in India. Sources dry up and there is a fear factor for politicians to speak freely to the media. So this is an environment to go back to old-fashioned reporting, using at the same time, tools like the RTI and using information and data which is available in the public domain and then getting a final picture with solid ground reporting. The credibility of the story and the genuineness of the information being put out are of crucial importance.

What advice would you like to give to young journalists who want to become investigative reporters?

Some advice: Be prepared for the long haul and for long-distance running. Like in this case, it is not easy to work on a single story for eight months and bouts of restlessness do take over. Also, leave nothing to chance even despite the fact that the data and documents are your exclusive domain. For offshore projects like this one, other financial data; balance sheets; SEBI reports etc have to be scanned and then comes the tedious task of seeking comments from scores of people. Reputations of persons and companies are involved and a single wrong fact can ruin a painstakingly investigated story.

While there’s much romance associated with investigative reporting, what are the hardships one faces as an investigative reporter? Do you ever wonder if it’s worth all the risks involved?

There is certainly no romance and glamour. A project like the Panama Papers requires team members to disappear into a deep black hole; working seven days a week. Also, it is usually a high-stakes enterprise. Given the amount of resources invested, one can never be certain of the output. That’s one inherent risk involved in long-haul investigations. Not only the reporters involved but the organisation also needs to have an appetite for such risks. Yet, in the end, the satisfaction of completing a well-rounded investigation compensates for everything. As the cliché goes: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

(The interview is part of a series based on conversations with Ramnath Goenka Award winners.)