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

Within days after the Watergate break in, there were reason to believe that the burglars had connections with the White House highest powers. He was so scared that he had tapped prominent Washington reporters and official's telephones that he feared would leak information. No longer would people put their full trust in what the government did behind the public's eyes. The Post is credited for their single handed journalistic effort and keeping the affair alive. The Watergate Scandal left behind a backlash of distrust towards the press and the presidency. 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. 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. claimed that they wouldn't have Richard Nixon to "kick around anymore". After Watergate, the press vowed to be more wary in the future. 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. 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. The reporters investigated for months, exposing the sad truth behind their President. One result of this lack is a kind of excessive caution which leads the press to avoid controversial stories. However, the Post was an exception.