Watchdog Journalism

Watchdog journalism is a form of investigative reporting of finding the truth in a confidential story, by searching beneath the surface and finding out what is really going on, in political or economical issue that our government may be withholding from its people.

I tend to interpret Watchdog journalism as a balance in the media of uncovering the truth behind crooked and greedy people. Theirs always records and evidence of anything that goes on in the government, but it is up to the journalist to find it. If something doesn't seem right and you can back it up with the data then go for it, start investigating and find out what is really going on, that may be a breaking news story that will put the government or whomever in check.

The example in the book of Watchdog: "Watching over the powerful few in society on behalf of the many to guard against tyranny."

As journalist, we are to watch, listen, and point out the facts with evidence, backing up our information within each story. It is important not to report freely upon suspicion or allegation but rather on actual facts. Of course we are going to have some kind of suspicion about someone, but without reliable accurate evidence backing up our claim against someone, we can be suspicious all day and it won't make a difference without the data.

Our goal as a Watchdog journalist is to help the people, by prosecuting and finding criminals. In order to do this we must research and investigate each story. One of the biggest governmental kept secret that the press uncovered was the Watergate Scandal, it was then that journalist had truly broke the barrier of the press and state. The Freedom of Information Act in 1966, passed allowing the press to obtain government records which helped the Watergate story.

This can open the door to numerous amounts of stories that are available. My professor told us about opensecrets.org it has information on any private or government organization available to the public. For example, a reporter was looking into a private school and noticed the school was lacking funds, but was donated the means by various donors. The reporter soon found out from records that the principle was using the money in his own interest from taking vacations, and buying new cars. The information is out their, but it's up to us, as journalist to investigate and find the truth.

If you are researching a company, organization, or person and you find some unusual information, find out what's really going on. You may be on top of a huge scandal story that the people should know. As journalists we are to report the truth by any means including interviewing and researching all files and data. A good example of finding top secret data would be in the movie Erin Brockovich, where she found data supporting that a chemical plant was dumping chemicals in the water which caused many in the community to get sick and die.

From taking investigative reporting class, I didn't realize how much information is available to the public and the more private information you just have to request a GRAMA or FOIA, depending upon what you want to know about the organization or person. We had an assignment of finding who lived at a location and all kinds of information was online that included: The school district, the taxes of the home, sex offenders in a one mile radius, previous owners, the value of the home, and its current market as well as if the owner has been paying their bills. Again, all the information we need is available to us, but we just need to learn how to obtain it.

I find it interesting that during the presentation they showed clips of various news stations and their investigative breaking news. It seems that you never know who could be doing something illegal in a high political position. For example when the press uncovered the top secret Pentagon Papers of political involvement in Vietnam of expanding the war that our President was involved in.

It is important to realize that investigative reporting is not opinionated journalism, because with facts and data it is not the journalist opinion anymore. We may have assumptions towards someone or organization, but without facts it's not a story.

From the book, I like the quote, "In the end, all reporting is investigating." This is true, because we must search and study each story before writing it, obtaining as much factual data as possible going through old records and evidence. By doing so, you can come across an amazing story that the world hasn't known and for you to reveal to the people.

Clips of Investigative Reporing:

Journalists as Ideologues

Journalist tend to report from ideologues based off a set of aims or ideas to obtain one's goal. In reporting you often have a vision of what you want to report first, and a lot of those come from our own experiences.

We all see the world in our own perspective according to culture, religion, traditions, and political stand points. It is just in our nature to have an opinion on most things that can control our reporting in the way we present a story. For example, if a reporter isn't as familiar with a certain group of people, the reporter may report the story only through personal experience or what we have seen or read through the media,which is not always the best way to report news.

I know that we all have opinions, but it is important to not let our opinions effect our reporting. It should be more based on facts, evidence, and human sources we interview to make a great story, and try not to skew a story in a particular way that it seems bias.

journalist main focus on objectivity is reliance upon truth. It is more of a practical truth assumed that journalist have opinions, of course they do they are human, but since journalist has access to report news to the people it is critical that each journalist follow the guidelines of fairness, balance, and accuracy in every story. And not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice, but again based on facts.

I agree with the presentation that the golden rule of journalist is to be fair, balanced and accurate in every story, but a journalist cannot and should not block out his or her biases, experience and gut-level emotion. I think it is what makes the story more personable that the people can relate to, not saying to take sides and report only your opinions, but just report the truth in all that you do, you can still report the truth and add your experience to the story. For example, if the reporter is reporting a story on a political campaign and the journalist has experience and relations in the political circle then yes, use it in your reporting. People want to rely on the people who knows what they are talking about and not just someone who is stating a fact, but to add in depth statements to help make the story so much stronger.

Passion and emotion only should fit into journalism when their is meaning behind it. It's not to obtain more fans or viewers, for example Anderson Cooper he has become known in the media for getting involved and who shares his emotions to the audience. It seems he has become more of a celebrity type figure than a journalist. I understand things are emotional, Cooper has been to war zones, seen people dying, but I think their is a time to report and a time to cry. I'm not saying don't have emotion in reporting, but not let it overpower your story that you have become less reliable in your reporting. It is up to the reporter to stay strong for the people and to share with them when a disaster has occurred that you are being strong like the people are as well.

To become a stronger journalist it is important to know the key elements of journalism, and to know our role that we are here to report the truth and what really counts in society. We can make a difference in the world if we are ethical and accurate in our stories.



Emotional Anderson Cooper:

Independence from Faction

Journalist keep an independence from those they cover by maintaining accuracy, verification, and serving the public interest and the desire to inform the people.

Parts of the trade in journalism includes, adhering to the principles of truthfulness, which is the key to journalism if you truly want success. Another may be an allegiance to the citizens and community that as a journalist you will give them the news they need to know for their community.

What makes good journalism is bringing the truth to the citizens, so they can make self governing decisions. In many cases of reporting may involve playing a watchdog role and providing a forum for public debate, but it can often tend to become more of an opinion based. It's not wrong to have opinions in reporting, but must keep in to consideration not to be bias towards the other party, and to back up all opinions with facts that support the statement you are considering. The objective for journalism should be less of your opinions and more of the people’s opinion.

Our goal as a journalist is to report accurate reliable news for the people and not to always state our opinions towards the subject. I have notice some journalist may have a story in mind, so when they ask their sources questions, they will ask in a way that can verify the story they would like to report. For my personal opinion I don't like this approach towards writing a story, I don't think it is the best ethical way of reporting. It seems like it is more towards the journalist interest and not for the people.



A good journalist should remain neutral not favoring anyone stance or opinion but reporting the facts as they are, and therefore he or she should not write from their own perspective but report truth from an unbiased standard.

I really like what was said in the group presentation on independence from class, economic, status, race, and ethnicity, that as a white Caucasian male, I should not be bound to only report news on white males, that we can write about anyone, and anything; that is how it should be, we are writing to vast audiences of all statuses and races and not to just one specific group. As journalist, we should be well rounded in many areas and if not, then we should always research our story, which I will say, any great story should always be researched and time spent collecting data and information before writing or reporting a lot of information that may not be as in-depth or important as it can be.

From the reading, reporter William Safire reports cold hard facts, and believes having a political background has helped him in his reporting. He was a speech writer for President Nixon, and that is basically what He did was state facts with evidence. I believe it is vital to say, whatever you put in your story to always back it up with facts and data in all that is reported. It will bring more credibility to the reporter.

Advocacy of opinion journalism:

Journalism of Verification

The objective of verification in journalism is to always check your facts, sources, and statements in each article. The best way to go about checking your facts is to have reliable information. If the reader can go back to the source or place where you received the information and it is the same every time that is a reliable information.

It is always best to think of what the audience needs to know, so they can evaluate the information for themselves and make self governing decision based on your article.

I really liked the example in the group presentation when they stated, that journalism is like science. If you have a fact, can someone else go and get the same fact or method as you reported in the story?

Sometimes you may come across some information, that as a journalist has to decide if it is relevant or may cause harm to someone. For example, If their was a rape victim who had went to court to prosecute their attacker and didn't want their name getting out in the public for confidentiality reasons, and their family doesn't want their information released as well. Then the journalist must decide to publish private information that the source doesn't want in the media, or to keep the wishes of the source? I think in this case, if her name was already released in a news press then it would be okay to state in your story, but if the person and their family asks not to be publicized, then it is best to grant their wishes.

The best way to report news is to site each and every source or information that the norm wouldn't know. Their will always be someone who reads your article who claims that the information is inaccurate or false, but having sited sources and information claiming where you got your information can override their claims. It is best to avoid having anonymous sources, well first it is less credible. A journalist should always identify each source. The audience does not trust many anonymous sources, especially when stating information that is against someone or something, because anyone could state their opinion, but if the person is sited then the audience will think they reporter is not just putting in information that will attract more audiences.

The way to obtain credibility, is to go right to the source when gaining information and to site word for word. The readers will trust the journalist when they have sited sources. Journalist must apply transparent and systematic method to journalism, the more you reveal the more credible the journalist is to the audience.

Having omniscience in what the journalist reports in their article is preferred when they are honest in where they received their facts and information, and not to write an article based on acquired knowledge that is not backed up by reliable sources.

Yes, we will come across some media that may be false, but the duty for a journalist is to report the truth. The audience will not trust the journalist who reports false information, so it is always best to double check each source and fact before publicizing.

The Profession

In the profession of journalism, it is best to get the story right than getting it first, and that is how it should be when it comes to reporting.

The journalist may be the first to have the story, but what if he or she doesn't have all the facts or data that can make the story ten time better. Of course their are always deadlines, but if the reporter can find all the information to have a in depth story that the audience would be appealed to, that is what makes a great news article. We must think ethical as well, the news is for the people not for making yourself as a journalist, look good. And don't publish false statements, the outcome is never good.

It seems the trend for a lot of high profile journalist are going to advocacy when reporting which is not always the best route to go on when reporting. If the journalist wants to help then turn off the cameras and notepads. Our job is to report the facts and information to the people; we are the medium from the story to the people and if we show heartache and sorry for a tragedy it can lead to a story that is not clearly based off of fact. For example reporter Anderson Cooper he travels across the world to war zones, to natural disasters and a lot of time when he reports a story to the people he tends to show to much emotion. Which I understand because he is experiencing these disasters, but the reporter job is to report the story and not get involved emotionally.



The group presentation brought up some good ideas of the 4th Estate of Check and Balance and Keeping your distant by making good decisions based on logic, not on emotion, which is great because we should constantly check ourselves as not being to involved emotionally in our stories. Again, to always think of the people, because our stories we report will have impact to our readers in some way. If we feel that we can't handle a story that it will be to emotional, then the journalist should ask their editor that they feel they will be to involved emotionally. It is best to stand back from the environment when reporting and just be the reporter.

Most believe, that a journalist should be well diverse in knowledge of other cultures and traditions, because when reporting in another country of total opposite traditions, and customs, the journalist may skew the story from a lack of knowledge of the different culture. When reporting it is best to be well educated in the subject or area, so research, study and travel; go among the people and become aware of their everyday lives. Being prepared and knowledgeable of the subject, is key to a successful story.

When it comes to granting confidentiality of a sources identity it has some pros and cons with doing so. Some pros of keeping a sources identity, may consist of relying on the source in later stories and obtaining more accurate information from the source, due from not being scared to reveal their statements. For the cons, it could be a decrease credibility of a story, and you are responsible for the source if information is leaked out. It is best for journalist not to agree to keep confidentiality only if they can give it.

Learning the principles and steps of journalism is vital in producing great news for the audience.



Emotion in Reporting:

Loyalty and Journalism

Journalist are first loyal to its citizens which is the main objective of journalism, and are loyal to the rules of journalism in reporting in an ethical way.

In journalism you must be loyal to the company, to yourself, and most importantly to the audience. It is best to present the facts in a way fitting to the story, and not changing the story in a way based on getting a better story to attract mass audiences. It is important to be honest in your writing and not change the facts. Always think of the public best interest and how you can apply those principles of loyalty to journalism.

I found it very interesting in the presentation in class of the loyalty in journalism within the context of the business side and the journalism side which are separate. It's similar to church (news) and state (business)clause. In journalism the news company has the rights to put whatever they want in the paper and provide good journalism quality stories. On the business side their job is to provide revenue for the news company from advertisements, marketing, and investors involved in the paper. As a journalist, you don't want to be told by the business side what to write, and put in each article primarily based on profit revenues. It is not based on that, it is based more on the quality of the paper and if you have good quality news articles you will have a successful news company. But, It is true though if the revenue decreases for a news company, the business side is in charge of the pay roll so they will cut employees, which results in lower quality of journalist. The more employees lost, the lower quality the paper will be. I think they should work together in providing both a loyal and successful news company that provides reliable accurate news to the public.


Tips on having a successful news company:
1. The owner/corporation must be committed to citizens first.
2. Hire business managers who also put citizens first.
3. Set and communicate clear standards.
4. Journalists have final say over the news.
5. Communicate clear standards to the public.

The movie "Good night and Good luck," is a great example, to be loyal in journalism of telling the truth even though it may cost the reporter he's job or the news company. The business side of the news tries to intervene and stop the reporter from publicly airing private information that can shot down the company.



Some Journalist are not loyal to reporting the truth to the people like in this Youtube clip of Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer Video.

Truth & Journalism

The first obligation for a journalist is to seek the truth in all news stories. It is important that the reporter get all sides of the story, and not take sides or bias towards the other source. It is not the journalists objective to state his or her opinion in the story, their job is to just state the facts with human sources, quotes and data to support the story.

Getting the facts straight is very important, even if the journalist accidentally stated the facts incorrectly it can cause major harm to the journalist and the news company. Misleading the audience is most definitely a big NO, NO in journalism. That is one of the problems in the media today. It can cause a law suit against the journalist for liable, slander annotations. I have always been taught if you think providing evidence in a story will harm someones safety, you may think before writing or publishing it in the paper. It is always safe to ask your editor or news director first before publishing anything that may harm someones reputation or safety.

Another problem in the media is making sense of the facts. I have seen many news stations state facts, but in a way that have made others look bad in just the way they have stated or rearranged the wording in the story. This is not a good thing, but can increase viewers to the story, which will take us back to the ethical side of journalism. Is it better to get viewers/readers or telling accurate reliable news to the audience; stating the truth? As for journalist, we must inform the audience with the truth and not any intuitive form of bias, because then your not doing your job as a journalist.

From the book "The Elements of Journalism" it states to journalist to, "Give citizens identifiable sources and verify the information, highlighting what is important to know and filtering out what is not. Rather than expanding the time to sort through information themselves,people need sources that tell them what is true and significant." Amen, I agree with quote from the book, to state facts and get rid of the falsity within the story, because people want the truth and not made up lies.


Here are some examples of biases in journalism: