Watchdog Journalism - Watchdog Journalism in Practice

Watchdog Journalism in Practice

Watchdog journalism can lead to the successful resignation of power holders. A well-known example is Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post and the subsequent resignation of U.S. president Richard Nixon in 1974. Another more recent example took place in the Philippines, where president Joseph Estrada was arrested and resigned in 2001. The daily newspaper Pinoy Times covered the case of Estrada till "the ouster of Estrada". In a country that guarantees freedom of the press, watchdog journalism can be "a highly effective mechanism of external control on corruption". Yet, the mechanisms of watchdog journalism can also work in countries which abridge freedom of the press. A journalist in authoritarian contexts might not be able to cover all topics but can still find an important journalistic niche. For example in China where free press is still not established or guaranteed "the notion of the press as watchdogs of power is embedded in the self‐definition of journalists". Here it makes a difference at whom the critique is directed. Journalists are able to criticize power abuse by individuals. However, criticism pointed at major state policies is frowned upon and not feasible for established journalists. In democracies "the idea of the media as the public´s eyes and ears" is widely accepted.