{"id":6555,"date":"2021-04-09T09:52:04","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T13:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6555"},"modified":"2025-08-23T18:52:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:52:05","slug":"a-battle-for-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/04\/09\/a-battle-for-the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"A Battle for the Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine a world where nobody questioned widespread beliefs. Asking the tough questions is a big sacrifice. The truth sets people free. On the other hand, whoever seeks the truth threatens power. If that power comes from a lie, that power will try to silence the truth. This is the ugly battle behind good journalism. \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men,\u201d a film about the Watergate Scandal, tells the story of one such battle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Movie poster for “All the President’s Men”.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The film begins at night on June 17, 1972. Five men quietly walk into the Watergate Office Building. The film shows the halls dark and empty. The footsteps echo. No music plays in the background to help the viewer predict what will happen. The men sneak into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the building. The intense silence beckons the viewer to watch closely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The police catch the men. The five criminals go to court for committing burglary. Bob Woodward, a journalist for the Washington Post, attends the court hearing. The newspaper sent him to write a story on the case. Little does he or the public know the reason for the crime. It will unfold into one of the biggest political scandals exposed in the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Woodward questioned the case critically. He quickly saw that the burglars wouldn’t have broken into the DNC for themselves. The DNC doesn\u2019t have the goods that normal burglars want. Carl Bernstein, another journalist for the Washington Post, helped with the story. \u201cI just think it\u2019s obvious with all that money and equipment that they weren\u2019t out to, you know, work by themselves,\u201d Bernstein said in the film. \u201cSomebody hired them!\u201d Bernstein researched and gave Woodward some crucial contacts. The contacts came from the address books of the burglars.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Woodward called to find out about the contacts, he quickly met resistance. Over the phone, people answered Woodward\u2019s questions openly at first. Later, they said their previous statements came from poor memory or human error. Then they hung up. This pattern continued throughout the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People involved in the crime hid what they knew for many reasons. As the story unfurled, the reporters found that those involved were high up in government. One of those many people who shut out the two reporters said in the film, \u201cYou think you can come into my home, ask a few questions, have me destroy the reputations of men that I work for and respect? Do you understand loyalty? Have you ever heard of loyalty?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Those who gave information to the reporters did so under much fear. As workers for a corrupt government scandal, the government could punish them for betrayal. If they got caught spilling information, no one could protect them. What the government would do to them would be branded as legal. Many believe that such political scandals happen today in this country. It\u2019s easy to judge those who may have been involved. Many forget that those who get into such things, as in the film, often feel trapped. They may have been good people at first. Then, evil people pressured them into a crime. After that, their careers, money or even their families are at risk if they expose their actions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Those who knew of the scandal knew the government would deny any truth that leaked out. \u201cI can understand you being afraid,\u201d Bernstein said to a woman he interviewed, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in the committee just like you who want to tell the truth. But some people wouldn\u2019t listen.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The two reporters searched hard for the truth. They got turned down on their requests to interview again and again. It was difficult, but they made sure they could get multiple confirmations for their facts. They often went through long lists of names. Throughout the vast city of Washington, D.C., they would search for people who would talk. The people they interviewed couldn\u2019t tell them much. Over the course of the film, they got good at getting confirmations indirectly. They had to do it to protect their sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early in their work on the story, Woodward got an informant codenamed \u201cDeep Throat.\u201d Many years after the story came out, Deep Throat\u2019s identity became known. He worked high up in the FBI, and that\u2019s how he got information. In a dark, empty parking garage, Woodward would meet Deep Throat to ask questions. They met early in the morning. Deep Throat wouldn\u2019t give much information to Woodward. If Deep Throat said too much, he could compromise his secret identity. Instead, he confirmed what Woodward gave him. \u201cIn a conspiracy like this,\u201d Deep Throat once said to Woodward, \u201cyou build from the outer edges in. You go step by step.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before they wrote their conclusion story, they knew people watched them. To connect each other’s final pieces of the puzzle, the two reporters had to be secret. Woodward played music loud in Bernstein\u2019s apartment. This assured that no one could hear what the men did. The two reporters took turns typing their new facts on a typewriter. After that, they met their editor, Ben Bradlee, late at night. They asked to talk to him outside his house, due to \u201celectronic surveillance.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The two reporters shared the astounding scope of what they discovered. In reaction, Bradlee said, \u201cYou guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home. Get a nice hot bath. Rest up: 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bradlee sent them to the Washington Post newsroom early in the morning. That same day, former President Nixon got sworn into his second term. In the film, the ceremony played on TV while the reporters typed up their articles on the story. It showed how well those reporters knew that the other media were wrong about former President Nixon. They exposed the facts about who was involved and where the money went. The Watergate burglary was a small part of a bigger agenda. Former President Richard Nixon ran a secret operation to sabotage the Democratic candidates. That was the Watergate Scandal. As many know, these articles later led to former President Nixon\u2019s resignation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The power of the press, as shown in the film, can overthrow power set in the wrong hands. Ben Bradlee, Bernstein and Woodward\u2019s executive editor, said of their articles, \u201cNot that there\u2019s a lot riding on this. Only the First Amendment and Freedom of the Press and maybe the future of our democracy.\u201d Free speech, enshrined in the United States Constitution, allows the press to keep the government in check. Without the First Amendment, Bernstein and Woodward could not have shared the truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Freedom of speech does not mean that the truth always wins. As in Woodward and Bernstein\u2019s story, people will always need to fight for it. But, with the First Amendment, once the truth is found, it can spread and liberate people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you love the freedom that comes from truth, do not miss out on \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men.\u201d The film takes the viewer on a journey with two brave, unlikely heroes. They freed the country by challenging the common narrative. It will inspire you to live more like they did. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine a world where nobody questioned widespread beliefs. Asking the tough questions is a big sacrifice. The truth sets people free. On the other hand, whoever seeks the truth threatens power. If that power comes from a lie, that power will try to silence the truth. This is the ugly battle behind good journalism. \u201cAll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8294,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555\/revisions\/8294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}