“All the President’s Men” and Journalistic Themes Midterm Blog
Throughout the movie of “All the President’s Men” there were journalistic principles and themes found in the way that Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein dissected the burglary and bugging of the Watergate building. In this report I am uncovering the themes found in the movie and the themes discussed in the course text.
The “Paul Williams Way” of investigative reporting is a way of creating a storyboard about the topic that you will be investigating. By becoming familiar with the topic that you are reporting, a reporter can craft a minimal story from the information that uncover throughout the process. The first step in this process is conceiving the topic that the main story will focus on.
In order to become more credible in the journalism field, journalist need to have a regular independent source that are willing to continue feeding them information about story ideas or sources that gives them information as bait that will lead them to the central issue of the investigation.
In the movie, “All the President’s Men,” we are able to see this type of storyboarding throughout its duration as Woodward and Bernstein continue to craft minimal stories as they uncover pieces of the Watergate break in. Woodward’s anonymous source, “Deep Throat” was an independent source from the investigation that gave information to Woodward to bait him towards the issues that needed to be revealed.
Along with Deep Throat being a primary source in the continuation of the investigation, Woodward and Bernstein also used additional primary and secondary sources to gain insight. For example, they used secondary sources like office lists from federal offices where GOP and White House officials work in an attempt to locate the “Watergate Seven.”
With the use of secondary sources like office, library, and department logs, Woodward and Bernstein were able to use the information they uncovered from these sources to add information to their stories or link it to their overall investigation which would later help them track useful primary sources.
Unfortunately, their primary sources were difficult to report on. With many of the sources being too scared or unwilling to talk, Woodward and Bernstein were often at a standstill. They were unsure on how to confirm information with others until they found a creative way to talk with sources.
The main whistleblower throughout the Watergate investigation was Deep Throat, who later revealed himself to be Mark Felt. Although Felt was an FBI special agent, he brought attention to the scandal without leaking heavy information. The only information he was giving baited Woodward and Bernstein into the right direction. Felt’s accounts were sincere, he wanted the public to have knowledge about what the Nixon Administration had done.
To further the credibility of the investigation, Woodward and Bernstein had to find and understand the goals and standards of executive government agencies in order to further investigate their audits reports, and staff. In addition to that, they also look at budget reports where they view the finances of each agency and can track any consultants or other areas were the money was allocated.
Following the money was one of the key success that Woodward and Bernstein can owe credit to. Although Deep Throat did give Woodward the nudge of tracking the budgetary reports. Once he analyzed the budget reports some more people of the “Watergate Seven” were named.
Throughout the movie, Woodward and Bernstein had a hard time getting sources to talk. In an effort to get sources to talk or to at least confirm the information that they had; they did some things that I found ethically questionable. For example, when they asked sources to confirm the names of the Watergate Seven, they only knew a few and guessed on the few that they weren’t certain on, which asked it a trick question for the source to confirm or deny. Once the source answered, it gave them information on who was or wasn’t actually associated with the break in.
Woodward and Bernstein also gave sources a loophole in answering some of the questions. Like towards the end of the movie when the Washington Post editor orders them to locate another source to confirm the story before the paper runs it. Before they miss the close deadline, Bernstein doesn’t get a clear yes or no comment from a source, rather a loophole answer of staying on the phone call after counting to ten to confirm the content of the story.
The text writes that some believe that government workers who are paid with tax dollars, like Deep Throat, who was an FBI special agent should not hold anonymity. Because of the anonymity of the source, Woodward decided to gain extensive confirmations about the information he gained from his anonymous source.
The Watergate Scandal was a breakthrough in investigative reporting because of the rise in journalistic interest. Aside from many people entering the field, the field was also more respected as a result of uncovering President Nixon’s Administration with a heavy eye and interest on issues pertaining to government trust.
With the lack of trust now between people and government agencies at both state and federal levels, it is difficult to get inside information from former or current employees. The Washington Post and both Woodward and Bernstein faced issues with credibility in the stories that they were releasing about the Watergate burglary. Although they were not the only ones working on this topic, their stories had the most impact in the uncovering of the investigation.
Their credibility and accuracy was confirmed by the research they did in locating budget reports, office logs, and sources. Their research entailed calling and seeking information around different federal offices in Washington D.C. and would then gather the documentation and read through it finding information that would tie back to the information that Deep Throat gave them.
When linking names and tracing them back to knowing or working with one another, Woodward and Bernstein began interviewing them and when they refused to talk, they became deceptive and ask questions in a round-about way to alleviate pressure.
Reading and reviewing the Woodward and Bernstein piece, “GOP Security Aide Among Five Arrested in Bugging Affair,” the sources that they used in their reporting were limited. Bob Doyle, the GOP chairman at the time, and former Attorney General John Mitchell, who was head of the committee to reelect the president, were the only solid sources that they used in the story. They used some attribution quotes from statements made earlier in the week pertaining to this specific burglary.
The lack of sources and ambiguous phrasing like “officials close to the investigation” brings question to the credibility of the story. If a story like this were to be published today in a paper, either the viewers would criticize and attack it, or it would never be published. But, for the sources that were used in the story, it helped add to the timeline of their investigation.
Although they had a lack of sources in their stories, the editor still went through with publishing their beginning stories. There needs to be trust between reporters and their editor. Since the editor takes most of the criticism from the public, they have the overall say in what is featured in the paper and what isn’t. The Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee saw that Woodward and Bernstein were ‘hungry’ for uncovering the truth about hard issues.
Their dedication and commitment to the Watergate investigation story series was seen in the office and because their first couple stories were accurate, even with limited sources, Bradlee had no reason not to continue trusting them. And, because they were permitted to keep running with the story series, Bradlee had to be cautious with what the topic was on each story and how many sources could confirm the information.
Reporting is all about the relationships you make with sources and the information you can get from it. Sources are the key to making your story accurate and interesting to the public. Uncovering the truth about some things seems questionable, but ultimately it is the publics information to know. It takes time to establish and grow relationships with the sources that you use for stories but being friendly to them and appreciative is better than being forceful and too assertive.
Aside from Woodward and Bernstein, I think that Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Post; Deep Throat (Mark Felt), the main source that gave Woodward direction; and Hugh Sloan, who was the treasurer on the committee to reelect the president were essential parts in the uncovering of the Watergate scandal. As I have previously mentioned the significance of Bradlee and Deep Throat’s contribution to the Watergate investigation, Sloan’s impact was also important. His contribution helped Woodward and Bernstein track budgetary reports and finances from the committee to reelect the president since he was in charge of their finances. His contribution had an impact on verifying information from Deep Throat and other sources. Without these three roles in the investigation, there wouldn’t be much of a story.
If I had the chance to ask the Woodstein duo a question it would be: Throughout all the chaos of finding information, tracking sources, and verifying information, did you ever have doubt in the success of the overall investigation, or did you know that there was something to be found? And, just for fun and curiosity, I would ask them how much sleep they got during the time this all took place because the movie portrayed very little.
On my honor, I have watched “All the President’s Men” in its entirety.
(Word count: 1597)
