Watergate

While the effects of Watergate had far-reaching consequences for journalism, not everything to come out of the scandal came to be positive. As a result of the Watergate scandal many journalists try to find a Watergate like story even where there is none, Monicagate is a perfect example. In addition, many critics of the media argue since Watergate many people have become disenfranchised with Media’s constant negativity. Another result of Watergate is the use of the media as a tool for political sabotage. Finally, the media of today bombards the average person with so much news everyday it becomes hard for one to decipher what is actual news and what is just a heap of garbage.

It is important to note Watergate was no doubt an important event, both in politics and journalism, for it exposed a severe abuse of power by a President and forced the powers that be to be held accountable. As for journalism, the strategies used by Woodward and Bernstein became the standards used by modern investigative journalists. Although at times the tactics used by the two were somewhat questionable, the story of Watergate would have never been able to see light if the rules were not bent a little. Without the efforts of these journalists, the criminal activities of the President and his conspirators would not have been discovered until well after Nixon would have left office. In fact, Watergate probably would have not been uncovered if not for the efforts of Woodward and Bernstein. Nevertheless, the bulk of the truth behind Watergate was not uncovered after the impeachment hearings had begun. Too many journalists insist they alone were the driving force behind the uncovering of Watergate. While the media played a crucial role in getting the story rolling, many critics argue that is all the media did.

As far a something similar in nature to Watergate happening today, I think coverage of such a story would be much different. Namely, the time and energy necessary to uncover the minutiae that Woodward and Bernstein found would not be available to reporters of today. The seemingly endless amount of stories the media covers today restrict the amount of time a news outlet has to devote to one story. Woodward and Bernstein spent a better part of eighteen months investigating Watergate. I imagine you would be hard-pressed to find an editor willing to let a journalist devote that much time to one story today. The money needed to fuel such an investigation would be just as hard to come up with as well. Many newspapers are bleeding from profit losses and such a lengthy investigation would no doubt cost an extreme amount of money.

While other forms of media, namely television, have the vast resources to fund such an investigation, they hardly lend themselves to such a lengthy and exhausting inquiry. Sadly, stories like Watergate lack the necessary “flash” factor to be deemed worthy of televisions attention. Unless the story involves a celebrity or blood many news channels ignore actual news. The endless reports of Brittany Spears or “Bennifer” drown the real news of the day. For instance, the recent battles over the misdeeds of Tom Delay only get the slightest attention but we will no doubt hear every detail of Spears’ pregnancy. Perhaps the best arena for uncovering a Watergate like scandal today would be the internet. The internet had a huge role in the “Rathergate” affair and also was used to further the investigation into the Monica Lewinsky affair. The Rather debacle also showed the laziness of many in the media, for immediately following the airing of the falsified documents bloggers were pointing out their illegitimacy, contending CBS had dropped the ball and was not doing their homework. One blogger pointed out the typeface used on the “incriminating” documents did not exist when the papers were supposedly made.

The Monica Lewinsky affair is a perfect example of how the media takes a story and blows it out of proportion. Not only did the investigation cost the American taxpayers a huge amount of money unnecessarily, it also made the public weary of the Medias constant need to find the next Watergate. Monicagate was nothing more than a modern witch-hunt into the private affairs of a person’s life, albeit a president’s. While Clinton did lie under oath during a hearing seeking the truth, there should have never been an investigation into his sexual conduct. Since when is it the public’s right to know what one does sexually. Until Watergate things like the Lewinsky scandal would have never been newsworthy. It is widely known now JFK had numerous affairs but the media of the day did not feel the details of Kennedy’s