CalWatchdog Debuts Web Site on State Government

By Melanie Turner

January 6, 2010

Think-tank Pacific Research Institute has launched Sacramento-based investigative reporting Web site www.CalWatchdog.com.

CalWatchdog plans to serve as a one-stop-shop for information on California government, with original news content, investigative reports and a collection of relevant news stories.

“As the new legislative session opens in California, it’s no secret that the state continues to face massive budget deficits and endless problems,” editor-in-chief Steven Greenhut said in a news release.

The San Francisco-based institute last year retained veteran journalist Greenhut to establish and lead the nonprofit, non-partisan news site.

Greenhut most recently served as deputy editor and columnist for The Orange County Register. He authored the 2004 book, “Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain,” and in 2005 won the Institute for Justice’s Thomas Paine Award for his writing promoting freedom.

Like other nonprofit journalism ventures that have emerged in recent years, CalWatchdog aims to fill the gap left by declining newspaper coverage of state issues.

Veteran reporters Anthony Pignataro and Katy Grimes have joined CalWatchdog as part of its investigative team. Pignataro has been a reporter for the OC Weekly and Maui Time Weekly. Grimes is a longtime political analyst writer and journalist whose columns have appeared in papers such as The San Francisco Examiner and The Sacramento Bee.

–Melanie Turner/Sacramento Business Journal