|
|
Excerpts From The Forum
A New Concept
of Watchdog Dennis Foley writes, "Journalists have a tremendous role and responsibility to cover their communities in ways that accurately reveals the breadth and depth of community life in the public arena. My work as ombudsman and journalist has convinced me there is one particular role everybody -- public, press, politician -- undisputedly assigns journalists: watchdog. "The essential question is how well we serve our watchdog role. I'm not fussed about whether our journalism is public, civic, communitarian, new or 'good, old-fashioned' journalism as the critics like to claim. Rather, the question is whether journalists have limited their vision and failed to acknowledge that we are not just a community watchdogs, or government watchdogs, or the watchdogs of power, of the afflicters of the comfortable. We are democracy's watchdogs. That's how 'the Framers' drew it up, albeit reluctantly. "So the behavior we choose has to flow from answering the questions
surrounding how well we act as democracy's watchdogs. That's my motivation,
grounded firmly in the continued belief that one person can make a difference,
and, by extension, that a whole bunch of people working collectively
can make a big difference."
|
|
||||
|
Home Introduction LiveCharterMeeting OnlineCharterBuildingForum |
