Watchdog Groups Research Articles

Deerminants of watchdog journalism: A global empirical approach

This article introduces and examines a hierarchical model of influences that identifies the variables affecting the watchdog role of journalists at three levels: the societal (press freedom and democracy), the organizational (media ownership), and the individual (editorial autonomy and perceived influences) on a global scale. Using data from 27,567 journalists in 6403 media organizations across 67 countries, the model's validity is confirmed. The findings reveal that variations in journalists’ perception of their role are more pronounced at the societal level compared to the organizational and individual levels. Furthermore, journalists tend to assume a watchdog role more prominently within public media as opposed to private or state-run outlets. Surprisingly, press freedom and democracy have a weak and insignificant impact on watchdog journalism, challenging established norms in the literature, a result that we critically discussed.

Fact-Checking Role Performances and Problematic Covid-19 Vaccine Content in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

The move from political fact-checking to a “public health” or debunking model of fact-checking, sustained by policies and funding from platforms, highlights important tensions in the case of Covid-19. Building on findings from studies focused on journalistic role performance, we investigated how professional fact-checkers in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa conceived of and performed their professional roles when addressing Covid-19 vaccination topics. Interviews with fact-checkers from six well-established, Meta-affiliated, International Fact-Checking Network-accredited organizations operating in these regions indicated that fact-checkers recognized the diversification of tasks and new roles associated with addressing problematic content from social media users. However, fact-checkers expressed unanimous commitment to prioritizing political and media watchdog activities in response to problematic Covid-19 vaccine information spreading from elite sources. To compare these role conceptions with role performance, we conducted a content analysis of Covid-19 vaccine content posted in 2021 to these fact-checkers’ Facebook accounts. We found that content was mostly associated with explainers or debunking content (addressing hoaxes or rumors about Covid-19 vaccines from non-elite social media users). In particular, the abundance of explainers, compared with other genres of fact-checking content, aligns fact-checkers with professional roles as civic service providers, educators, and “interpreters” of health information. Only a small proportion of the Covid-19 vaccine-related posts from each fact-checker contained verifications of claims from authoritative (elite “top-down”) sources (i.e., politicians, media, and health/science professionals). This study offers insights into a particularly tumultuous time of political activity in these regions and considers implications for practice innovation.

China’s positive reporting trainings for ghanaian journalists: A boost to ‘balanced reportage’ in Ghana?

While Ghana’s 1992 Constitution is said to have established watchdog journalism as an imperative feature of Ghana’s fourth republican dispensation, the independent media’s obsession with the ‘negative news sells’ mentality is equally argued to be helping sell Ghana short. Within this context, Ghana’s former president, John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK), has emerged as a strong advocate for balanced reportage – which represents the journalistic practice involving impartial and equal attention paid to both positive and negative news – in Ghana. Against the backdrop of China’s extensive professionalization media trainings on positive reporting for Ghanaian journalists, this study examines whether such Chinese exposures should be considered as a boost to JAK’s quest for balanced reportage in Ghana. Based on the opinions of 13 respondent journalists, this study shows that the overwhelming majority of them are not practicing China’s positive reporting norm in Ghana. In fact, the Chinese trainings had a reverse effect on two of the respondents, who returned home from their trainings in China even more determined to do watchdog journalism. But since the few that are practicing the Chinese norm are doing so alongside (not as a replacement of) their extant practice of watchdog journalism, this study argues that the Chinese trainings may be preponderantly considered as a boost to JAK’s quest for balanced reportage in Ghana. These findings make original contributions to the scholarly gap on the impact-nexus of Beijing’s media trainings and journalistic practices; the notions and intersections of positive reporting, watchdog journalism, and balanced reportage; and norm localization theory.

Time to rethink 'watchdog' journalism in the Pacific

For more than five decades, ‘Watchdog Journalism’ has been taught as the yardstick for a free media. With the so-called ‘mainstream’ media becoming increasingly commercialised—both in a global scale and domestically—and with the media being primarily owned by business conglomerates, the ‘watchdog’ model has created a journalism culture that is too adversarial and creates conflicts rather than helping to solve today’s problems/conflicts. A new paradigm of watchdog journalism is needed where the media is able to hold powerful players to account for facilitating the development/livelihood needs of communities, especially those in the margins of society. This new paradigm of journalism needs to focus on ‘development rights’ rather than ‘human rights’ taking into account many aspects of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs should be looked at in terms of a new definition of human rights where the journalist could play a similar role to that prescribed in ‘watchdog’ journalism theory, but looking for solutions rather conflicts, and include a larger field of stakeholders which need to be made accountable such as governments, big business and particularly conglomerates—even NGOs and faith-based organisations. This watchdog role needs to be applied to trade agreements and other treaties, including those addressing climate change. To develop a new journalism culture to address these issues, media training programmes in the Pacific need to rethink their strategies and examine how to promote independent social media models that are economically and sustainably viable.

The Context-Dependent Demand for Watchdog Journalism: Dynamics in Audience Expectations for Journalists’ Role Performance

ABSTRACT The watchdog role is central to the democratic legitimacy of journalism and is also perceived as an essential part of journalists’ role performance by the public. So far, the expectations on journalists’ watchdog role performance have been studied as a static concept resulting in limited knowledge of the underlying dynamics in audience demand and expectations for this type of journalism. We argue that the demand for watchdog journalism is dynamic and varies according to changes in the broader context and across audience characteristics. We take a multi-method approach to examine the demand for watchdog journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark. First, we use data from three representative surveys (n≈1.000 in each), including a panel component (n = 336), to demonstrate that the demand for watchdog journalism increased over time, especially among opposition voters, as the political context offered more political conflict and contested policy solutions. Second, a qualitative analysis of answers to an open-ended question in the surveys examines how the audience believes the watchdog role should be performed. We show that the demand for different functions of journalists’ critical reporting varies over time and that the form used by journalists when conducting critical reporting is extremely important to the audience.

Shifting Roles of Media in Tanzania: From Development Communication to Watchdog Journalism

This study examines the implementation and challenges associated with development communication in mainland Tanzania, focusing on news articles and programs from eight media organizations. Surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted to gather perspectives from journalists, editors, and news consumers. Prior to 1992, Tanzania's media landscape was oriented towards promoting the national development agenda. However, policy changes influenced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund's Structural Adjustment Program shifted the media's focus towards watchdog journalism, aimed at monitoring government performance. This shift impacted both private and state-owned media entities. Presently, the media landscape in mainland Tanzania is rapidly evolving into a profitable industry, serving as a tool for accountability, government communication, and revenue generation. It's crucial for Tanzanian consumers to actively engage with the diverse media options available, rather than passively consuming information primarily designed to attract advertisers.
 The transformation of Tanzania's media landscape from development-oriented to watchdog journalism has significant implications for both media organizations and consumers. While this shift promotes accountability and transparency, it also raises concerns about the role of media in advancing development goals. The findings indicate a need for media organizations to balance their roles as watchdogs and promoters of development. This requires a reevaluation of editorial priorities and a commitment to providing accurate and balanced information to the public. Furthermore, there is a pressing need to enhance media literacy among Tanzanian consumers to empower them to critically evaluate and navigate the diverse media landscape. This includes providing education on media literacy in schools and communities and promoting digital literacy skills to enable access to online information.

Building trust and facilitating use of data

Multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and increased frequency and intensity of disasters related to climate change, have demonstrated the critical importance of timely and open access to trusted data. Open data principles and practices that facilitate data access and use, relevance to policy needs, and increase the impact and value of data are central to building trust in data. The paper outlines four trends that present opportunities for expanding adoption and use of open data principles and practices and building data trust: the modernization of data governance; increased attention to the role of citizens in building trust and increasing the relevance of data and citizens’ contribution to data throughout the data value chain; the adoption of open data principles; and the work of watchdog organizations monitoring the progress of countries and agencies and identifying areas of data governance that still need attention.

Addressing the Damage of Deception: Determining Effective Crisis Response Strategies Following Allegations of Deceptive Advertising

Governmental agencies and other watchdog organizations are tasked with detecting deceptive advertising and punishing those who employ it. Finances, company image, and consumer–brand relationships are at risk if a company is found to be guilty of employing deceptive advertising. It is important to understand effective responses to such allegations. Drawing on the situational crisis communication theory framework, this research examines the impact of different types of deceptive advertising on consumer behavior and explores which response strategies are appropriate for companies accused of deceptive advertising. The moderating influence of consumers’ skepticism toward advertising is also investigated. We conclude with recommendations for advertisers, who seek to restore public trust.

Whistleblowing Policy Disclosure Among Malaysian Listed Shariah-Compliant Companies

Despite the fact that there are legislative safeguards to protect whistleblowers, there is no specific regulation requiring Malaysian firms to establish a standardised whistleblowing disclosure. The purpose of this research is to determine the level of whistleblowing policy disclosures among Malaysia’s top 100 shariah-compliant listed firms. The study employed a content analysis approach to determine the level of disclosure of whistleblowing policies, which were evaluated using a self-developed checklist. The whistleblowing disclosure index was created specifically utilising the guidelines given by the MCCG (2021), the OECD (2011), and Standards Australia (2003). According to this research, a substantial majority of Malaysian Shariah-compliant companies in the Top 100 do not provide thorough disclosure in their whistleblowing policies. Despite those who achieved 81 percent to 100 percent disclosure of their whistleblowing policies, a large proportion of these Shariah-compliant organisations produced less than 50 percent of the desired disclosures of their whistleblowing policies. This study is consistent with the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group’s (MWSG) findings that the implementation of whistleblowing policies in Malaysian-listed corporations is poor. The findings of this study have significant implications for improving knowledge of the need for Shariah-compliant organisations to have effective and comprehensive corporate whistleblower policies. Hopefully, this would help regulators establish effective tools to promote whistleblowing and demand the mandatory installation of an internal whistleblowing system among Malaysian Shariah-compliant enterprises to provide better responsibility and openness to the public, consistent with the teachings of Islam.

Find the Wifi, free the watchdog: Sub-Saharan African smartphone users’ attitudes about accountability journalism

This study explores the association of mobile media and citizens’ attitudes surrounding watchdog journalism in sub-Saharan Africa. Face-to-face survey interviews with 2,589 smartphone users were conducted in six sub-Saharan African nations that have seen rapid expansion of smartphone penetration in recent years. The use of mobile phones for news-seeking predicted positive attitudes about accountability journalism in democratic governance. Results contribute to more nuanced discussion about mobile media and news habits in an understudied region.

“Polite Watchdog”: Kompas and Watchdog Journalism in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia

Many studies have argued that watchdog journalism cannot flourish under authoritarianism. However, the effect of the democratization of previously authoritarian regimes on watchdog journalism is still poorly understood. This article aims to fill this knowledge gap by using Kompas, Indonesia’s oldest daily newspaper, as a case study. Drawing on four years of ethnographic fieldwork (2013–2017) within Kompas’s newsroom and one year of archival review (2020–2021), this study shows that the newspaper did not truly function as a watchdog. Instead, it developed a specific style that we conceptualize as “polite” watchdog journalism, that is, monitoring the wrongdoing of those in power in such a manner that does not hurt the feelings of those in power. This style of journalism was developed in response to the cultural and political-economic forces that intersected in and shaped its newsroom. Kompas developed close relationships with authoritarian power holders, thereby avoiding the persistent threat of bans and securing the economic advantages of their close ties with those in power. After the regime change, polite journalism continued to be practiced, both to maintain its political leverage and to preserve its economic advantage in the post-authoritarian era.

How Loud Does the Watchdog Bark? A Reconsideration of Losing Local Journalism, News Nonprofits, and Political Corruption

Journalism has long been presumed to serve as a check on the powerful, shedding light on wrongdoing; however, as local newspapers reach market failure, extant theory predicts corruption will go unchecked. We operationalize corruption as federal prosecutions for public corruption (PPCs), defined by the US Department of Justice as crimes involving the abuse of public trust by federal, state, and local public officials. We examine changes in the local news media ecosystems: first, whether declines in local newspaper employment and circulation are associated with changes in PPCs; and second, whether efforts to supplement watchdog journalism with nonprofit journalism might mitigate associated declines in federal PPC. Our findings suggest nonprofit interventions in failing local commercial news markets may be an important safeguard for keeping public officials accountable.

<em>Roblox</em> and Meta Verch

<em>Roblox</em> and Meta Verch

Seven Initial Prominent Sources of All Information Bias Impartiality Types Parsed

Ever since information was first operationalized by library science into consumer formats, media bias has been studied from the purview of information gatekeepers who decide what, how, and when to publish based on story importance and factors like circulation. This concept did not include individuals or entities outside of the journalism discipline. With the advent of the internet and a number of social media networks that soon followed, individuals could more effectively release information without waiting for gatekeepers, thus shaping the public’s perception regardless of the topic. Scholars offered a theoretical framework for shaping the public’s opinion and still other scholars focused on how information could be slanted or partisan. However, these seminal approaches did not operationalize the term information bias in terms of the overall partiality of major sources themselves. Information evaluation tests such as the Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (CRAAP) and Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace (SIFT) that have been discussed as tools to assess information for bias fall short on the very first step of what to inspect and how to sort. With a gap in the literature sorting through the types of biases can be daunting and confusing. The purpose of this paper is to propose one initial method as the first step to sort information bias regardless of its form, analog or digital, into seven prominent sources each with their own inherent but larger impartiality tied to it. The sources of all information bias to be discussed in alphabetical order are: 1) academic, 2) forprofit, 3) government, 4) hidden agenda, 5) individuals, 6) nonprofit, and 7) watchdog groups.

Tesla, Inc.: addressing ESG challenges

Research methodology This case is based on primary archival research. The original reports from MSCI, Sustainalytics and S&P 500 formed the foundation of the case in addition to the 144-page Tesla’s 2021 Impact Report. Secondary sources were used to provide contextual information. All sources are cited as endnotes. Case overview/synopsis In June 2022, Tesla, Inc., the Austin, Texas-based electric car company faced a number of challenges that called into question its environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials. Questioning the company’s corporate governance practices, SOC Capital, a watchdog organization publicly released a letter that it had sent to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission where it had demanded that the agency sanction the company for not replacing an independent director at its next stockholder meeting. The State of California’s Department of Fair Housing and Employment filed a lawsuit alleging various counts of discrimination at Tesla’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California. S&P Global removed the company from its index of ESG companies. This action had negative consequences for the company’s stock price. Tesla’s board of directors, led by Robyn M. Denholm, had to address Tesla’s overall approach to ESG in light of these challenges. Complexity academic level The case is suitable for an upper-level undergraduate or an MBA course on strategy or strategic management.The issues in the case involve the stakeholder perspective, corporate governance and the purpose of a firm. Instructors face two choices here: using this case early in the course introduces the broader stakeholder perspective early on without addressing it as an afterthought at the very end of the course. The other choice is to use it at the end because most strategy textbooks cover these topics at the back end.

Power Games: How General Electric Exports Privatization

Last February, when President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan looked all but dead, General Electric joined twenty-six other U.S. companies to call on Congress to salvage a climate deal. On its website, GE stressed that tax credits and grants to boost clean energy would advance U.S. interests in the global energy transition, generating domestic jobs in the wind industry. Filings compiled by the watchdog group OpenSecrets show that the negotiated successor to BBB, the Inflation Reduction Act, was the biggest target of GE’s lobbying efforts in 2022. These efforts paid off. In August, Biden signed the IRA, securing exactly the kinds of lucrative tax credits GE had trumpeted. Yet less than two months later, the company laid off 20 percent of its U.S. onshore wind workers.

Families, Advocates, and Watchdog Groups Discuss How Opioid Settlement Abatement Funds Will Be Distributed

Families, Advocates, and Watchdog Groups Discuss How Opioid Settlement Abatement Funds Will Be Distributed

Innovators and Emulators: China and Russia’s Compounding Influence on Digital Censorship

This article examines the overlapping influence of China in Russia and five countries that have experienced democratic backsliding: Azerbaijan, Nicaragua, Serbia, Turkey, and Uganda. Drawing on a wide range of data sources, including media watchdog reports, key informant interviews, and quantitative data, the paper maps the portfolio of specific digital censorship tools – legislative, institutional, and technological—that governments in China and Russia use to censor their domestic digital content. Then the digital censorship tools in the five case study countries are documented to examine where their governments’ tactics overlapped with those of the Kremlin and Beijing. These case study countries differ in their levels of development and democracy, with Russia, China, and the West all vying for influence. Key findings include the importance of timing when installing a digital censorship regime, and that Uganda and Nicaragua stand out among the case study countries.

Divided by the Wall: Progressive and Conservative Immigration Politics at the US–Mexico Border

In Divided by the Wall, Emine Fidan Elcioglu examines both progressive and conservative immigration politics in the US–Mexico borderlands. Through ethnographic fieldwork with activist organizations and interviews with participants, Elcioglu seeks to understand why people who, seemingly, have nothing to gain from immigration policy decided to devote their time and energy to pro- and anti-immigration activism. Elcioglu discovers that activists engaged in immigration politics to make sense of conflicting identities, leading to actions that felt personally transformative. Pro-immigrant activists contended with their position as progressive but privileged, while anti-immigrant activists contended with being white but working-class and downwardly mobile. These conflicting identities informed activists’ conceptions of state power, influenced their choice of organizations, and ultimately, shaped their understanding of their place in society. Elcioglu's interlocutors engaged in their activism in an ambiguous borderland, a frontier for self-actualizing and deep political activism (p. 39).Pro-immigrant activists viewed the state as an entity with the ability to wield coercive power against powerless Third World migrants. Elcioglu uses the state effect framework as a lens to view “the common thread that links together an extensive repertoire of practices among politically like-minded organizations” (p. 14). Thus, pro-immigrant activists endeavored to weaken the state through their organizations, because as white and progressive individuals they had both the power and moral obligation to intervene and advocate for Third World migrants. Their strategies included leaving jugs of water along known migrant trails, becoming watchdog groups attentive to Border Patrol abuses, and arming immigrants with the training and knowledge to protect themselves from the state. Their conception of the state as a powerful and coercive entity, coupled with an understanding of migrants as powerless and vulnerable, led pro-immigrant activists to refrain from ascribing agency to any border crosser, even ones engaged in illicit activities. They deflected accusations they were helping drug smugglers by arguing border crossers were only responding to conditions created by the United States.While pro-immigrant activists posited that the state effectively wielded coercive powers, for restrictionists unfettered border crossings by criminal Third World migrants rendered the state feeble and emasculated. These activists continually expressed feeling a loss of control over their lives due to their downward mobility, which helped foster “an acute desire for control” that they channeled into their work in the borderlands (p. 72). These activists projected their own feelings of inadequacy and marginalization onto a powerless state, confronting the friction between their racial entitlement and downward mobility. They focused their energy on strengthening that state's coercive capabilities by developing detection technologies, disrupting local recall efforts led by progressives, and patrolling common migrant trails and entry points. Restrictionists deflected accusations of racism by arguing they worked alongside state institutions like the Border Patrol and that the “real” racists were those fringe actors operating at the margins of society.By examining both progressive and conservative activism, Elcioglu seeks to understand not only why but also how people organize around immigration issues. The book's focus on participants’ class backgrounds, racial identities, and motivations underscores that their activism was “part of a project of remaking the self” (p. 11). The type of activism they pursued and the organizations they joined reflected both how they viewed their own social positions and how they viewed the state. Elcioglu's final assessment is that polarization around immigration is fundamentally about worsening inequalities and about local community's desires to respond to those inequalities. In order to go beyond arguments about building or tearing down walls, Elcioglu reminds us, we must address the underlying conditions of both inequality and insecurity that exacerbate the importance of immigration politics for people across society.

Sustainable humanitarian operations: An integrated perspective

The immediate response to disasters, while well intended, sometimes causes avoidable humanitarian challenges later on. Drinking water may be essential, but it is not necessary to provide it in small plastic bottles. Injections may save lives, but inappropriately discarded syringes are hazardous. Can humanitarian relief be made more sustainable? This paper summarizes a 1‐day workshop on this topic, held at INSEAD in 2019 in connection with Luk Van Wassenhove's transition to emeritus professor. This workshop involved over 100 academics and practitioners. Five areas were discussed in detail: material convergence, coordination between humanitarian organizations (HOs), logistics, partnerships with industry, and health. The discussions demonstrate the possibility of better integrating sustainability with humanitarian operations despite the inherent tension between the immediate need to save lives and the longer term perspective associated with sustainability. This requires that various stakeholders, including HOs, donors, and watchdog organizations, think differently about the balance between short‐term and long‐term interventions, the metrics and incentives they apply, and the role of local versus global organizations. Leading practitioners and scholars in humanitarian operations are well aware of these challenges and opportunities in each domain separately; this paper aims to introduce these issues to a broader audience in a single more integrated overview, based on the themes that were discussed at the workshop.