Investigative Journalism Vocabulary

noun an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically involving physical violence or injury

adjective describing something as extremely wicked or cruel

• The international community condemned the atrocity committed by the regime.
• The news of the atrocity spread quickly through social media.
• That atrocity was just plain messed up.
• The way she treated her employees was an emotional atrocity.

verb A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being. In this case, 'classified' is the past tense of the verb 'classify', which means to categorize or arrange things according to a particular system.

adjective A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. In this case, 'classified' is describing something that is kept secret or restricted.

• The documents are classified as top secret and access is restricted.
• I can't tell you, it's classified information.
• That's some classified stuff, man. Can't talk about it.
• Her emotions were classified as a well-guarded secret, hidden from everyone.

noun a situation or information that is revealed or discovered

verb to be revealed or discovered; to become known

preposition to

• After a thorough investigation, the truth about the company's financial discrepancies finally came to light.
• I heard some gossip about what really happened at the party, but I'm not sure if it will ever come to light.
• The scandalous details of the celebrity's personal life are bound to come to light sooner or later.
• As she delved deeper into her memories, the forgotten emotions began to come to light.

verb present participle of the verb 'damn'

adjective serving to condemn or criticize harshly

• The evidence presented in court was damning against the defendant.
• The teacher's comments on my essay were pretty damning.
• The reviews for that new restaurant were absolutely damning.
• His silence on the matter was more damning than any words could have been.

verb to carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of a situation

• The police will investigate the crime scene thoroughly to gather evidence.
• I heard that the detectives are going to investigate the robbery at the convenience store.
• Yo, did you see that video of the guy trying to investigate the strange noise in his house?
• As a scientist, I always strive to investigate the mysteries of the universe.

noun a person's feet being held close to a fire as a form of punishment or coercion

• During the investigation, the prosecutor made sure to hold the suspect's feet to the fire to get to the truth.
• The teacher really held my feet to the fire when I didn't turn in my assignment on time.
• My boss is always holding my feet to the fire about showing up late to work.
• In order to make progress on the project, we need to hold each other's feet to the fire and stay accountable.