Summer 1998: Watchdog Journalism Introduction

Here is a report on the first Nieman conference on watchdog journalism, which was held on May 2, 1998, at Harvard University. The Spring 1998 edition of Nieman Reports laid the basis for the foundation’s drive to reinvigorate watchdog journalism by devoting half of that issue to the status of aggressive reporting in four areas: economics, state and local government, national security and nonprofit organization. The conference, attended by about 100 journalists, followed up the written reports with discussions of ideas that could be useful in stimulating aggressive monitoring of institutions and leaders in those four areas. Excerpts from the conference will be printed in the Fall edition of Nieman Reports.