Saturday, June 25, 2011

Watchdogs over the Potomac, on Midrats

What is the role of organizations with mission statements that include phrases such as,
"... investigat(e) ... corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest (to) achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. "?
Where do they exist in the media ecosystem of traditional media, new media, think tanks, and advocacy organizations? Why are they needed, and how do they shape the debate?

Join my co-host EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" and me for the full hour this Sunday, 26 JUN at 4pm EST with Mandy Smithberger, investigator with the Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

Mandy joined POGO as a Picker intern in 2006 and became a National Security Investigator in 2008. She has worked on investigations into multi-year procurement of the troubled F-22A Raptor, federal contracting in response to Hurricane Katrina, inherently governmental functions, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and the Department of Interior's Royalty-In-Kind program. She has also written about the federal government's collection of oil and natural gas drilling royalties for the Multinational Monitor, been quoted on National Public Radio, and spoken at an international conference on the subject.

Ms. Smithberger received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Smith College in 2008, where she also won the Dawes Prize for the best undergraduate work on political science.

Join us live if you can and join in with the usual suspects in the chat room where you can contribute your thoughts and observation - and suggest to us questions for our guests.

If you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio - but the best way to get the show and download the archive to your audio player is to get a free account and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

3 comments:

DeltaBravo said...

hahaha.  POGO.  best name ever!  We have met the enemy and he is us....  lol

virgil xenophon said...

A sad, sad, commentary on current official Navy thinking/policies when even Mickey Mouse and Co have a more agressive outlook on requirements of fighting ships and things military/naval than does the USN..

Salty Gator said...

3 years out of college and being interviewed on MIDRATS.  Not too shabby, young lady.  Looking forward to the show, especially the portion of "inherently governmental functions."  That is how my position got 'insourced' and I went from being the enemy as a contractor to being the enemy as a GS.

interestingly enough, the momentum has totally evaporated to execute any more conversions!