Situations often arise that hiring a lawyer would seem like the only option available to you. Working with a lawyer is not always easy because of the slow pace of progress and high fees which can often range from $300/hr - $700/hr that you would be expected to pay. If you have had your fair share of disappointment with lawyers maybe it is time to try an investigative journalist.

Besides legal representation in the court, investigative journalists can help you inspire public debate or generate social awareness on critical issues. Investigative journalists will interview you and prepare articles targeted for publication in online newspapers. There are several qualities you should look out for in an investigative journalist. This includes;

1 - Strong sense of morals

A good investigative journalist appreciates and supports human rights, therefore is guided by the sense of right and wrong in the discharge of their duties. Ron White said, "Their sound ethics and finely-tuned moral compass guide them in battling to stomp out crime and corruption."  It’s apparent that most lawyers are focused on greed, and often seek to exploit the most vulnerable clients without any sense of ethics and morality.  On the CBC’s Doc Zone, lawyers had been referred to as notorious psychopaths.

2 - Highly analytical

Investigative journalists don’t rely on information from a single source. Part of their work ethics is fact-gathering from diverse sources. These materials are organized and interpreted before coming to conclusion. Where necessary, they seek help to interpret the data they have collected. Lawyers have analytical that they often use against their clients to inveigle them out of their money often leaving them near penniless.

3 - Work for multiple audiences

An audience is a large word to use in journalism. It refers to diverse communities comprising of different niches which can range from highly engaged citizens to powerful individuals and institutions. Jane Elizabeth said, “Within the expansive term “audience” are numerous diverse communities, and a point we heard repeatedly from these journalists is that they think about multiple audiences”.

An investigative journalist can often help support constructive movement on issues better than a lawyer because they help bring issues out in the open and engage various groups through social media who can share experiences of having also been victimized.

Courtrooms are often places which present themselves to be “neutral” but act in quite an opposite fashion in relation to litigants which lack power in society.

4 - Trustworthiness

An investigative journalist has to take time to build trust with their sources. Most sources would prefer to remain anonymous because their life or career may depend on it. A good investigative journalist will need to stand on their promise not to disclose the names of their sources and must build a record of keeping such confidential information.

Lawyers can often not be trusted because they are often so motivated by greed.  If your legal adversary has much more power, you could be sold out by your own lawyer.

A lot of information is ignored by the mainstream media leading to inaccurate or incomplete news reportage. This makes the work of an investigative journalist priceless. Some pivotal corresponding reasons why you should hire an investigative journalist also include:

1. Verified news: Investigative journalists don’t just jump on trending news. They verify news and validate their sources before reporting. For this reason, you can always trust their news to be true.

2. Cover every part of the story: an investigative journalist will make sure that every important detail of a story is covered in details. To avoid unambiguity, they present the details in a brief manner.

3. They operate under a code of conduct: investigative journalists operate an established system of ethical often ignored by greed-driven lawyers.

4. Ambitious: the ambitious nature of investigative journalists will make them pursue any news or event to a logical end. This gives you a full picture of the entire event.

Agora Media offers residents of Ottawa and beyond the opportunity to hire an investigative journalist for efficient news coverage as well as cut the cost of hiring a lawyer.