8686 Calm CalmMMomoment.coment.comIf you’re hoping to break into investigative
journalism, Carole recommends looking at
smaller outlets rather than trying to get into
bigger publications. She says: “There are some
really good alternative independent outlets
which have started in Britain and they’re
doing some of the best work out there.” She
particularly recommends looking at Open
Democracy, The Byline Times, The Ferret in
Scotland and The Bristol Cable. “If you want to
do this kind of journalism you can do it, you can
do it for these kind of new flourishing outlets,”
she advises. “Think a bit laterally, but do it!”Interested in
investigative
journalism?Carole gained the trust of
Cambridge Analytica
whistleblower Chris Wylie, pictured
(left) on The Observer newspaper's
front page during her TED talk.Photog
rap
hy^ Bret^
Hartmanliving
the run up to publication with Chris [Wylie] –
it was really difficult.”
She spent a long time working with Chris to gain
his trust and had to work to his timetable. “I built
up a relationship of trust with him – and he did
trust me,” she says. “I had a load of documents he
gave me early on and I never tried to publish them
or force him to before he was ready.”
Her focus on the story did have an impact on
Carole’s wellbeing. She says that she was so driven
by the story that she found it difficult to keep in
touch with friends and family. “Even now I haven’t
caught up with my personal life in many respects,”
she admits. “My electricity went in my bathroom
about six months ago and I still haven’t managed
to get it fixed.”
As a prominent female journalist, Carole
receives a lot of abuse online related to her work.
When asked about this, she goes quiet and reveals
that when she was working on the story, a source
warned her that the people involved would
attack her. “Very early on there was somebody
I interviewed who’s from a propaganda
background and she said: ‘These guys, they
will come after you. I mean, that’s what they do.’
So, they will try and smear you, and the way that
they smear women [...] they do it in very particular
ways and it’s often about shaming them.” Carole
refused to allow this to deter her from pursuing
the story, however stressful it might be.
When things get too much, she finds that
spending time in nature helps her to relax. Shetries to get out of London as much as she can to
go for a countryside walk with her dog. “I love
outdoor swimming,” she adds. “Cold water
swimming is a real head-clearer for me.” She’s also
a keen runner, as she finds it helps her to burn off
adrenaline and stay calm.
While working on this high-profile story has
been an intense experience, for Carole there have
been some positive outcomes. She’s gathered
together a group of “Cambridge Analytica nerds”
who have become real friends and she’s also more
optimistic about the future of journalism, which
she says is needed more than ever. “Journalism has
become really vital and really important. We really
need more people doing it and doing these kinds
of stories,” she says.
At some point she would like to write a book
about her experiences, but it feels as though the
story is still ongoing. At the time of going to press,
Facebook has just received a record-breaking $5bn
dollar fine from the Federal Trade Commission in
the US as a result of the Cambridge Analytica data
breach. “I have so many bits of the story, I need to
keep getting it out,” says Carole. “It still doesn’t
feel like quite the right time to break off and write.
It’s not over.”