The mission statement of this blog is: to serve as an exposé of photographic truth in the mainstream media, both online and offline.
Webster's dictionary describes the word exposé as "an exposure or a revelation of something discreditable; a formal exposition of facts. This blog hopes to act as an accessible medium to expose discreditable information from mainstream media sources.
Citizen media is content that is produced by private citizens who are otherwise not professional journalists. Citizen journalism, because of its nature of being published by everyday citizens, is located in the public sphere. The public sphere, as defined by theorist Jurgen Habermas is a "domain of our social life in which such a thing as public opinion can be formed. Access to the public sphere is open in principle to all citizens." Habermas is a firm believer that the ideal citizen is an informed one, however he felt that the public sphere was in jeopardy, in part, because mass media was easily corruptible media that could subvert the principles of an informed public sphere.
However, with the increasing popularity of blogging, there is an increasingly large free flow of information and opinions that have surfaced through online citizen media in the public sphere. With this phenomenon has surfaced the presence of the watchdog blog which serves as a critically important role to hold media accountable within the public sphere. This form of investigative journalism has been particularly beneficial in exposing truth and betrayal that is present in mainstream media.
Through this blog, I will be posting various examples and writing commentary about photographic truth and lies that have been exposed about mainstream media through watchdog blogs.
See the following video as a brief explanation from the Associated Press about how a watchdog blog/ "accountability journalism" functions as a free and independent press to hold leaders accountable.
