Watergate Investigation: 1974

 

In June 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate building in Washington D.C.. However, this was no ordinary robbery because all of the prowlers were connected to incumbent President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. These robbers were caught in the act of wiretapping phones and stealing secret documents. At first, many historians and investigators did not know Nixon was involved at all, until the President started to raise “hush money” for the prowlers so they would not release discreditable information. Nixon also tried to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime by trying to point them in another direction. Nixon then continued to destroy evidence and fire staff members who would not cooperate with his request to stay quiet about the scandal. The Washington Post had two investigative journalists that would not let the story go. With the help of their anonymous source, “Deep Throat.” Woodward and Bernstein would keep digging until they found the truth behind Watergate. In August 1974. with the work of Woodward and Bernstein, Nixon’s role in the Watergate conspiracy was exposed, as he resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned Nixon for all the crimes he committed or may have committed while in office. Even though Nixon was never prosecuted, the Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading Americans to question the presidency more critically.

With the Watergate conspiracy occurring and The Washington Post’s very own Woodward and Bernstein exposing Nixon for his crimes, media in newspapers were drastically altered. The scandal had many effects that still embody the media of today. 68% of the American population trusted media after the scandal, which fell by 21% after 1995. Trust was a big part of the Watergate scandal, which broke after the population started to question the presidency. The Watergate scandal shaped how newspapers cover news today by breaking the trust of the President and American population, creating investigative journalists, and creating anonymous sources

After President Nixon was caught for being involved with the Watergate scandal, many reporters looked for the next big presidential scandal and started to question the presidents from the past as well. Many reporters started to come out and claim that JFK was actually sleeping around and cheating on his wife. The Watergate scandal created a distrusting relationship between the President and the rest of the population. Many news publications were quicker to call out the government for doing something scandalous or something unfair to the America population, creating a fourth estate. Media could and can now be known as the fourth estate for the people. If the government is not being fair to the people, media will be there to write about it. In checks and balances, media looks over all the branches of the government in order to ensure that the American people are in the loop.

With the trust being broken between the President and the American population along with the press, investigative journalism was created Investigative journalism mainly started after Woodward and Bernstein had investigated the Watergate scandal. After Watergate, every news publication office started their very own, investigative journalism section of their paper and it became the next ‘big thing’ for the American youth. With the establishment of journalism schools, many bright, young people started to choose journalism as a career. The Watergate scandal also helped establish journalism schools. With all the young Americans wanting to study journalism as a career, journalism schools had been established in many colleges around the nation. Investigative journalism was the new major of choice by many students, and the 1990s became known as the “Golden Age of Newspapers” with all the students coming out of their schools pursing their journalism career. Although, investigative journalism was very hard to become successful in, many writers chased the career as an investigative journalist.

With the help of “Deep throat”, Woodward and Bernstein dug deep and uncovered enough information for President Nixon to resign from his position. The anonymous source known as “Deep throat” was never credited until he came out and told the public who he was years later. It became more popular to be an unknown source and not use your name, rather than being the newspapers source. “Deep throat” was the first anonymous source that became famous for being unknown. With many newspapers using more anonymous sources to gain private and personal information, more people with information on a subject would come forward. The simple “anonymous” card would bring many people out to tell the newspaper information. The Watergate scandal created anonymous source indirectly with the source “Deep Throat”.

In conclusion, The Watergate scandal changed media by creating anonymous sources, creating journalism schools, and most importantly, broke the trust between the President and the American population. Surprisingly, newspapers are not read as much as they used to be. With T.V. news companies being created, they attract most of readers today. Newspaper has changed a lot from the Watergate scandal times; it has made newspapers more skeptical on the government and more willing and eager to claim that the government is hiding information from the people. Newspapers now have an edge on the government and are always watching for potential scandals in order to keep the public informed.

 

By: Anthony Sandoval