...Papers' Best Bet is to 'Unleash the Watchdogs'

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http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000875363

Incoming ASNE Prez Says Papers' Best Bet is to 'Unleash the Watchdogs'

By Joe Strupp

Published: April 11, 2005 3:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON Rick Rodriguez has a message for newspaper editors. If you want to gain back lost readers, and attract some new ones, do what newspapers do best: investigate!

That’s the message The Sacramento Bee's executive editor will preach when he takes over as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors at the end of ASNE's conference this week.

As editors gathered here for the annual convention, Rodriguez told E&P that investigative journalism -- or "unleashing the watchdogs," as he puts it -- is one of the best ways for newspapers to compete with the growing alternative news sources.

“Doing investigative and public-service journalism. Watchdog journalism. That is something that newspapers do better than anyone else -- it is a niche that we can really call our own,” Rodriguez said during a break from the ASNE Board’s day-long meeting today.

In addition to urging editors to beef up investigative efforts at this year’s conference, which kicks off Tuesday, ASNE is also planning a three-day event at the Poynter Institute in May aimed at sparking new investigative projects at daily papers.

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