ABSTRACT
This chapter offers Ziva Branstetter's encouragement and wisdom about the path to being a reporter, a broadcaster, an editor or a media professional. Branstetter can trace her decision to become a journalist to moments like that one, where she realized the power of investigative journalism to expose corruption at the highest level. She discovered what to do when there is no database: create one. She built a database from paper records kept by an obscure but important state agency that licensed nursing home administrators. The results showed a clear pattern of foot dragging by the board members, most with deep ties to the nursing home industry, followed by decisions in nearly every case to dismiss the complaints. As she look back on her career, which has now spanned nearly three decades, she can see a thread running through all of her stories. It was her father's advice: Go make a difference in the world and never quit.
