The Watergate Scandal

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...

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...tant tool in our government, daily news casts rarely mention any thing more than a sentence or two on the subject. But, while I am a Star Wars fan, it seems like everyday TV gives us the latest news, no matter how trivial, about the movie.

So while I do believe a scandal that is similar to Watergate would garner some attention from the media today, I think that the coverage would be lacking in any serious depth. Many news agencies are running of a bare-bones budget and quite simply would not have the money to fund such an investigation. In today's news world it seems apparent that money is the bottom line and a story such as Watergate would not, in my opinion, sell enough newspapers. To those who argue that TV news would serve as the publics watch-dog I mentioned "Bennifer", and the serious lack of any in-depth coverage of any thing remotely important in TV news.