watchdogs
Alert protective animals
Watchdogs are dogs kept to guard property, typically by barking to alert owners of intruders.
The term extends to people or organizations that monitor others for illegal or unethical behavior: Consumer watchdogs called for an investigation into the price-fixing scheme.
Government agencies, journalists, and advocacy groups often serve as watchdogs over industries or institutions.
The verb form means to act as such a monitor: The nonprofit watchdogs pharmaceutical companies for safety violations.
Those who guard others
- sentinelsGuards keeping watch
- defendersThose who shield others
- gatekeepersThose controlling entry
- custodiansThose entrusted with care
wardens · stewards · shepherds · lookouts · patrollers · scouts · vigilantes · overseers
Tracks or displays
- regulatorsEntities enforcing compliance
- inspectorsThose who examine officially
- auditorsFinancial statement reviewers
- investigatorsThose who examine facts
scrutinizers · examiners · reviewers · fact-checkers · whistleblowers · ombudsmen · accountability · transparency
News gatherers and writers
- reportersThose who gather news
- investigativeDevoted to examination
- exposéInvestigative journalism piece
- muckrakersScandal-exposing reporters
columnists · pundits · commentators · editorial · media · correspondents · critics · leaks
protectors
Those who guard others
- sentinelsGuards keeping watch
- defendersThose who shield others
- gatekeepersThose controlling entry
custodians · wardens · stewards · shepherds · lookouts · patrollers · scouts · vigilantes · overseers · preservers
monitors
Tracks or displays
- regulatorsEntities enforcing compliance
- inspectorsThose who examine officially
- auditorsFinancial statement reviewers
investigators · scrutinizers · examiners · reviewers · fact-checkers · whistleblowers · ombudsmen · accountability · transparency · compliance
journalists
News gatherers and writers
- reportersThose who gather news
- investigativeDevoted to examination
- exposéInvestigative journalism piece
muckrakers · columnists · pundits · commentators · editorial · media · correspondents · critics · leaks · sources
- anti-corruptionanti-graft, whistleblower protection, whistleblowers, financial disclosure, conflict of interest
- dog termshounds, mastiffs, spaniels, greyhounds, beagles
- watchmenwatchmen, guards, sentries, sentinels, security guards
- advocacy groupsadvocacy group, lobbying groups, lobby group, NAACP, lobby groups
- civic engagementcivic engagement, citizen participation, civic participation, civic responsibility, civic activism
- enforcementenforcement actions, crackdown, fines, enforcement agencies, penalties
watchdogsenablers
Those who facilitate harm
rubber stamps · lapdogs · wrongdoers · bad actors · violators
watchdogsintruders
Unauthorized entrants
threats · trespassers · burglars · attackers · invaders
watchdogsconcealers
Products that mask blemishes
obfuscators · spin doctors · propagandists · whitewashers · gatekeepers
- watchdog groups
- government watchdogBody monitoring state actions
- media watchdogGroup monitoring journalism standards
- watchdog agenciesGroups monitoring institutional compliance
- watchdog organizationsGroups monitoring institutional conduct
- watchdog journalismPress scrutinizing the powerful