Watchdog

Some years ago The New York Times editorial page expressed the complacent notion that "great publications magnify the voice of any single writer." The statement is misleading. The instruments of…

Once upon a time I thought, along with Richard Parker, that "watchdog" journalism equaled "muckraking," which would lead to "making America better." Indeed, when Richard recruited me to help him…

Twenty-five years ago when I was a special assistant to Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, one of my daily tasks was to help him figure out the news. Why were…

They Are Responsible for Letting Rumors Run Amuck In Coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky Story

This issue on Watchdog Journalism originated with a call by Murrey Marder, the retired Washington Post Diplomatic Correspondent, for a return to more aggressive, but responsible, reporting. The package begins…

Richard Parker’s paper is an insightful, scholarly and valuable overview. But his analysis of contemporary watchdog economics journalism and his recommendations trouble this long-time reporter.Consider these quotes: “It seems malign”…

The first paper on four areas of watchdog journalism concerns the economic sector. As these cartoons show, some issues that disturb the country have not changed in the last century—fear…

Seymour M. Hersh has won more than a dozen major journalism prizes as an investigative reporter, including the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his disclosure of the My…