Aaron Brown’s comment that journalists are not interrogators was an interesting thought to me. The term “watch dog” seems so inherently aggressive and journalists are the “watch dogs” of society.
To consider the idea further I searched the internet for information. I found an interesting case in Iran, where journalists are considered “intelligence-seekers”, thus a threat. The religious government is trying to censor expressions that call for democracy. The government is having particular trouble censoring digital media.
An Iranian guard said to journalist Maziar Bahari,”You gather and report information: that is exactly what a spy does.”
It’s interesting to see how differently people view the role of journalists and a lot seems to depend upon the context and legal environment of the country.
