Question

What are two important events or changes in the history of journalism? Describe them.

Answer 1

1) Breaking the Watergate story- After the break-in to the Democratic National Convention building, investigative reports began to research who was involved behind this break-in. This lead to one of the biggest journalistic events in US history. Thanks to the work of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, President Richard Nixon was exposed as being aware of this break-in and actually had a part in organizing it. This news story shocked America, as a president has never been linked to such an incident.

2) Release of the Pentagon Papers- These previously classified documents were released by different newspaper organizations (like the New York Times and Washington Post). This showed that the government had been lying to the American public about the progress being made in the Vietnam War.