"All the President's Men" Study Guide

For a comprehensive overview of Watergate and The Washington Post's investigative coverage of the story, click on this link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/front.htm which will take you to "Revisiting Watergate." Review the links accessible from that main page. With this background, watch the movie "All the President's Men" and answer the following questions:

1. Woodward and Bernstein served as watchdogs of our government officials.  What are some of the challenges they confronted as reporters unraveling the Watergate story? (3+ sentences)

2. What personality traits made them good watchdogs of the government? (3+ sentences)

3. How would you characterize Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting process?  In what way did their actions exemplify the ethical standards listed in the Code of Ethics on p. 496 in your textbook? (3+ sentences)

4. How did The Washington Post’s publisher and editors support Woodward and Bernstein?  (3+ sentences)

Finally, with what you know so far about the public’s right to know and journalism’s tie to democracy, use your critical thinking skills to respond to these questions below:

1. What lessons does The Washington Post’s coverage of Watergate provide to journalists and the news media today? (4+ sentences)

2. What is the role of the news media?  Should the news media monitor the government and hold government officials accountable, or is it “anti-American” to do so?  Should the news media defer to its government officials in times of crisis (ie, the Vietnam War, the War on Terror) and not jeopardize support for our nation’s leaders?  What do you think?  Every media consumer needs to deeply consider the role of the news media as it reports on our nation’s leaders.  (8+ sentences)