David Cuillier is an evangelist for open government. This summer he's driving the country in a rented Chevy Impala, stopping in newsrooms and conference rooms in nearly three dozen states to preach to journalists about our responsibility to demand transparency and access.

Cuillier, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Arizona, leads the Society of Professional Journalist's Freedom of Information Committee. I caught his tour Tuesday night in Montgomery, Ala.

The energy surrounding the growing field of non-profit groups doing in-depth journalism caught my attention last summer. So I was encouraged to read an Associated Press story from this past weekend that notes the success of these groups in in raising cash.

Just in time for today's Webinars on tracking stimulus dollars, Poynter's Al Tompkins interviews a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter who looked carefully at the number of jobs reportedly created by federal government spending in his state.

With just a bit of reporting, Ben Poston learned the estimate of Wisconsin jobs is inflated by at least several hundred jobs, more likely by thousands.

Note update at bottom.

Government spending remains a political hot topic. The Obama administration is spreading billions of dollars to seed economic recovery. Critics say the largesse is throwing the country deeper into deficit and debt.

Attempts to restart the economy, like the recession itself, are local stories. Look around and you will see federal money flowing into local schools and agencies. Are you taking stock of who gets what and how they spend the money?

Watchdog reporting is expensive and challenging, even in good times. A deep recession and historic changes in the news business make it especially difficult, so much that it's at risk of becoming an endangered species.

Its absence is especially noticeable from regional newspapers that once put teams of journalists on major public interest stories and projects with statewide impact.