Tisha Thompson is a new addition to the NBC Washington news team. Her role is very specific.
Thompson has joined the station to bolster the channel’s investigative news department. The Iteam is a new feature of NBC’s newscast that allows viewers and citizens of the Washington, D.C area to report issues of scandal and corruption that they see happening around them. This segment is run strictly by whether or not they receive any tips.
The stories the Iteam is producing are exposing regular citizens that make mistakes. Subjects of these stories will have done something to bring notorious attention to themselves.
These stories are an example of how a media outlet such as a news station can use its influence and popularity to better the community. By exposing things like tax evasion and corruption activities, the Iteam is giving the public a responsibility. The Iteam doesn’t protect the subjects of these stories; they call out their full name to allow the public to do what the wish.
For example, in the first story the Iteam produced, they reported on a Washington, D.C. resident who owes over $17 million in back-taxes. The story doesn’t hide where the citizen lives, what his full name is or exactly how much he owes. The way these stories are designed, they are to make the viewer mad. To bring awareness to the fact that there are people in your own community that are doing terrible things and you may not even know it!!
Investigative journalism has a history at NBC Washington. Thompson’s mother, Lea Thompson was an investigative reporter for the station for nearly twenty years. With the family tradition alive, Tisha Thompson feels at home at her new station. Thompson has won several awards for her reporting. Being a native of Washington, D.C., she is exposing her own neighbor’s wrong-doing.
