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Many journalists adopt an adversarial stance toward the prominent leaders and major institutions they cover. They use tough questioning to confront wrongdoers, then expose their misdeeds to the public through stories in the news. This approach is particularly prominent in political reporting. Numerous journalists assume that leaders are hiding something and that a reporter’s main job is to ferret out the truth through tenacious fact-gathering and “gotcha” questions. An extension of the search for balance, this stance locates the reporter in the middle—between “them” (our leaders) and “us” (the people our leaders are elected to represent).

Critics of the tough-question style of reporting argue that while it can reveal significant information, it also fosters a cynicism among journalists (if it is overused) that actually harms the democratic process. After all, if reporters are constantly searching for what politicians may be hiding, they risk missing other important issues that also merit coverage in the press.