All the President's Men Study Guide
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Decades after Richard Nixon resigned the office of the president, Watergate remains one of the
top presidential scandals of modern time. Early in the morning on June 17, 1972, police
discovered five intruders inside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The
burglars were there, it turned out, to adjust bugging equipment they had installed during a May
break-in and to photograph the Democrats' documents.
The Watergate investigation brought fame to The Washington Post and the reporting team of
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The duo unraveled a web of political spying and sabotage
that had all the elements of a Hollywood saga. In the end, after 40 government officials were
indicted and a president resigned, many would conclude that the system of checks and balances
worked. Yet, the triangular relationship between public officials, the media and the public was
altered forever.
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 is the importance of newspaper reporters keeping their sources confidential? What
are the problems with it? Use examples from the film to support your response.
3. What personality traits made them good watchdogs of the government? (3+ sentences)
4. How would you characterize Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting process? In what way
did their actions model good journalism? (3+ sentences)
5. 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:
What lessons does The Washington Post’s coverage of Watergate provide to journalists
and the news media today? (4+ sentences)
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)