Articles

Our Communities Crave Watchdog Journalism

Photo by Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Milwaukee Journal SentinelEarly one recent morning I fired off an e-mail to my managing editor, enraged that a story on the front page of our paper reported…
June 13, 2013
Raquel Rutledge

No Profession for Lone Wolves: Watchdog Reporters Need to Work Together

Once upon a time I was feeling rather smug having produced a series of reports that won a few trophies. Me? I’ll crawl across cut glass for a plastic trophy…
June 13, 2013
Stuart Watson

Cross-Border Collaboration in Watchdog Journalism

“Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze,” a project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), involved about 86 journalists in 46 countries. The investigation started with…
June 13, 2013
Stefan Candea

Let the Readers Know: How Journalists and the Public Can Work Together

I’m too young to be nostalgic (says the man who just got his AARP invitation), but here’s a story from the good old days—meaning, seven years ago.I was working with…
June 13, 2013
Ken Armstrong

From Shoe Leather to Big Data: ProPublica and the Future of Watchdog Journalism

Last year I attended a fascinating conference at Heidelberg University’s Center for American Studies entitled “From Pentagon Papers to WikiLeaks: A Transatlantic Conversation on the Public Right to Know.” Several…
June 13, 2013
Robin Fields

Ask The Right Questions: MuckRock Makes FOIA Requests Easy

There is a thirst for investigative journalism in the great American traditions of the late I.F. Stone and Murrey Marder, but around the news industry the question asked is always…
June 13, 2013
Michael Morisy

Truth or Consequences: Where is Watchdog Journalism Today?

The way South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley tells it, what her state needs is more tax cuts and what it doesn’t need is the “public policy nightmare and fiscal disaster…
June 13, 2013
Dan Froomkin

Change Starts Small: The Texas Tribune Chooses Efficiency Over Size

Photo by Todd Wiseman“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” These words, from the…
June 13, 2013
Kate Galbraith

Small Pieces, Loosely Joined: Nicco Mele on the End of Big News

Photo by Eden BrackstoneI am not a journalist. I’m a digital guy. I am well versed in the trends of newspapers’ decline, but at the age of 35 I’ve never…
June 13, 2013
Nicco Mele

Calm at the Kitchen Table: A Start-up Tracks Murder in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Douglas SondersThere’s an energy to big, busy newsrooms that’s unlike any other. Reporters and editors tapping away on keyboards, muttering through copy, interviews taking place, police scanners crackling,…
June 13, 2013
Laura Amico