As an important factor of democracy, the media needs to be proactive in investigating the reasons of the huge gaps in distribution of incomes. In other words, the media needs to unfold its watchdog role. Tuomo Pietiläinen, investigative reporter for Helsingin Sanomat in Finland, gave us his best tips to investigate rich people.
- Do your homework: research if in your country the tax authorities disclose information about the income of their inhabitants to the media, such as in Finland
- Use existing data: make use of other available international rankings, i.e. www.top5000contacts.com
- Use public available data: if in your country this information is not available, using data from the stock exchange is an option to calculate the wealth (not the income) of shareholders.
- Find connections between affluents: once you have spotted some of the richest of the rich, find out with whom they are in relation with and deepen the reason of their wealth.
- Build a database: use all gathered information and set up a database with all relevant metrics.