The Inner Workings of Investigative Journalism: A Review of Alan J Pakula's "All The President's Men"
Watergate was a political scandal that began in June 17, 1972, after five men broke into the Watergate complex in the United States. The investigation that followed later revealed the various abuses of power by the Nixon administration in order to cover up their involvement and keep the president in power. Alan J. Pakula’s All The President’s Men explored the investigation of the Watergate scandal, which was carried out by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.
The film followed the various issues that the two journalists encountered while investigating the case. Woodward and Bernstein, for one, had a hard time reaching out to key people involved in the scandal because the Nixon administration is determined to keep everything under wraps. The pair immediately faced issues with gathering information from informants that are deemed important, as they are unwilling to talk to the two journalists about what they know and shut them out instead.
Due to these challenges, the pair had to resort to different means of getting the necessary information about the scandal. Woodward, for one, reached out to an anonymous source called “Deep Throat” in order to make sure that their story was on the right track and eventually reveal key aspects of the case that could benefit their story. Bernstein, meanwhile, had to resort to fake phone calls to distract people and talk to the informants that he needs to talk to; or influence people who are closest to the people he is investigating to give him the resources or the information he needs to know to further develop the case.
Given all of the difficulty behind obtaining information from reliable sources, the pair also had to grapple with the importance and the validity of their story. Throughout the film, we see their editors constantly question the credibility of their investigation of Watergate, and the constant criticism of their means of finding information and documents that backed up their story. Bernstein and Woodward also had to regularly grapple with the importance of their story: the film shows the pair running into dead ends in the cases and the fear that their story might not be deemed as important as they think it is.
The main message of the film, then, is that media and journalism help the masses in more ways than one: the film shows how journalists risk their lives to deliver the news and other information to keep them informed about the world around them. In terms of investigative journalism, the community benefits from issues that people prefer to keep hidden because it encourages them to constantly question the societal structures that are in place and hold people in power accountable.
The film followed the various issues that the two journalists encountered while investigating the case. Woodward and Bernstein, for one, had a hard time reaching out to key people involved in the scandal because the Nixon administration is determined to keep everything under wraps. The pair immediately faced issues with gathering information from informants that are deemed important, as they are unwilling to talk to the two journalists about what they know and shut them out instead.
Due to these challenges, the pair had to resort to different means of getting the necessary information about the scandal. Woodward, for one, reached out to an anonymous source called “Deep Throat” in order to make sure that their story was on the right track and eventually reveal key aspects of the case that could benefit their story. Bernstein, meanwhile, had to resort to fake phone calls to distract people and talk to the informants that he needs to talk to; or influence people who are closest to the people he is investigating to give him the resources or the information he needs to know to further develop the case.
Given all of the difficulty behind obtaining information from reliable sources, the pair also had to grapple with the importance and the validity of their story. Throughout the film, we see their editors constantly question the credibility of their investigation of Watergate, and the constant criticism of their means of finding information and documents that backed up their story. Bernstein and Woodward also had to regularly grapple with the importance of their story: the film shows the pair running into dead ends in the cases and the fear that their story might not be deemed as important as they think it is.
The main message of the film, then, is that media and journalism help the masses in more ways than one: the film shows how journalists risk their lives to deliver the news and other information to keep them informed about the world around them. In terms of investigative journalism, the community benefits from issues that people prefer to keep hidden because it encourages them to constantly question the societal structures that are in place and hold people in power accountable.
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