Watchdog Role 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.

Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession

This study investigates the relationship between the anticipated digitalization of the finance and control function and management accountants' (MAs') role conflict and ambiguity. Drawing on role theory, we argue that digitalization is associated with increases in MAs' role conflict and ambiguity because digitalization leads to adaptations in the established role templates of MAs and also introduces new templates for the digital age. We further argue that digitalization is associated with a stronger (weaker) increase in role conflict and ambiguity the more MAs have a watchdog (business partner) orientation. The reason is that the role templates for the digital age are less coherent and clear for watchdog-oriented MAs than for their business partner counterparts. We test our predictions using survey data from 242 MAs in Dutch for-profit firms. While we do not find that digitalization is associated with MAs’ role conflict and ambiguity per se, it is associated with more (less) role ambiguity and conflict for MAs with a relatively stronger watchdog (business partner) orientation. Digitalization may thus act as a double-edged sword for the management accounting profession. MAs focusing on the watchdog role may struggle in the digital age, while their business partner counterparts are set to benefit from digitalization.

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 Colorful Tapestry in Indian Legal System: Delving into Colorable Legislation in India

The Colorful Tapestry in Indian Legal System: Delving into Colorable Legislation in India

A Servant of the Authorities or an Ally of Civil Society? The Role Perceptions and Role Performance of Local Interloper Media

ABSTRACT The study explores the journalistic role perceptions and role performance of local interloper media practitioners in Finland. The examined media include non-commercial outlets funded by a city administration or other local authorities as well as commercial online-only outlets. The outlets are conceptualised as interlopers because they apply journalistic forms, styles and methods in their content but do not necessarily consider themselves as journalists or adhere to the ethical guidelines of journalism. The outlets’ role performance is analysed in their published content, while the practitioners’ role perceptions are analysed via semi-structured interviews. The analysis reveals that the non-commercial practitioners primarily perceive and perform the loyal facilitator role, whereas the commercial practitioners serve the disseminator role. The watchdog role is virtually absent among all the examined outlets. The lack of critical perspectives indicates a selective and strategic adoption of journalistic roles aimed at enhancing public relations efforts and appearing more trustworthy and interesting to audiences or advertisers. The investigated outlets and practitioners therefore challenge the monopoly of local legacy news media over local news. Their adoption of certain journalistic roles while abstaining from critical scrutiny of local authorities shows a tendency to disguise political or private ambitions as public interest news.

Watchdog or Lapdog? South African Broadcasting Corporation News in the Coverage of the 2021 Local Government Elections

ABSTRACT The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) post-1994 was transformed into a public service broadcaster, to advance the course of democracy. The SABC newsroom continued to navigate modern technology, although with challenges. Also, the heads of news at the SABC were mainly political deployees who promoted the African National Congress (ANC)-led government's mandate, ignoring the interests of the citizenry. Using the social responsibility theory, this paper argues that the appointment of the new head of news in 2018 revived the SABC’s mandate and the institution performed well in the 2021 local government elections. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with SABC journalists and recorded programmes for news and current affairs for six weeks during the election period, this qualitative study's findings attest that the journalists felt more protected from censorship and political interference, which promoted a culture of ethical performance. However, the SABC newsroom convergence process still appeals to the elite at the expense of its radio platforms. This paper argues that SABC needs to invest more in its radio platforms. Ethical leadership is another crucial ingredient for the SABC to perform its watchdog role, instead of operating as a lapdog of the ANC or politicians from other parties.

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.

Stepping on Toes? Role Dynamics between Journalists and Lobbyists Regarding Big Tech’s Accountability Agenda

The expanding political role of Big Tech(nology) corporations has triggered concerns about the role of the media in holding corporate power to account. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of role dynamics between journalists and lobbyists toward the agenda for Big Tech’s responsibilities. Based on semi-structured interviews with European journalists ( n = 15) and lobbyists representing large technology corporations ( n = 15), we use professional role perceptions as a heuristic for examining the relationship of both actor groups in tandem. Journalists, who report an overlap of audience-focused with passive watchdog role ideals geared toward legislative accountability, interact with lobbyists, who assert a more concrete and active role perception. Journalists cautiously appropriate their normative watchdog role in accordance with the ideals of detachment and balance to maintain their own media legitimacy and access to an oligopolistic information environment. Remaining strategically sovereign over information, lobbyists perceive a strong mandate to establish Big Tech as a relevant stakeholder in the agenda on their regulatory accountability, but in mid of a perceived techlash, the majority of corporations avoid public attention. Both actor groups’ limited and off-the-record interaction reflects a defensive corporate stance, keeping their negotiation of Big Tech’s accountability off-stage. The technological and regulatory complexity of the information environment might render these corporations unfit for soft regulation by news media. We discuss implications for their co-dependence in the context of fast technological advancement and disruption of (corporate) mediatization processes.

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN EXECUTION OF POLICE REFORMS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

This research investigates the intricate dynamics between media coverage and public perceptions of police reforms in Punjab, Pakistan, adopting a positivist paradigm. Grounded in quantitative approach, the study employs a cross-sectional research design with a structured survey questionnaire administered to residents of Lahore. Stratified random sampling ensures a representative sample across demographic factors. Findings reveal positive perception of media coverage, with respondents acknowledging extensive & unbiased reporting on police reform initiatives. Correlation & regression analyses indicate moderate to strong positive relationship between various media coverage variables and public perceptions, that are influential and diverse media coverage positively impacts attitudes, support for the reform initiatives, & confidence in transparency. Challenges in media-government interaction are recognized, emphasizing limited access to information, yet perceived cooperation between media and authorities. Opportunities for media advocacy and transparency are identified, aligning with watchdog role of the media. The study contributes deep insights into the interplay between media and public perceptions of police reforms, offering valuable implications for policymakers and media practitioners seeking to enhance transparency and public engagement in the realm of the law enforcement required reforms.

Journalists’ Perception of the Threats and Risks of Corruption in Institutions and the Media

Corruption scandals have been constantly present in the Spanish media in recent years. The public stays informed about these events through the media, so the way in which journalists cover them, as well as their perception of this problem –which threatens and endangers society– as regards the institutions and the media themselves, is of great important. This article addresses this issue using a representative survey, conducted between March and July 2023, of 391 Spanish journalists belonging to media outlets of different sizes and platforms from across the country. Journalists were asked about the perceived level of corruption in different public institutions, their level of institutional trust, and their degree of agreement with a variety of statements about corruption and the media. After performing a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the data collected, the results showed that journalists see corruption as one of the main problems in Spain, with a definitively higher incidence in political institutions compared with other public institutions. In addition, it was found that, the greater the perception of an institution’s corruption, the greater the journalists’ distrust of that institution, thus confirming the dysfunctional thesis of political scandals. Finally, it was revealed that, for journalists, the watchdog role is theoretically essential, but it is not carried out in practice owing to the commercial logic that has been embraced by the Spanish media

The watchdog navigates to bark: investigative reporting on corruption in Vietnam

This study explores sources of influence on anti-corruption journalism in Vietnam and examines how investigative journalists navigate to commit to the truth and stay objective. Fifteen in-depth interviews with investigative journalists reveal that reporting about corruption in Vietnam involves questions of internal and external constraints that limit editorial autonomy and hinder the watchdog role of journalism. In their commitment to professional ideals, journalists often confront dissonances and limitations. The combined impact of political and economic fields on investigative journalism in Vietnamese journalism demonstrates how journalism, power, the market force, and society are interrelated. Amid such influences, journalists have to practice self-censorship in order to avoid political risks and deal with economic imperatives in the newsroom. Findings of the study corroborate previous assumptions drawn from literature regarding the constraints on journalists’ editorial autonomy in different social contexts, contributing to more holistic understandings of the effects of investigative journalism on public transparency and journalists’ role as scarecrows and watchdogs. The study also offers implications about the way authoritarian governments and their associated press systems sustain themselves.

Cultural Sentinels: Ọkọnkọ Society's Watchdog Role in Conflict Resolution and Cultural Preservation in Umuahia Community

Purpose of the Study: This study investigates the diverse roles of the Ọkọnkọ Society in Umuahia, Nigeria, particularly its use of Igbo language and cultural practices in conflict resolution and cultural preservation, challenging the conventional view of the society as merely a secret male cult. Methodology: The study employs qualitative, ethnographic methodologies including in-depth interviews, FGDs, and non-participant observations in Umuahia, supplemented by scholarly literature, with analysis grounded in hermeneutics, semiotics, and conflict management theories to emphasize the role of language and culture in the Ọkọnkọ Society's practices. Main Findings: The research uncovers the crucial role of the Ọkọnkọ Society in Umuahia as a guardian of peace and cultural sentinel. Key findings include the society's use of Igbo proverbs and semiotics (e.g., ọmụ palm frond, uhie drum) in conflict mediation, and the societal respect and trust they command. The society's conflict resolution role extends beyond mere mediation, effectively acting as an appellate court within the community, especially in land disputes. The study also highlights society's role in preserving and enforcing cultural norms and practices. Applications of this Study: This research has practical implications for understanding indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms in African communities. It offers insights for policymakers and social workers in designing culturally sensitive conflict management strategies. Additionally, it contributes to preserving the cultural heritage of the Igbo people by documenting traditional practices and societal structures. Novelty/Originality of this Study: This study is original in its comprehensive examination of the Ọkọnkọ Society, linking Igbo language and culture with conflict management practices. It fills a significant gap in academic research by shedding light on the societal and cultural dynamics within the Umuahia community, thus providing a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between language, culture, and social governance in an African context.

Mass Media’s Role in Stimulating Interest in Solar Energy Uptake: Examination of Feed-in Tariff News Coverage in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's solar energy adoption lags behind its global peers, although the findings of numerous studies show that the city can take up the power on a bigger scale. This manuscript contributes to the research stream by investigating the role that mass media could play in engaging citizens on more healthy debates of solar energy and the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme, in which households and institutions are paid for the energy they generate and is the government's first initiative on renewable energy involving the members of the public. Applying the theories of media framing, media hegemony, and public sphere, I conducted a content analysis of 315 Hong Kong newspaper articles on FiT spanning 55 months since the scheme's implementation. The results indicate that a majority of the articles are framed from enterprises' perspectives, implying that corporate hegemonic power has penetrated through news; criticisms of FiT are slanted towards the economic aspects, such as the financial incentive instead of the environmental and scientific reasons, undermining citizens' comprehension of the importance of the scheme; Chinese state-owned media were more critical on FiT than the pro-democracy one, indicating that politics does not matter to the issue. This study proposes that the media should play a watchdog role by monitoring institutions' ongoing solar power projects and their use of FiT-generated funds to perform the educational function to enhance citizens' scientific literacy on renewable energy to create a thriving public sphere for conversation and debate on the subject.

Patterns of Journalistic Role Performance during Public Health Crises: Covering COVID-19 in the UK

ABSTRACT While journalism scholarship has long been exploring how journalistic role performance (“JRP” thereafter) varies in different scenarios, seldom have studies captured how JRP during public health crises reflects the all-around influence of such crises on journalism practice. To fill the gap, our study examined the patterns of JRP in UK news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on a content analysis of 4,184 news stories from 15 UK national news outlets across television, radio, print, and online platforms in 2020. Our results indicate that UK journalism emphasised the performance of the service role by providing news of use to the public, the civic role by (partially) inviting the public into political life, and the interventionist role by explicitly bringing to the fore journalists’ voices. UK journalism also suppressed the infotainment role. The power relations between UK journalists and the government showed a more complicated picture. UK journalists performed a watchdog role by maintaining a seemingly sceptical and distant approach to government sources, yet also showed traces of cooperation with government agendas in ensuring compliance with public health messaging. These findings are discussed in relation to ongoing debates in health and crisis news, and journalistic role performance.

#MainBhiChowkidar (I Am Also a Watchman): Indian Journalists Responding to a Populist Campaign Challenging Their Watchdog Role in Society

During the 2019 Indian general election, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched his #MainBhiChowkidar (I am also a watchman) campaign, which can be understood as an attempt to undermine the institutionalized watchdog or monitoring system, including journalism, in democratic India. Through the lens of positioning theory, this qualitative study examines how 89 Indian journalists responded to Modi’s populist campaign on Twitter. Findings show that the Indian journalists used self-positioning but especially other-positioning practices to discursively negotiate their position as watchdogs of Indian society. The other-positioning practices reveal that the journalists position Modi and his followers as “fake” and “failed” Chowkidar by providing evidence that the self-appointed Chowkidars are derelict in fulfilling their duties as watchmen. Thus, instead of engaging in an outright discursive struggle with Modi over the watchdog position in society, Indian journalists upheld their position by acting like watchdogs.

Representing Online Hostility against Women

Representing Online Hostility against Women

Challenging Politicians on Race in Interviews: Social Dominance Orientation, Perceived Journalistic Credibility, Bias, and Appropriateness

ABSTRACT This study uses a randomized posttest-only between-subjects experiment (N = 148) to investigate the communication rules participants perceive after a journalist interviews a politician about race-related housing policies. Perceived question appropriateness, journalistic bias, and perceived credibility (journalist and politician) were examined depending on the journalist’s varying adversarial stances (no challenge, simple challenge, contextualized challenge). Social dominance orientation (SDO), a key concept associated with racial intolerance, was used as a moderator to understand perceptions of the interview style, the journalist, and the politician. Overall, SDO weighs more heavily than does level of challenge, with high-SDO participants perceiving journalistic challenges on the question of race less appropriate than do low-SDO individuals. Contrary to expectations, low-SDO participants viewed a contextual challenge as less appropriate and the journalist as more biased than when a simple challenge was used. Overall, participants endorsed journalists engaging in the watchdog role.

Rethinking Asian values in journalism: the case of the pressroom in the South Korean presidential office

ABSTRACT The present study explored how Asian values are reproduced in South Korean journalistic practices. In-depth interviews were conducted with journalists covering the Korean presidential office. The results revealed that Asian values prioritizing harmony, authority, national interests, and order influence the pressroom of the presidential office. The reporters run dozens of mobile-messenger-based groups, called kumis, with fellow reporters to share information and jointly contact officials. This practice embodies an Asian value – in-group harmony, derived from Confucian communalism. The beat (areas covered by reporters) and pressroom system institutionalizes Asian values by allowing only registered reporters to access the presidential office. The president’s staff abuses off-the-records and embargoes, but the reporters accept them out of respect for the president’s authority. The reporters often make headlines on the president’s national security agenda. We also found the hybridity of Asian values and watchdogs in the Korean reporters’ practices. Partisan bias is a mediator determining whether to activate Asian values or watchdog roles. Asian values are in excess between ideologically homogenous reporters and presidents, while government watchdogs are stimulated between heterogeneous pairs. As press freedom grows in Asia, the model of blending Asian values with other journalistic attributes is likely to be found often.

The watchdog role in the age of Big Tech – how news media in the United States and Germany hold Big Tech corporations accountable

ABSTRACT The unprecedented power of Big Tech corporations and the complexity of regulating them requires considering the role of news media as a corporate accountability mechanism. The aim of this article is to examine news media’s watchdog role through a performative lens, extending it to the corporate context by looking at three manifestations of performance: media visibility, way of coverage, and sourcing patterns. Based on a longitudinal quantitative content analysis of 920 news stories on Big Tech from four media outlets (2000–2021) in the United States and Germany, we explain variances in the watchdog role taking an over-time, cross-country, and cross-political leaning perspective. Our findings suggest that Big Tech corporations receive little but increasing media attention over the years that is driven by events. Similarly, news coverage contains an increasingly strong presence of a detached watchdog role performance. A more interventionist watchdog role is also on the rise – even though marginally – and political actors are increasingly given a voice in news coverage. From a comparative perspective, our results show that Big Tech corporations are more visible in the US and across right leaning news outlets. US journalists exhibit a more detached approach, while German journalists perform a significantly higher interventionist performance. Corporate sources are overall prominent in the media arena yet dominate more in the US. In conclusion, US and German news media are critical but passive observers over Big Tech corporations and can therefore be labeled a tame yet increasingly growling watchdog when it comes to holding Big Tech accountable.

Investigating the Gap Between Journalists’ Role Conceptions and Role Performance in Rwanda and Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This study reports select findings from the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance cross-national project involving 37 countries (www.journalisticperformance.org). Specifically, this study combines survey (N = 83) and content analysis data (N = 4,044) to explain gaps between journalists’ role conceptions and their media organizations’ performance in two African countries, Rwanda and Ethiopia. In 2020–21, we analyzed news stories from 10 media houses — including TV, radio, print and online — and subsequently surveyed journalists who worked at those outlets. Among other findings, the data showed larger gaps between conception and performance for Rwandan journalists than Ethiopian journalists. Journalists in both countries revealed a large gap for the Watchdog role, suggesting journalists valued this role much more than their organizations actually performed it. Interestingly, a greater sense of autonomy predicted larger role gaps in several cases. Results extend the Hierarchical Influence Model into new territory by gauging the influence of multi-level factors in Ethiopian and Rwandan journalistic cultures.