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This package contains a series of articles that resulted from a recent Poynter seminar called "Creating A Watchdog Culture: Claiming An Essential Newspaper Role." All are linked up at the bottom of this article.

The assignment: a headline that describes what watchdog journalism is all about.

The desk: 35 editors and publishers from some of the nation's finest newspapers, participants in a Poynter program inspired by the new president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Rick Rodriguez , executive editor of the Sacramento Bee.

Here's some of what the participants came up with, paraphrased in places and followed by a list of steps suggested by participants to make this kind of journalism actually happen in newsrooms:

• Watchdog journalism is being a private eye for the public good.
• Watchdog journalism is at the heart of what we do, an important function of our paper through the full range of what we do, not just isolated or farmed off in a section in the newsroom, it's an enterprise wide activity.
• Watchdog journalism is just kick ass and take names.
• It's about holding government institutions and officials accountable and explaining their actions in a way that is relevant to readers and connects with their lives.
• Watchdog journalism is digging deeper on a daily basis. It's journalism that holds power brokers accountable.
• Watchdog journalism is an attitude in which you hold powerful institutions and bad guys accountable to the rest of us.
• Watchdog journalism is how we protect our readers and should be as broad as it can be.
• Watchdog journalism is afflicting the comfortable, half of that old saying.
• Watchdog journalism is doing a better job of what got us into the business in the first place.
• Borrowing a Readership Institute phrase, watchdog journalism is news that looks out for personal and civic interests.
• Watchdog journalism is a state of mind for the whole newspaper: journalism that gives power to people.
• Watchdog journalism is looking out for the civic interests of our readers by pursuing an aggressive and independent agenda of stories -- both in words and visually, in print and online -- that uncovers problems in the community and offers solutions.
• Watchdog journalism: it's US with a printing press. We start with community's interest and look with skepticism at what's happening and how it can be better.
• Watchdog journalism is driving good beat reporting, to weekenders, to long-term projects.
• Watchdog journalism is:  If we don't do it, just who is going to?
• Watchdog journalism is to keep on turning over rocks.

There were some themes that emerged when the group was asked what was next, what would they take home and share with their colleagues and implement?

Here are the consensus replies in broad strokes:

• Provide more structured training in the skills that are needed to execute strong watchdog journalism, from computer-assistant reporting to writing to use of the internet sites to ethics and critical thinking to visual journalism to collaboration. And do it for everyone on the staff.
• Do a full inventory of resources and skills available and make sure that the research department (formerly the library) is more integrated into the investigative process.
• Raise the level of discussion in the newsroom and to send the message that innovation is about core journalism.
• Spread the gospel more effectively across the company and spend quality time explaining to other departments what we do in the newsroom and why.
• Take what we learned here and integrate it in our readerships efforts.
• Make sure that the stories make it clear to readers why it matters to them.
• Refute the myth that watchdog journalism is just the big projects rather than the way we practice our craft day in and day out.
• Create a more aggressive culture, from recruiting to storytelling.
• Adopt an appreciative inquiry attitude about how things work and why.
• Train someone on the staff, or hire, a CAR director.
• Find a way to tell readers what we are doing and why.
• Involve the staff at every level to lead the charge.
• Share with the staff the highlights of what we learned in this conference, and do all we can to raise the level of awareness of our goals.

This conference was just the kickoff for the ASNE effort this year. There will be future sessions across the country, including some for mid-level editors, on ethics for journalists at all levels, and a series of high school workshops.

As we scramble to recreate ourselves in many shapes and sizes and forms in this world of exploding technology, our distinguishing features must remain intact. And one of those core commitments must be to uncover wrongdoing in our communities. We must continue this tradition, or sadly in too many cases, wake it from the dead in this era of declining resources.

Or as ASNE president Rodriguez puts it, unleash the watchdog.