Watchdog.org Information

Watchdog.org is a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a non-profit organization that promotes a well-informed electorate and a more transparent government. Through state-based investigative reporters in more than 40 states, Watchdog.org exposes government waste, fraud and abuse of power. Our mission is to restore oversight of our state governments, to hold politicians and bureaucrats at all levels accountable for their handling of taxpayers’ dollars and to promote individual liberty and free markets. We are committed to creating non-partisan journalism reflecting this mission in a distinctive voice deeply skeptical of the entire political process. Our stories aim to disrupt the mainstream political narrative, to provoke change, incite debate and challenge partisans of all political stripes. As a small, but nimble news organization we are not the stenographer of record in our communities. We are instead the investigator for and analyst of news all too often overlooked or abandoned by mainstream sources, but of vital importance to our readers We offer a forum for original commentary – opinion pieces that persuade as well as inform. To advance this journalistic mission we publish our news stories on a variety of platforms, including our own local and national Web sites, social media, podcasts and with partners on the Internet, in daily newspapers, on radio and television.