The Role of the US Media as a Watchdog

in this research paper, the role of the US media as a watchdog is investigated. In this exercise, the paper is guided by the following: that the US media effectively serves as a watchdog. The paper will answer the question: To what extent does the American media practice its role as a watchdog? In this attempt, it is guided by the thesis that the American media protects democracy by informing the public on the affairs occurring in government and other organizations in power, in an effort to keep them accountable. Background on the US Media The American media is an informer of the public. In this statement, the media is tasked, impliedly, to fact-check for the public, what the statements and actions of the state and leaders mean.

First, it has accurately reported the Watergate scandal. In this scandal, President Nixon attempted to cover up a breach of office in which five burglars broke into the DNC office, 17th June 1972. With suspicion turned against the Watergate complex which housed the offices, the Congress went on to investigate the Watergate while the president, employing the forces of the FBI, the CIA and the IRS, resisted the probe, launching attacks and investigations into activists, groups, politicians and any organ that sought to uncover his involvement (Archer, 2015). While investigations continued behind the lens and while the FBI continued to uncover evidence on the corrupt dealings of the scandal, the media relayed this information to the public, leading to effective public participation in the proceedings.

Again, the ultimate resignation of the president to avoid impeachment followed after a series of unearthing investigations by the Washington Post, NY Times and the Post. In the same case, the FBI had not settled on them, even after Washington circulated their photos to security enforces for lookout and action. It took the interventional efforts of the FBI through its social media handles to correct the publicly consumed media misinformation and the efforts were praised later, though, not without damaging consequences to the teen (Davis, Alves & Sklansky, 2014). The mismatch brought not only fear and misery to the pair, but difficulties in interacting with others. the father of the teen complained how it would be difficult for the son to enjoy his school years.

the son also expressed his misery, saying that at one point he had been walking to the track only for a stranger to make a call to his friend saying that Salah, who was before them, was the bomber of the Boston marathon. The media will also find itself amidst heated attacks from political bigwigs. Basing its stability on the first amendment, it will always have a ground to air their contents freely given the freedom of expression. as a watchdog, it has to remain uncensored. However, to remain influential and fairly informative, the media must be objective, thorough and fair to both the victims and beneficiaries of its reports. The trump presidency, for instance, has received more negative media publicity than anything good from the same media.