The Public Eye: How The Bee is holding the powerful accountable

Holding the powerful accountable for their actions is at the core of what local journalism is about.

The Sacramento Bee has relaunched a series of watchdog stories called The Public Eye. Long-time readers of The Bee may remember The Public Eye from a few years ago.

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The series launched March 11 with a deep dive into allegations of a toxic, male-dominated culture within the Sacramento Fire Department. The story – by The Bee’s Black communities reporter, Marcus D. Smith – is based on a series of several interviews with current and former employees of the department.

The Public Eye will run at least twice a month and most stories will publish online Thursday mornings. Our team of reporters across the newsroom is digging into how state and local governments are spending your tax dollars, how schools are supporting our children and whether the policy makers at City Hall, the Board of Supervisors and state Capitol are doing enough to keep our communities safe, our housing affordable and to care for those most in need.

Most stories in the series will be available only to our subscribers. (Subscribe here to support local journalists and their investigations.) This essential investigative journalism requires time and resources, and we’re so grateful for the support of our subscribers that makes this work possible.

This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.