Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog

Jefferson Garson-Loughran guards his house in Barre, Vermont. Jeffers is a real watchdog. The press are metaphorical watchdogs. But, we like the comparison.










     We are the watchdogs.

      Journalists have a special obligation to ensure the public's business is conducted in the open and that public records are open to all.

     Not an easy task. Many elected officials, even if they are too young to remember them, yearn for the days of smoke-filled rooms. They are nostalgic for the when decisions were actually made in a back room at the local tavern. The days when the parish priest was consulted before every council meeting. When correspondence could vanish without a trace.

     Jefferson said he would rather have newspapers without government than a government without newspapers. He said that because he knew no one else would keep an eye on the government.

     I hope the young people going into journalism today take that obligation seriously.

     Because it is part of our job to know the law better than the average citizen and to keep up with any updates in the law, we have to maintain a close eye on the changes that inevitably take place. We have to keep a close eye on the people who want to subvert the law. These responsibilities are reinforced by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics which was updated by the members' delegates at the Excellence in Journalism '14 conference.

     We are also called upon by the Code to provide access to the source material we use in writing our stories when it is relevant and appropriate.

     Sometimes only tiny portions of source material we use are relevant. Often much of it is routine, even boring. Our readers would be amazed at how boring. Very often it is a tedious process to sift through the material as we do research.

      People act as if it's a privilege to have information, but what it really is is our responsibility.