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From SourceWatch

Watchdog organizations are usually non-profit groups that view their role as critically monitoring the activities of governments, industry, or other organizations and alerting the public when they detect actions that go against the public interest.

While the term is commonly used to describe organisations that are more activist in mobilising public support, some organisations are hard to classify. Large international organisations - especially where a fair degree of local autonomy is allowed - can include national or local branches that are fierce watchdogs while other branches are closer in style to tame industry funded groups.

Examples

• ACORN
• Arms Sales Monitoring Project
• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
• Center for Digital Democracy
• Center for Public Integrity
• Chemical and Biological Arms Control Program
• CorporateWatch (different from CorpWatch)
• CorpWatch (different from CorporateWatch)
• Dogwood Alliance
• Environmental Working Group
• Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
• Federation of American Scientists
• Global Witness
• International Crisis Group
• Judicial Watch
• Media Transparency
• OMB Watch
• Organic Consumers Association
• Political Research Associates (aka The Public Eye)
• Project on Government Secrecy
• Project Censored: undercovered news
• Public Citizen
• Public Interest Research Group See
• "Paying to Pollute"
• Rainforest Action Network
• Strategic Security Project
• World Wide Fund for Nature