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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…

Do the Right Thing: Watchdog Reporters Handle a Bombing in Philadelphia

Photo by Will Steacy/From the Project “Deadline”At precisely 5:27 p.m. on the afternoon of May 13, 1985, a blue and white Pennsylvania State Police helicopter hovered over a heavily fortified…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Truth or Consequences: Where is Watchdog Journalism Today?

Despite budget cuts and shrinking newsrooms, watchdog reporters are finding new ways to fulfill an old mission—holding those in power to account

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…

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…