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A New Breed of Watchdog Journalism

By Carrie McBride

Watchdog journalism has long been considered an important and necessary role of the press.  Citizens have relied heavily upon the media to scrutinize government actions and expose to the public any corruption or deception by government officials. Now, armed with advanced technology such as cell phones and video cameras, ordinary citizens are quickly becoming the watchdog media of the 21st century.

Recently, in the West African country of Guinea, anonymous cell phone images brought to light the violent conduct of military soldiers during a demonstration in the capital of Conakry.  During the protests, held in opposition to coup leader Captain Camara, an estimated 157 people were killed, 1,200 injured, and an unknown number of women were raped or sexually assaulted.

The international community is outraged at the violence depicted in the cell phone images and now the European Union, African Union, and the United Nations are calling for the junta’s withdrawal from power. Although the military regime claims that only 56 people actually died, primarily from being trampled, opposition leaders insist the pictures tell the real story of what happened that day. Without these photographs, their reports may have been difficult to corroborate, making the cell phone photographer an instant watchdog journalist.