MEDIA WATCH

Heise: Die adoptierten Medienhuren

Watchblogger verfolgen gnadenlos jede Spur ihres Opfers

Sie nennen sich "Watchers" (Beobachter) und sie verfolgen jede nachsp?rbare Aktivit?t ihrer Opfer. Ihre Operationen laufen unter geheimnisvollen Namen wie Enduring Friedman oder What a Pickler!. Sie wollen Gutes tun. Aber sie adoptieren kein Patenkind aus der Dritten Welt, sondern einen US-amerikanischen Journalisten, manchmal sogar zwei.

Online Journalism Review: 'Watchblogs' Put the Political Press Under the Microscope

Bloggers mount an "adopt a journalist" campaign to track election coverage. Along with CJR's nonpartisan Campaign Desk, the effort puts some of the nation's top political reporters under intense public scrutiny.

You write the story. Your editor checks it. Your copy editor checks it. The story runs. Then your "watcher" reads it and writes a scathing critique on her Weblog. Welcome to the new workflow for prominent political reporters, as citizen bloggers and the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk Weblog have created another layer of oversight for the Fourth Estate.

The so-called "watchblogs" are generally anonymous bloggers who have taken it upon themselves to read each report from a particular presidential campaign reporter and then critique it for factual errors or bias. If they gain traction, watchblogs represent another step in the evolution of reader feedback and media criticism, and they have the potential to improve the work of journalists.

Friedman Watch Blog NY Times

Nedah Pickler Watch Blog AP