Kevin Donovan is an award-winning investigative reporter from the Toronto Star. In October, he released a book, Secret Life: The Jian Ghomeshi Story, which explores his investigation behind Jian Ghomeshi’s sexual assault case. He discussed the book, the case, and highlights from his long career in conversation with The Charlatan.
The Charlatan (TC): Why don’t we start by talking about Secret Life. After your investigation, what made you want to publish a book about it?
Kevin Donovan (KD): I thought the story we did, the investigative stories in the Star brought forward a lot of the major issues, but I felt a book was necessary to tie it all together. Particularly because I wanted to go deep into the trial, we didn’t publish until after the trial. The book gets together the stories of 17 women and two men, and other people who have told me things about Ghomeshi. I think these stories were something that the public really needed to read.
TC: What challenges did you face reporting on a story of this magnitude?
KD: There’s a sensitivity in our society to allegations of sexual assault and how they’re treated. I think it was challenging to tell the story but also respect confidentiality of the people. I wanted to get the story out without breaking confidence. I think another challenge in this is making the subject readable to the public. What helped that, I think, was the opportunity I had to show the journalism, to show how a newspaper like the Star attacks something like this, and the thought process that exists when we’re trying to decide if we have enough to publish the story and how we’re going to write it. So I think that was something that was really a positive part, and allowed there to be some respite from the very stark allegations.
TC: Were there any big investigative reporting lessons we can learn from your Ghomeshi experience?
KD: Well, I’m still learning. I’ve been doing this for three decades. I think it’s important for new journalists to understand you have to try your very hardest to get the other side of the story. I think also people have to understand the importance of asking tough questions. There’s a moment in the book that, in the first chapter, the woman identified as Carly has told the story of abuse that went for a long time. In my interview with her, I asked her a question some people might find controversial, which was “why didn’t you pack your bags and leave?” In the writing of the book, there were people who would look at the draft and say “I don’t think you should be asking questions like that.” Journalists understand we have to ask these tough questions, but in the book I go to great lengths to describe how I understand why someone would stay in an abusive relationship. But that doesn’t mean you don’t ask the question and try to get the person’s response to it.
TC: Is it a challenge to go after high-profile figures in your investigative work, like in your reporting about Ghomeshi or Rob Ford?
KD: I’ve made a career of doing that, I often do deal with high-profile individuals or agencies. I think it’s important that journalists don’t back away from people just because they’re high profile and important. When I started out years ago, it was more difficult than it is now, and now I find that the best approach is to be very direct with the people that you’re investigating and offering them the opportunity to respond. I don’t like the journalists who skulk around in the dark and don’t go to the other side until the last minute.
TC: What do you think is the secret to good investigative work?
KD: A lot of listening, a lot of reading, and the ability to ask provocative questions to unearth information. It’s not a 9-to-5 job, it’s an important job, it’s a calling for those who are pursuing it.
TC: Do you have a story that you’re most proud of?
KD: It’s not Rob Ford or Jian Ghomeshi. I think the two investigations that I think are important, they’re really different. One is the Ornge Air Ambulance one which was an investigation into the $150 million a year public agency that delivers air ambulance service in Ontario. A lot of positive things happened to get rid of the financial misdeeds that had been taking place. The other one was an investigation into the Social Service program in Ontario that looked after people with intellectual disabilities. That was an investigation that no other outlet in Canada picked up on. I called the people who were touched by this, people who had adults at home living with intellectual disabilities, and they had nowhere to go because their parents were aging. People’s lives were improved, and if I had to pick one, that’s the one.
TC: Describe how you see your role as an investigative reporter.
KD: I’m an investigative reporter, I’m also the editor of the investigative team at the Star. I receive and then vet the majority of tips that come in to the Star, to me or other reporters. As an editor I make decisions on what we’re going to pursue and I do that in an inclusive fashion with my bosses because they’re the ones who are ultimately authorizing all this stuff. But as a reporter I get inundated with calls and emails and invitations to meet in a dark alley with people who want their story investigated. I have a saying that I’m sure I borrowed from somebody else, if you’re a firefighter and the alarm goes off, you have to answer it with the understanding there’s probably not going to be a fire. That’s what I feel our job is as investigative reporters when the initial tip comes in, you’ve got to go and talk to the person to see if there is a story. On a greater level, the job of the investigative reporter is to do stories that affect change for the good of the public. We’re not here to do gossip-y stories. Jian Ghomeshi was a story because it was about an issue of lack of accountability when it comes to allegations of sexual assault. I’m interested in things that are breaching the public trust, and that’s why we do stories like charities that have gone sideways. You always try to do stories that will make a difference and make a change for the better.
TC: Anything I didn’t touch on?
KD: I’m very, very fortunate to have the role I have at the Star, and it’s important that there’s more rather than less people who have those roles. My final comment is the more we do these long-form investigative, deep-diving stories, the more the public is going to want them, and that’s a really, really good thing.
– Photo is provided.
