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Watchdog.org
Type of site
News
Available inEnglish
FoundedSeptember 2009
OwnerFranklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
URLwww.watchdog.org
Commercialno
Current statusActive

Watchdog.org is a network of conservative American news websites that feature reporting on state and local government.[2] It is a project of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, an online news organization.[3] Watchdog posts stories on Watchdog websites and syndicates them.[4]

Background

According to the Watchdog.org website, the organization's mission is "to restore oversight of our state governments, to hold politicians and bureaucrats at all levels accountable for their handling of taxpayers’ dollars and to promote individual liberty and free markets."[5] According to the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Watchdog websites' reporting reflects the Franklin Center's focus on government waste and public employee unions. CJR characterized the productivity of the Watchdog sites as "impressive," and noted the commitment to original news reporting as opposed to news aggregation or punditry.[3] [3]

Watchdog.org reports that it has state-based investigative reporters in more than 40 states.[5] In 2012, Watchdog had sites in 18 states.[6] In 2014, the Franklin Center said they had one reporter in each of 14 state capitols and two in Nebraska and Virginia.[4] Most of the Watchdog sites have one staff reporter in addition to accepting contributions from non-professional journalists. Watchdog.org also has a citizen journalism platform called Watchdog Wire.[6][7]

In 2009, the Watchdog site in New Mexico analyzed data published by the administration of President Barack Obama regarding the expenditures authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Watchdog.org reported that millions of dollars of federal stimulus funds were allocated to projects in congressional districts that did not exist; for example, to the twenty-second congressional district in New Mexico, although New Mexico has just three congressional districts.[7][8][9] The national Watchdog.org site expanded the story, calling such districts "phantom districts."[8][10] ABC News picked up the story.[8][11] The Associated Press later reported that the phantom districts were the result of data entry errors in the government data.[8][12]

Outside analysis

In 2011, the Project for Excellence in Journalism of the Pew Research Center surveyed and analyzed nonprofit news organizations active on the state or national level. The study group included 46 organizations, including twelve Watchdog sites. The study analyzed the nature of news coverage, funding, transparency and organizational structure. The report credited the Watchdog sites for acknowledging the Franklin Center as their primary funder, but found the Watchdog sites were among the least transparent organizations in the study since the Franklin Center does not disclose its funders. The study found that the most consistently ideological of the news outlets were those that were organized in networks, specifically the conservative Watchog network and the liberal American Independent News Network.[2][13] Watchdog articles were about four times more likely to support a conservative theme as liberal.[13][4][14] A 2013 update studied 172 organizations, including 17 Franklin-sponsored sites, and confirmed the earlier finding that the Watchdog sites were among the most consistently ideological.[15][16]

Affiliates

References

  1. ^ "Watchdog.org Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  2. ^ a b Benton, Joshua (July 18, 2011). "Pew: Nonprofit journalism doesn't mean ideology-free". Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Peters, Justin (September 13, 2012). "'Serious, point-of-view journalism'? A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you've never heard of". Columbia Journalism Review. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Enda, Jodi; Matsa, Katerina Eva; Boyles, Jan Lauren (July 10, 2014). "Who Covers the Statehouse". Project for Excellence in Journalism. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "About". Watchdog.org. Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Franklin Center". Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Stverak, Jason (March 12, 2010). "The pros and pros of 'citizen journalism'". Online Journalism Review. University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Watchdog.org. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e McGann, Laura (May 2010). "Partisan Hacks; Conservatives have discovered the virtues of investigative journalism. But can their reporting survive their politics?". Washington Monthly. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Scarantino, Jim (November 16, 2009). "Updated: Obama Stimulus Creates New Congressional Districts and Promotes New Mexico from Banana Republic to Coconut Republic". Watchdog.org. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  10. ^ McMorris, Bill (December 18, 2009). "Watchdog.org Releases District by (Phantom) District Stimulus Guide". Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  11. ^ Karl, Jonathan (November 16, 2009). "Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist". ABC News. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  12. ^ Apuzzo, Matt (November 19, 2009). "Stimulus accuracy comes under fire". Deseret News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  13. ^ a b c Holcomb, Jesse; Rosenstiel, Tom; Mitchell, Amy; Caldwell, Kevin; Sartor, Tricia; Vogt, Nancy (July 18, 2011). "Assessing a New Landscape in Journalism". Project for Excellence in Journalism. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  14. ^ Wilson, Reid (July 10, 2014). "The precipitous decline of state political coverage". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c Mitchell, Amy; Jurkowitz, Mark; Holcomb, Jesse; Enda, Jodi; Anderson, Monica (June 10, 2013). "Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing but Fragile Part of the U.S. News System". Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  16. ^ "Nonprofit News Outlets". Project for Excellence in Journalism. Pew Research Center. Fall 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  17. ^ Houston, Brant (December 4, 2009). "The Rise of the Networks". Center for Journalism Ethics in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  18. ^ Ward, Stephen J. A. (January 4, 2010). "How to Avoid Ethical Snags in Non-Profit Journalism". MediaShift. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
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