Losing Watchdogs
Every undergraduate enrolled in Washington State University's Honors College is required to complete a thesis. My 2018 thesis examined the factors contributing to the shrinking number of reporters covering state government in Oregon, and what this loss means for democracy. (Spoiler: it's not good.) Although I finished my paper several years after I left Pullman, I was able to draw on my personal experiences covering state politics. Below are the three pieces I produced for my project.
Photo via Oregon Department of Transportation
Oregon’s dwindling statehouse reporters are ‘treading water’
The Columbia Journalism Review published a short version of my thesis in June.
“We have to generalize more. We aren’t able to zero in on agencies. There’s just fewer people to catch bills or things that are flying under the radar.”
Photo courtesy Robin Maxey
Oregon state politics coverage suffers as press corps shrinks
This is the full version of the article below, with more interviews from current and former political reporters and editors, as well as others.
“Voters won’t have the information they need to make smart decisions, taxpayers won’t know how their money’s being spent and the people who don’t have a moral compass will be able to get away with whatever they want.”
Photo via WikiMedia Commons
Losing Watchdogs: An examination of Oregon’s shrinking capitol press corps
Below is my 35-page academic paper, with a review of pertinent literature and an overview of my methodology.
“The independent watchdog function that the Founding Fathers envisioned for journalism—going so far as to call it crucial to a healthy democracy—is in some cases at risk at the local level.”