This week I have really got stuck into investigative journalism, making the most of my leads and following them up in person, which has gone down really well.
I visited the Revolver World stall at the Fair and Ethical Market in Victoria Square as part of Fairtrade Fortnight and got a glimpse of the work they do to preserve the Fairtrade clothing industry for myself. The article about their contribution to Fairtrade clothing is available on the Birmingham Recycled website. They mentioned a potentially interesting but controversial expose on the way that Sainsbury’s and Topman tend to use Fairtrade supplies but send them to be manufactured in terrible sweatshop conditions, this is something I am going to research in much more detail before reporting it as fact, I need to give the brands the chance to tell me their stories and will update you on that as it goes.
I also popped into Palvika’s fascinating shop in the Piccadilly Arcade. She uses recycled materials to create her clothes and accessories and I see this as being a very interesting story to report on, the only problem is getting a ‘newsworthy’ angle out of it. She recently launched her menswear range so this is something I could report on and the fact that the public come down to her store in order to contribute bits and bobs which she can use in her designs is an interesting social angle which I might also mention.
Meeting my contacts in person has been a vital part of getting the stories I want. Although I am struggling for a ‘groundbreaking’ angle on Palvika’s shop, the fact that I went in for a friendly chat means that she is much more likely to help me out if I need some more information. Furthermore, the fact that she was so helpful to me means that I am more likely to cover the great work she does in detail on the website, so it really is a win-win situation!
