Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Background To The Study
One of the major duties of a journalist is to be a civic watchdog and achieving this often demands investigation and in-depth work. Thus, in a way, all stories are investigative stories because they require research, digging, interviewing and writing. All reporters are investigators who are trained to ask questions, uncover information and write the most complete stories possible. Nevertheless, some reporters concentrate solely on investigations of wrongdoings. They deal with reporter adversary relationships that are usually not found in beat reporting or other in-depth coverage. Their aim is to ferret out well-guarded information from often hostile sources. This gives them chance to be creative, to become part of their reader’s emotional lives and sometimes  to uncover an injustice and correct it.
According to Burns,(2002),the  major difference between investigative journalism  and hard news reportage is that investigative journalism  is presented in an in-depth form rather than a feature or hard news form. The characteristic demands that investigative reportage involves more research and thus more time to write. This becomes very important because of the sensitive role investigative journalism plays in conflict resolution, unlike hard news, which is presented in a pyramid form whereby the most important items are presented in the first few sentences which may sometimes result escalation of conflict situation instead of resolving it (Harcup, 2008).
This research work is therefore focused on investigative journalism as a means of conflict resolution in Cross River  Newspaper corporation (CHRONICLE) Calabar. This of course is a very sensitive matter, which will demand extensive verification of evidence of all the facts, eyewitness accounts and   interviews presented for or against a group of people to ensure accuracy.
Levin, (2000), asserted that Investigative journalism  on the other hand seeks to find information about a news event that may not be apparent to the public but may lead to revelations that the organization or people involved may not wish to be put in the public domain. As such, it gives a further insight into news and it is often linked to campaigns by the media organizations  for better protection of the rights of people from individuals, organizations or authorities. It may involve probing investigation by the newspaper through which evidence of neglect may be found and published in support of the victims of such conflict situation.
In his opinion, Ajibade,  (2003) asserted that, though presented in an in-depth form, investigative journalism is unlike many other forms of feature and even in-depth reportage found in print and presented through the broadcast media. The major differences being the themes and aims behind the write-ups.                                                            
The aim behind these forms of reportage is the writer’s search for information in relation to the selected themes in order to further educate and bring to bear the consequences behind these themes to the everyday lives of a selected audience.