Pine Tree Watchdog

My initial and superficial opinion of Pine Tree Watchdog was positive. The website has a clean and neat layout and a theme color that carries throughout and ties in well with MCPIR's goals and coverage. One of the first things I noticed during my site exploration was that the tabs on the homepage aren't the typical news sections. Instead of local news, business, and arts, Pine Tree Watchdog has ethics, public safety, and environment. To me, this indicated right away that Pine Tree Watchdog isn't a typical news site. It doesn't take long to affirm that Pine Tree Watchdog is serving a need, specifically going "beneath the surface of Maine government."

On the About us page, it's clearly stated that Pine Tree Watchdog's purpose is to fill the gap left from Maine newsroom cuts over the years. Investigative journalism is a dying art that must be resuscitated. Pine Tree Watchdog alerts the reader of this right away. The goals of both the mission  and vision are immediately reflected by the stories on the homepage: Gov.-elect LePage, pharmacuical licensing and drug theft,  and UMS spending.

The About Us page is also very transparent about staff and processes. This allows the site to remain above reproach and keep a good standing in order to continue to serve the public. The ethics and conflicts of interest subpage is pretty unique as well. It tells of the specific involvement of board members, donors, and news staff. My final observation of the About us page was the big nod to support from the Comm School at BU. Overall, Pine Tree Watchdog is completely open with its purpose and support, which to me marks an honest and reliable source of news.