The watchdog and government

According to this document, the conditions of democracy are necessary for an effective media role as watchdog: "the institutional arrangements of democracy provide the most hospitable environment for watchdog reporting. The constitutional and legal protections for a free press as well as access to government-held information give journalists not only the right, but also the tools with which to monitor government." It has taken root in the Balkans, for example, but not in Myanmar. With its turn to market liberalisation, China now has watchdog journalism, fuelled by profitability in the wake of government reductions in subsidies. In addition to political liberalisation, competitive media markets, and degrees of social and political ferment, journalistic and entrepreneurial agency is a factor, fostered by the protection of journalists from physical harm, jail, harassment through lawsuits, and restrictions on access to information.

The watchdog and the market:

The contradictory nature of the market is described as: "On one hand, market liberalization and competition have encouraged the emergence of, and in many places, also sustained, investigative reporting. But at the same time, market pressures are a major obstacle to its continued viability.” Where donor funding is available, non-profits sometimes take on the watchdog role. "They fill a gap in media systems where market, ownership, or political pressures make investigative reporting by commercial or state-owned media difficult if not impossible. These centers are involved in training and reporting and serve as models of excellence that are helping raise the standards of local journalism. Elsewhere, startup ventures by individual journalists are taking the lead in cutting-edge investigations. In Malaysia, the web-based news site Malaysiakini is filling the information gap in a