The Fourth Estate: Journalism as Part of Our Government

Theme IV: Monitoring the PowerfulEQs: Why is freedom of press essential to any democratic society?What is the impact of press on the society? The Fourth Estate: Journalism as Part of Our Government • The press assumes the role of a watchdog, monitoring the operations of the government. Its duty is to blow the whistle against government malpractices and abuse of power. • Apart from overseeing the government, the press would also watch over all powerful institutions in society (MacDonald/Supersize; Michael More It is also a core principle of the “watchdog” to examine the unseen corners of society.

Why does the Press Monitor the Powerful? Officials and the administration are fallible and need to be checked; Freedom of the press serve to examine the conduct of officials, expose their wrongdoings and diffuse liberal sentiments; Freedom of the press is meant to be the terror of all bad ministers, who will be shamed and put into disrepute for their misdemeanors. Freedom of the press is a principal pillar of a free government.

Freedom of the Press “The liberty of exposing and opposing a bad administration by the pen is among the necessary privileges of a free people, and is perhaps the greatest benefit that can be derived from the liberty of the press.” Father of Candor (1764) “This formidable censor of the public functionaries, by arraigning them at the tribunal of public opinion, produces reform peacefully, which must otherwise be done by revolution….. It is also the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man and improving him as a rational, moral, and social being…..” Thomas Jefferson (1823)

Scandal and Intrigue • Understand: The investigations into Watergate that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon are a case study in the operation of the American Constitution and political values. • Know: Definition and role of the Fourth Estate and the Purposes and Features of Watchdog Journalism • Do:Critically analyze the Watergate Scandal: identify examples of Watchdog Journalism; assess effectiveness of investigative reporting and apply acquired knowledge to an investigation into the untimely death of Cheswick in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Watchdog Journalism Objectives of a watchdog story: seek and tell the truth; sort out the causes that lead to the problems in question; explore the consequences and implications of the discovered findings. The Purpose: The watchdog stories address concerns of great public interest (such as wrongful behavior, problematic practice, and abuse of power of government agency or officials. The Goal: In doing so, they are expected to keep the government in check by arousing strong public attention, exerting enormous pressures on the government in power, and pushing for a change for the better. The Objects for Monitoring: Public authorities and now expands to big corporate.

Watchdog Journalism: Purposes and Features Three Levels of Reporting

The First Level of Reporting • Layer I reporting is objective reporting, careful and accurate transcription of the record, the speech, the news conference; • Journalists have to rely on ready-made information provided by the sources (such as statements, press releases, handouts, declarations) assuming it is true or keeping a distance from it by writing it in a reported speech; • Most stories appearing in daily news media belong to level I reporting; • While we may be content to use the ready-made information, we must be aware of its limitation (reported facts are not equal to facts) until we can confirm them.

The Second Level of Reporting • Layer II reportingrequires a journalist to verify material, seeks out additional facts, and use his/her knowledge as a source of facts for the story; • Journalists take initiative to verify source-provided material and base their stories on material gathered through checking and digging; • Investigations may reveal that official stories are misleading the public and challenge official explanations which may be widely accepted by society. • Example: The cover-up of massacre of civilians in Vietnam by US troops

On November 12, 1969, Hersh broke the story of the My Lai Massacre, prompting widespread condemnation around the world and reducing public support for the Vietnam war in the United States. The explosive news of the massacre fueled the outrage of the American peace movement, which demanded the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. It also led more potential draftees to file for conscientious objector status. My Lai Massacre (1969)/ Seymour Hersh

The Third Level of Reporting • It is about causes, meanings and consequences of what happened; • The purpose is to inform us on how things work, why they work that way, or why they don’t work, in addition to telling what did happen today; • It is analytical as it moves beyond the reporting of facts into the subjective area of judgment and inference;

Layer III Examples • What are the effects of eating MacDonald’s meals everyday and in particular implications for your health? • Why CIA was aware of the cocaine transactions and the large shipments of cocaine into the U.S. by the Contra personnel, but taking no action? • The real and potential impact of the indiscriminate use of poisonous chemical sprays on human health and environment.

Watchdog Journalism: Formal Features • Layer II or III Reporting: Must go beyond what other people say, establish facts by yourself, and explore the meaning of these facts in a context; Example Watergate Scandal: It started as a burglary story and was later found out that one burglar was a former White House employee • The Use of Layer I material: Investigative reporting always gets hints from layer I material provided by others. Example Super Size Me: The producer conceived the idea for the film when the he was at his parents' house for Thanksgiving, watching a news story in TV about a lawsuit brought against McDonalds by two teenage girls who blamed the fast food chain for their obesity.

Three Main Forms of Watchdog Journalism 1. Original Investigative Reporting: • Involves reporters themselves uncovering and documenting activities that have been previously unknown to the public. • On behalf of the public, the press pushes the public authority to take action. Investigative reporters somehow work like a detective: public records searches, uses of informants, undercover work and monitoring activities • Example: Rachel Carson/Silent Spring 1962: international movement to protect the environment

Three Main Forms of Watchdog Journalism 2. Interpretive investigative reporting • Interpretative investigative stories develop as a result of careful thought and analysis of an idea as well as dogged pursuit of facts to bring together information in a new, more complete context which provides deeper public understanding. • It reveals a new way of looking at something as well as new information about it. • Example Pentagon Papers 1971/NYT

Pentagon Papers 1971/NYT • A secret study of American involvement in Vietnam written by the government. • A reporter got a copy and then a team of NYT reporters and editors expert in foreign policy and the Vietnam war interpreted and organized the documents into a dramatic account of public deception. • Without this synthesis and interpretation, the Pentagon Papers would have meant little to most of the public.

Three Main Forms of Watchdog Journalism The reporting develops from the discovery or leak of information from an official investigation already under way or in preparation by others, usually government agencies. Reporting on investigations is found wherever official investigations are at work. Example: Mark Mazzetti/ National Intelligence Estimate 2006: The intelligence found out that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the September 11 attacks five years ago. 3. Reporting on investigations

Decades after Richard Nixon resigned the office of the president, Watergate remains one of the top presidential scandals of modern time.

The Watergate Scandal • Understand: The investigations into Watergate that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon are a case study in the operation of the American Constitution and political values. • Know: Definition and role of the Fourth Estate and the Purposes and Features of Watchdog Journalism • Do: Critically analyze the Watergate Scandal: identify examples of Watchdog Journalism; assess effectiveness of investigative reporting and apply acquired knowledge to an investigation into the untimely death of Cheswick in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Watergate Burglars James McCord, Jr., Roman Gonzalez, Frank Sturgis, Eugenio Martinez, and Bernard Baker

The Scandal That Brought Down Richard Nixon • The Watergate Hotel 1972: Watergate Burglars broke into the Democratic Party's National Committee offices on June 17, 1972. • Historical and Political background: arising out of political events of the 1960s such as Vietnam, and the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1970 the chronology of the scandal really begins during 1972, when the burglars were arrested. • By 1973, Nixon had been re-elected, but the storm clouds were building. By early 1974, the nation was consumed by Watergate

The Investigations • Initial investigations of Watergate were heavily influenced by the media, particularly the work of two reporters from the Washington Post,Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, along with their mysterious informant, Deep Throat (Mark Felt Associate Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- Revealed in 2005) • Political investigations began in February 1973 when the Senate established a Committee to investigate the Watergate scandal • The public hearings of the Committee were sensational, including the evidence of John Dean, Nixon's former White House Counsel • Committee uncovered the existence of the secret White House tape recordings, sparking a major political and legal battle between the Congress and the President.

The Investigations • 1974: the House of Representatives authorized the Judiciary Committee to consider impeachmentproceedings against Nixon.. *The work of this Committee was again the spotlight a quarter of a century later when Bill Clinton was impeached. • August: The House Judiciary Committee voted to accept three of four proposed Articles of Impeachment, with some Republicans voting with Democrats to recommend impeachment of the President. • Supreme Court orders Nixon to release more White House tapes. One of these became known as the 'smoking gun' tape when it revealed that Nixon had participated in the Watergate cover-up as far back as June 23, 1972 • August 8, 1974, Nixon delivers a nationally televised resignation speech. • September 8, 1974: President Ford Pardons Nixon for all offenses from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.…

The Aftermath • Political scandals are termed "--gate“: Monicagate, FEMAgate, Skategate, Jerseygate… • The media becomes more confident and aggressive • Watergate was unraveled by the Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Their work led to the development of teams of "investigative“ reporters on newspapers around the world • General sense of cynicism/skepticism towards government

'All the President's Men' Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

The Fourth Estate: Journalism as Part of Our Government