Watchdog Journalism #7

Rusty from Lady and the Tramp--that is the image that comes, unbidden, into my head with the phrase "watchdog journalism." I thought that I should probably get the cultural clutter out of the way before I tried to analyze the topic critically. Unfortunately, not everyone has my philosophy. "Watchdog journalism" has a lot of cultural clutter. "Dangerous washing machines" seemed to be the catchphrase in class, and, for a lot of people, I think that pretty much sums it up. To explain: my American Heritage professor described muckraker journalism in a lecture (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Ida B. Tarbell's lengthy expose on John D. Rockefeller, etc.), explaining that the whole idea is that, once exposed to "the light of day," corruption can somehow be cured. To show us how such journalism operates today, he showed this clip. Don't get me wrong, dirty glasses will make hotel travelers wince, but lipstick residue was a bit of a let-down after The Jungle.
     Is there a place for serious investigative reporting? I think so. There are important issues that citizens lack the resources to discover, but should know. In the government and business sector, independent journalists have a role to play. However, as media companies are consolidated, independence becomes more difficult to come by, "I-teams" can end up on wash duty. This goes back to the former issue of independence. Possible solutions, and I admit, I  like this one, include the Center for Public Integrity. To me, watchdog journalism should involve focused journalists. They should not end up as either elitist advocates or overtime health inspectors. I like to think of an investigative reporter as a good citizen on steroids, so to speak.
     From the view of a journalist, I liked the quote by Susan Kelleher from Elements of Journalism, "Before anybody participates with me in a story in the sense of a source, I tell them how I work. I tell them they have to go on the record. I tell them I am going to be asking other people about them, that even though I find them really nice people, I am going to have to check them out" (Kovach 154).