Watergate scandal 50 years ago impacts coverage of Jan. 6 riot
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the June 17, 1972, Watergate break-in that led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon.
Ken Smith reports on the impact journalism had on Watergate and the parallels to the current Jan. 6 select committee hearings.
When the gavel came down on the U.S. Senate Watergate committee hearings in 1973, it was the culmination of what is often referred to as the greatest act of investigative journalism in U.S. history.
Former UNC journalism professor and newspaper expert Ferrel Guillory said the work of two Washington Post journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, changed the news gathering business.
"Watergate was an example of government corruption," Guillory said. "Young reporters were much more willing and eager to scrutinize government and hold powerful people to account."
Guillory explained accountability didn't just happen in a Washington Post newsroom or on network television. It took Congress, the FBI and the courts to help connect the dots.
Roy Clark, who specializes in journalism training and education at the Poynter Institute, pointed to similarities between the Watergate proceedings and the Jan. 6 select committee hearings.
"Who knew that 50 years later some of the phrases, some of the language, some of the activities, some of the issues, would be part of our public discourse," Clark said. "You can sort of hear the echoes, those of us who are old enough -- [asking] what did the president know and when did he know it."
The business of news gathering has changed, with more avenues for information and a concerted campaign to disparage the press, but journalists and scholars alike remain, hopeful.
To combat misinformation, "all of us as journalists has to tell the truth as best we can discover it," Guillory said. "Journalism involves the day to day pursuit of truth."
"I see many, many individuals, I see many, many institutions, that are determined to stand up against efforts to undercut Democratic life," Clark added.
Next year will mark 50 years since the impeachment process against Nixon began.
