Statement of Journalistic Principles
The Watchdog produces public interest watchdog journalism that follows responsible journalistic practices and standard ethical considerations.
Our Journalistic Standards are guided by three core principles:
• Journalism should be a public service: Democracy relies on an informed and critically-minded public. The Watchdog‘s editorial decisions are grounded in serving the public interest and upholding democratic values. We make every effort to make our journalism widely and freely accessible to the public.
• Journalism should be accurate and responsible: Democratic debate relies on good quality information. The Watchdog is committed to providing the public with information accurately and responsibly.
• Journalism should be critical: Democracy relies on the critical function of the fourth estate. The Watchdog believes the best journalism takes a trenchant or adversarial position on pressing issues of the day in service of the public and providing democratic oversight of wealthy and powerful interests.
Editorial Focus
The Watchdog is an independent Canadian journalism publication focused on wealth, power and democracy.
Our editorial mission is to protect the public and defend democracy through original watchdog journalism. We produce investigative reporting, critical analysis and explanatory journalism guided by three priorities:
Understanding Wealth, Power and Democracy: The Watchdog helps the public understand how Canada really works by examining the influence of wealth and power on our democracy. Our journalism looks at how our civic institutions operate, how public policy gets made and how our information environment shapes public debate.
Keeping Power in Check: The Watchdog brings matters of public concern to light. Our journalism monitors the individuals, groups and networks seeking to influence politics, investigates wealthy and powerful interests and keeps public officials honest and accountable.
Strengthening Canada’s Democratic Culture: The Watchdog aims to build a stronger democratic culture through journalism. Our journalism contributes to the exchange of ideas about democracy, surfaces stories that spark public debate and create change, and approaches reporting through a lens that centres the public interest and remains grounded in democratic and egalitarian values.
Editorial Independence
All editorial content published by The Watchdog is the original work of its journalists.
Editorial decisions are made exclusively by The Watchdog’s journalists. No one external to The Watchdog is involved in the development of editorial content, aside from situations requiring pre-publication legal advice.
The Watchdog has no membership or affiliation with any political, commercial or other third party groups, other than associations with a journalistic focus. No outside interests — including donors, advertisers, corporations, governments, political parties or advocacy organizations — have have any control or influence over how editorial content is selected, presented or approved prior to publication.
The Watchdog produces no promotional materials, advertorials or sponsored content on behalf of third parties.
Journalistic Conduct
The Watchdog’s commitment to producing responsible journalism is not limited to its final published content, but it is also reflected how we conduct ourselves in the course of our work:
• Professionalism: The Watchdog is committed to maintaining a professional and civil tone in its interactions and communications with news subjects, media relations personnel, public servants and others whom they interact with in the course of their work.
• Discrimination and harassment: The Watchdog is committed to respecting the basic dignity of individuals. Our journalism never seeks to actively cause news subjects or others to fear for their safety or and are mindful.
• Covering legislatures and public institutions: The Watchdog is committed to respecting the rules and conventions governing legislatures, legislative press galleries, government ministries, courts and other public institutions, including codes of conduct, court-ordered publication bans, membership rules or other undertakings, while also committing to push back against unusual or unreasonable demands.
• Proper use of press credentials: The Watchdog is committed to using press credentials responsibly. Accreditation provides special access to secure spaces and resources not available to the general public, this access is only used for journalistic purposes and not to obtain benefits other than by journalism.
• Paid work and public engagements: The Watchdog does not accept paid work or funds from groups or individuals that are a regular focus of its reporting. The Watchdog believes journalists have a duty to share their journalism with the public and spur public conversation and debate through media appearances, public speaking and other engagements. When they are invited to participate in outside engagements, they may on occasion be reimbursed for costs associated with the event.
• Non-payment of sources: The Watchdog does not pay sources for information or provide any form of financial compensation in exchange for a source’s participation in a story.
• Political affiliations: The Watchdog believes journalists are members of a democratic society and are free to share personal opinions about politics, participate in issue-based advocacy or engage in charitable activities, but it is not affiliated with any public officeholders or political parties. Nor does it carry out any paid or unpaid work for public officeholders, political parties or candidates during or in-between municipal, provincial or federal elections.
• Coverage of live or unfolding news events: The Watchdog believes journalists should be active observers, not active participants in the stories that they report. The Watchdog does not stage events, disrupt public events, ambush news subjects or pose theatrical and irrelevant questions to public officials. During developing news events, The Watchdog is careful to take responsible steps to verify the authenticity and accuracy of information before relaying it to the public in a fluid and confusing information environment.
• Personal privacy and sensitive information: The Watchdog is committed to focusing on issues that have public interest value. The Watchdog does not publish intimate images or other irrelevant and salacious personal details about news subjects. Sensitive information that could compromise the security of news subjects or sources, including the disclosure of home addresses, financial information or other private information is handled responsibly on a situation-by-situation basis in consideration with the public interest of that information.
• Sensitive topics and traumatic events: The Watchdog is committed to handling content that is disturbing or emotionally painful for readers in responsible way and always seeks to exercise tact and empathy when dealing with grieving or traumatized news subjects. When reporting on issues like mental health, suicide or violent and traumatizing events, The Watchdog exercises discretion on how information and imagery is presented out of sensitivity to readers and limiting potential harm.
• Privacy of minors: The Watchdog avoids reporting stories focused on the activities of individuals under the age of 18 unless there is a significant and exceptional public interest in doing so. In situations where minors may indirectly be associated with a story, steps may be taken to respect their privacy, including withholding identifiable information or blurring images.
• Crediting sources of information: The Watchdog believes in recognizing good journalism and giving appropriate credit to those who surface information. Whenever appropriate, efforts are made to provide links to the original sources of information. Credit is recognized by name typically in situations where a report made substantial use of a significant piece of original journalism.
• Use of artificial intelligence: The Watchdog does not use generative artificial intelligence to write or create original editorial content, including text, images, video or audio. In situations where AI-generated content appears in the context of reporting, this content is labelled as such. While software or digital tools used by journalists may at times include AI-enabled features, any use of these features is limited to assistive, rather than generative functions (i.e. AI-enabled features could be used to create rough transcriptions of audio or video but would not be used to create audio or video itself). Any use of AI-enabled features are guided by ethical considerations on a situational basis and subject to human oversight and review.
Verification and Corrections
The Watchdog is committed to providing the public with accurate and responsibly sourced information.
• Independent verification: The Watchdog takes reasonable steps to independently assess and verify the information published as well as the authenticity of any open-source images or media clips.
• Secondary sources: When relying on secondary sources, The Watchdog takes considers the reliability of the information source and prioritizes information sourced from public records, academic sources and other credible sources with relevant subject matter expertise.
• Identification of sources: The Watchdog provides readers with the professional titles, affiliations and other information to help We identify sources with the name and identifiers that they self-identify with, use consistently and/or are generally recognized personally or professionally. We aim to balance issues of transparency with issues of privacy and personal security on a case-by-case basis. In situations where The Watchdog relies information provided by unnamed sources, particularly in situations where a source may face retribution or other consequences, additional steps are taken to independently verify and corroborate that information.
The Watchdog’s commitment to accurate and responsibly sourced information is backed-up by a commitment to promptly address any inaccuracies or errors later be discovered in our reporting – this is done to ensure the public record is clear.
Correction requests: To notify The Watchdog of any concerns relating to the accuracy of its reporting, readers may get in touch directly at the following email address:
contact[at]thewatchdog.ca
When submitting a correction request, please be clear and specific about what you believe is inaccurate and provide us any relevant information that can help us independently verify your concerns. Please focus on the material facts rather than matters of opinion and refrain from abusive or accusatory language.
When a correction request is received, The Watchdog is committed to reviewing and assessing the concern before making an independent determination as to whether or not a correction should be issued.
If a correction is issued and the article is updated or revised, the correction include one of the following forms of correction notices:
• Corrections: A “correction” note may be added to bottom of an article to indicate that there has been an update to a published article in order to correct a substantive factual detail.
• Clarifications: A “clarification” note may be added to bottom of an article to explain why an article was updated to address an issue that may not be factually incorrect, but may have been unclear, is open to unintended interpretations or requires additional details or context in the interests of accuracy.
• Updates: An “update” note may be added to the bottom or top of an article in situations where a substantial development occurred in relation to the subject of the article shortly after publication.
• Editor’s notes: An “editor’s note” may be added to the bottom or top of an article in situations where readers need to be made aware of a post-publication editorial decision or other information on an editorial matter.
• Retractions: The Watchdog will only retract articles in extraordinary circumstances if it was discovered that the core focus of an article was substantially false or as a result of an exceptional legal matter. Retracted articles would be replaced with a note indicating the article has been removed.
• Minor revisions: Typos, grammatical errors, unclear language or other minor revisions made post-publication may be updated without issuing a specific notice in situations where the issue is insignificant or immaterial.
Content Labels
The Watchdog seeks to empower the public with information.
Our journalism is primarily focused on producing original news, analytic and explanatory content. We do not publish content that would be considered pure opinion or commentary.
Content that appears on our website includes labels distinguishing different types of content. We include these to help clarify the intended purpose of the content and to help the public understand different journalistic formats.
Here is a list of content labels used in our articles:
News: This label indicates that the content is reporting on events and/or documenting information that is new and has public interest value. Typically, "news" content will cover everything from important daily events to investigative reporting that surfaces new information.
Analysis: This label indicates that the content is critically engaging with a topic with news or public interest value. This format is intended to provide deeper insights into news topics by critically analyzing key issues, exploring additional contexts or synthesizing data and other information while remaining grounded in fact.
Explainer: This label indicates that the content is designed to inform and educate the public. Explanatory content can take the form of backgrounder on issues and key figures to help the public better understand the news, unpack big abstract public policy concepts or simply explain how things work.
Fact-Check: This label indicates that the content is reviewing public statements or dubious claims to verify their accuracy.
Video and Audio: These labels indicate that the content is focused on a audio-visual media clip. The purpose of this format is to document and contextualize a media clip.
Exclusive / New: Labels containing the words "exclusive" or "new" are used primarily with "news" content in situations where the content is based on The Watchdog's original reporting and it is of significant news value. The purpose of this label is to indicate that The Watchdog is the original source of an exceptional news story.
Digital Platforms Policy
The Watchdog’s editorial mission is rooted in the idea that journalism is a public service in a democracy. This publication aims to be widely accessible and freely available to the public in the online spaces where they consume news, share information and engage in public debate. However, the need to connect with readers in the spaces where they are also needs to be balanced by considerations about the governance and conduct of digital platforms themselves.
The Watchdog is committed to maintaining a presence on digital platforms where Canadians consume and debate news and where the platforms demonstrate an ongoing commitment to: moderate abusive or harmful content; address significant security or privacy risks to users; not deceptively promote, suppress or manipulate news and political content; and not actively promote false information or actively engage in conduct that undermines democratic values.
When self-moderation tools are available on digital platforms, The Watchdog may take steps to limit platform users who engage in abusive, hateful or malicious conduct.
