Investigative Fashion Journalism
I have been pondering about Investigative Journalism for some time now, especially in the fashion industry in which, well, few journalists have ever gone past the glossy pages or theatrical shows. And when they do, they write a tell all book and still get to keep their day jobs (eventhough they get banned from a few shows in the aftermath). Pioneers like those writers are few and I believe there should be more of them, at least on the Canadian side.
Newspapers should be your #1 source of an investigative piece of any story and category. So I wonder why is that nearly all of the Canadian newspapers lack this investigative approach when it comes to fashion? All of the spreads I see in newspapers are written magazine style: positive, positive, positive. The fashion police and faux-pas don’t count. I’m talking about real pieces with facts, numbers, statistics, interviews, the lot. I don’t see any of this. And if I do, they’re usually tucked away in the business section. This is why I find it so discouraging for any aspiring fashion journalist that their hopes in writing something truly meaningful in a Canadian newspaper won’t happen except on a rare blue moon.
It’s especially difficult when most of the news I get have an American slant on it, thus not entirely affecting the industry in Canada. The Globe and Mail may produce the highest quality in Canadian news writing but, to be frank, their fashion reporting sucks. How many more days, weeks, months, seasons do I have to read upon another review of the must-haves and yet another thorough description of the new summer dress, and how florals are back in style? Who cares? And at first I thought it was cool to get updates on the latest sales going on over at The Gazette, but after a while, I was craving for something more serious and less superfluous.
