The Watergate Incident

The Watergate incident simultaneously had the three results of changing the American people’s public view of the president, the relationship between the government and media, and the media from a somewhat collaborative to competitive industry. These all contributed to several areas of exploration. On June 17, 1972, five men were taken into custody for the act of burglary. They were found lurking inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters which was in Washington D.C. inside the Watergate hotel. At the time this was viewed as insignificant. It was not known that this was, indeed, not the first time these men had broken into the building. A year after it occurred, it was still being discussed and was gaining national attention. During …show more content…
Up to this point, everyone who worked for him was still continuing to cover up for him. That changed when on July 16, 1973 in the ongoing investigation, it was admitted by a former associate of the president that Nixon recorded all of his conversations in his office. On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee began the impeachment process. They convicted and found him guilty on accounts of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress. Shortly after this, Nixon reluctantly gave up his tapes that turned over evidence of him discussing his involvement and cover up of the crime. It was now confirmed that he had been lying to the American people about his knowledge and involvement of the event. Nixon resigned from office on August 8, 2015 before he could be …show more content…
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were the two major journalists during the Watergate trial who proved Nixon to be involved in the grand scheme. This caused them to become instantly well-known across the world. They approached the situation in a way that no other journalist or person in the media had before. The dynamic duo used a secret source to compile information on what happened from an inside source known as "Deep Throat." This anonymous source changed how people viewed journalism. People were questioning whether it was morally sound to keep a secret source. "Americans might never have seen a president as a criminal conspirator, or reporters as cultural heroes, or anonymous sources like Mr. Felt as a necessary if undesired tool in the pursuit of truth" (Weiner). Put another way, if it were not for Woodward and Bernstein, Americans would not have seen Nixon in such a negative light. They also wouldn 't have used "Deep Throat," who was later revealed as Mr. Felt, if they could have found another way to get to the bottom of the