Title: Shane Eisenman
Headings: 
Watchdog Journalism: Function and Future
Content: During an outbreak of smallpox in Boston, it argued strongly against the newly invented medical procedure of inoculation. Although its position turned out to be incorrect from a medical standpoint, using the newspaper to speak out against a situation seen as harmful to the public began an important tradition that would come to characterize American newspapers. Increasingly, newspapers would become “watchdogs of the public interest”, a role they continue to play vigorously. ( DeFleur, 78)
This is merely one example among the thousands of articles written on behalf of the public throughout the years. The authors of these works believed that there was something they could do about what they saw as a flaw in the society in which they lived. Though many, like James Franklin’s, turned out in the long run to have little or no effect, this did not deter them from voicing their opinions. Just where would we be without the efforts of watchdog journalists? Let us take a look at the muckrakers of the American past and see what impact their contributions have on our lives today. The muckrakers were a group of early 20th century American journalists who wrote detailed, factual accounts of the political, moral and economic corruption caused by the power of big business in the United States. “ This journalism was hard-hitting in tone, often well-rooted in fact, and at times brutal in its exposure of venality and corruption.” (