Film Challenge: All the President’s Men

The movie All the President’s Men  retold the story of the two reporters–Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein–who broke the story on the Watergate scandal, which occurred on June 17, 1972 when five men broke into “the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. (source 1)” However, Woodward and Bernstein’s ethics in their reporting have been questioned. While their methods, to some, appear highly unethical and intrusive, others will see them as a means to obtain a reliable story. While many people emphasize the use of ethics, “ethics [are] not [a] requirement of being a journalist (source 2),” some believe that a “[j]ournalist’s credibility [is tied to the] perception they are ethical (source 2).” Nonetheless, the pair chose the way which they went about obtaining information not because they saw it as an ethical road to audience approval, but as a means of providing their audience with the most accurate information possible.

Personally, I believe that the way they went about obtaining this story was the most appropriate way to handle such a situation. When the morals of the Nixon administration were corrupt, I believe that the ethics surrounding the case changed for reporters. I interpret the phrase “Ethics begin when there is conflict within a moral system (source 3)” as ethics having a fluid nature with the ability to adapt to the individual scenario of a publication or story. In one story–one on a much smaller scale–the approaches Woodward and Bernstein chose to use might be considered extremely unethical, and thus diminish their reliability as reporters; but, in the case of a presidential  administration tampering with an opposing party and breaking into their headquarters, these ethics are needed to uncover the truth of the story. I also agree with Woodward and Bernstein’s use of “Deep Throat” and protecting his identity. Though using an anonymous source is a “last resort (source 4)”, I believe Woodward and Bernstein would not have had the story they had if they refused to use their “Deep Throat” source. Although their choice of withholding the true identity of their anonymous source would have spoiled their reporting if the government had required it for a court hearing–as the Branzburg v. Hayes trial in 1971 found that “requiring reporters to disclose confidential information to grand juries served as ‘compelling’ and ‘paramount’ state interest and did not violate the First Amendment (source 4)”–Woodward and Bernstein allowed for a voice within the issue of Watergate to speak out and provide a more informed report.

In the end, I believe that Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting on the Watergate scandal, and their relentless searching for the truth of what happened, changed the world of journalism. As the Max Holland of Newsweek states says on the pursuit of reporting the Watergate Scandal “The media, and most prominently [Woodward and Bernstein], deserve enormous credit for keeping the story alive… Press coverage served as a prophylactic for prosecutors, allowing them to proceed steadily and without interference, in keeping with the legal adage that the ‘wheels of justice turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine’ (source 5).” Although there has yet to be another scandal within the governmental administrations on the same scale of Watergate, I believe it is safe to say that the reporting of Woodward and Bernstein created a fever in journalism that inspired hard-hitting, no-nonsense attitudes within  all reporters.

Source 1: Watergate Scandal on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal)

Source 2: Class Notes– 4.1 Seeking the Truth: Core Ethics in Reporting

Source 3: Class Notes– 4.1 Ethics

Source 4: Class Notes– 4.2 Working with Sources

Source 5: Beyond Deep Throat: The Hidden Watergate Sources That Helped Topple a President by Max Holland (http://www.newsweek.com/2014/10/17/many-sources-behind-woodward-and-bernsteins-deep-throat-276291.html)

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