FREE ESSAY ON THE MEDIA'S ROLE IN WATERGATE

THE MEDIA'S ROLE IN WATERGATE

The Media's Role in Watergate
In the American Democracy it is vital for our right to freedom of press to be put into
full 
throttle. Without the press, the society would be clueless and blind of Washington's
dealings and 
business. The press informs the public, for better or worse, about what really goes on in

Washington. But during the Watergate Scandal, the press coverage of the scandal
demonstrated 
some of the best and the worst aspects of the way the American press covers the
presidency.
Richard Nixon despised the press. From the days when he was Vice President and 
Governor, he had no trust for the press. Even when he used the press for his advantage to
expose, 
what he believed to be, Communist influences in America, he feared the press. Though
Nixon had 
won the endorsement of many newspapers during the 1960 Presidential Campaign, Nixon still

thought ill of the press and believed them to be unfair to him. Nixon became even more
bitter in 
1962 after he lost the election to be governor of California. Nixon bitterly claimed that
they 
wouldn't have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore. He had retired from politics but that

was short lived as he became president in 1968, but even then, Nixon remained careful of
the 
press, fearful that they would leak and expose secrets. He was so scared that he had
tapped 
prominent Washington reporters and official's telephones that he feared would leak
information.
Within days after the Watergate break in, there were reason to believe that the burglars
had 
connections with the White House highest powers. Despite the sensational revelations,
many of the 
press lost interest in the story very quickly. Most the press accepted the claim of the
White House 
Press Secretary that the incident was third-rate burglary. Though the Washington Post
covered 
the story, the Post was not thrilled with the story at first. They assigned two
relatively 
inexperienced reporters to cover the story, thinking not too much of it. Many journalists
could 
not accept that such political corruption could happen in Washington, therefore giving
the story 
low priority. Some believed that if the press covered the story, it would make Nixon's
accusations 
true, that the press was truly after him. So most of the press waited for more proof to
come in 
before they ran the story, but what is strange is that only the Post made a serious
effort to find 
more proof. Maybe it was one of the failures of the American Press: a lack of
investigative zeal 
which seems to infect much of the news media. One result of this lack is a kind of
excessive 
caution which leads the press to avoid controversial stories. Another is a failure of
imagination, or 
lack of covering different kinds of stories, as opposed to the same type of story time
after time.
However, the Post was an exception. The reporters investigated for months, exposing the 
sad truth behind their President. But the Republican Party was not concerned and
re-nominated 
Nixon for President which he would be destined to win against an unmatched opponent,
Senator 
George McGovern. While the popularity of the President was very high, the reporters
continued 
the dirty investigation and found a connection between the White House's highest ranked
officials 
and illegal slush funds. The Post is credited for their single handed journalistic effort
and keeping 
the affair alive.
Though The Post had demonstrated the power of the press, it revealed the disgrace that 
most of the press had made of themselves. The majority of the media's priorities had not
been 
straight. They had forgotten that it is their duty to inform the public of Washington
dealings and 
not hold back anything simply because it could be devastating to the ranked official's
reputations. 
Journalism in American is imperative to have, but must be used correctly. The Watergate
Scandal 
left behind a backlash of distrust towards the press and the presidency. Washington had
lost it's 
innocence. No longer would people put their full trust in what the government did behind
the 
public's eyes. After Watergate, the press vowed to be more wary in the future. That
legacy of 
Suspicion would hang over the presidents that followed Nixon
Bibliography
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