Keeping an eye on things

Dear Millers – I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

On Friday, I gave a talk at a conference organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism, in which I explained the backstory to some of The Mill's biggest stories. We talked about the Sacha Lord saga, Mollie's brilliant investigation into the University of Greater Manchester, and Jack's great long read about the restaurant Mana. Such has been the reach of these stories outside Manchester that an auditorium of editors, reporters and academics in London is interested in hearing about how they came together.

There were lots of questions after the talk, and one of them centred around how these stories came our way. How does a reporter sitting in our office on St Ann's Square end up with the information that can lead to the resignation of a mayoral advisor or the documents that will force the police to investigate credible allegations of fraud at a public university?

Many of you know the answer because you've been part of it. You've been part of the process that makes Mill journalism – which I would summarise something like:

1. We report on a story that we find interesting, or that one of you has told us we should look into. Often this isn't the most stunning scoop – it might be a profile of someone or a short feature about some unhappiness inside an organisation.
2. The story we publish encourages people who work in that organisation to get in touch. They can see that Mollie, Jack or Ophira are diligent reporters who they can trust with information. Some of you reading this have been those people – the ones who get in touch to help.
3. The new sources allow us to uncover and corroborate more serious issues that are going on, allowing us to publish a more substantial investigation.

Sometimes the gap between Step 1 and 2 is months, or even a year: that was the case with both the Sacha Lord stories and the University of Greater Manchester ones. Sometimes the gap between Step 2 and 3 is also months – because standing up serious stories can be a frustrating and slow-moving dance. One week we think we've got something big. The next week a key source goes quiet and we have to start the hunt all over again.

I was thinking about the process this week when I read drafts of Ophira's great piece (members only) about the fallout from the horrendous fire at the Hotspur Press and Jack's excellent – and eyebrow raising – report on the infighting (also members-only) at the organisation in charge of mental health across large swathes of Greater Manchester. Both stories felt so much more insightful because Ophira and Jack had written about these topics before.

Who’s to blame for the Hotspur Press fire?

One of the city’s most historic buildings is now a ruin. Already, suspicions have arisen

The MillOphira Gottlieb

Ophira published a big piece about the future of the Hotspur Press earlier this year, which opened with an anecdote about a historic fire there, and it meant she had the contacts to deliver this week's piece. She immediately got on the phone with the architect behind the building's development plans – who blamed the fire on the people trying to get the Press listed – and the anonymous man who has led those listing efforts.

Jack has been writing about Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust for years now. He's gone to inquests of people who died because of lack of interventions; he's interviewed key medical sources who have told him about organisational failings inside the Trust; and he's tracked the key decision makers in the organisation, leading to yesterday's story. Several times, I've seen him meeting Trust staff at our office.

A murder of crows: how a blog post deepened the conflict inside Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust

The board says it’s committed to transparency, critics say it prefers ambiguity

The MillJack Dulhanty

This, I believe, is what a city needs. It needs journalists who are beavering away on your behalf, every day of the week. It requires an approach to journalism that accepts that great stories come from following a process that can be laborious and frustrating, but that ultimately gives readers insight and clarity.

To everyone who helps us with stories by sending in tips or offers their expertise when we ask for it – thank you. And of course, a huge thank you to our members whose subscriptions underpin this kind of work. If you'd like to tell us something, we have a new page that explains how you can do so. Or you can just hit reply to this email – or any email – and tell us what you know.