"Watchdog" debuted on April 6, 2001, as the new name of a biweekly column that began in 1989 as "On the Town." The first column under this new name explained, "'Watchdog' was chosen to convey the column's spirit: Alert, inquisitive, vigilant and biting."
And perhaps a bit prescient, as the column's author takes this final turn at bat. His employer-to-be, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, runs a website called Wisconsin Watch and has adopted the watchdog moniker in more ways than one.
