{"id":7201,"date":"2022-05-02T09:48:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7201"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:43:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:43:27","slug":"cooking-up-corruption-boiling-to-the-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/05\/02\/cooking-up-corruption-boiling-to-the-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooking Up Corruption: Boiling to the Surface"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What lengths will a journalist go in order to expose fraud? Deliver justice? Equal parts drama, mystery and history, \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men\u201d chronicles the chaotic lives of two rookie journalists for the Washington Post. Set in 1976, it is based on real events in American history. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are the duo investigating the link between a White House staff member and the failed bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters. They go up against formidable corruption disguised by status, power and wealth. They unearth a scandal. Does any of this sound familiar yet? This movie has a warning. It is a testament to the First Amendment. And to American democracy as we know it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNo, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I’ll confirm. I’ll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that’s all. Just… follow the money.\u201d Woodward and Bernstein obtain valuable information from an informant within the FBI known as \u201cDeep Throat.\u201d He is instrumental in tracing a slush fund to the Nixon Campaign through a chain of prominent men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The pair deconstruct the Nixon Administration with the power of the free press. Tenacious journalists have the capacity to hold powerful people accountable. Often when others cannot. No one can rise above the law. Not even the president and all of his men.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Breadcrumb-sized clues lead Bernstein and Woodward to a connection between the break-in and a White House staff member. Woodward applies his curious nature to get in on the story. The story unfolds as they ask the right questions. They sleep little in their dogged effort to track down sources. They come up against challenging individuals. And even fewer people who are willing to talk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bernstein and Woodward face disapproval. They are repeatedly told they have nothing to work with. A seasoned editor, Harry Rosenfield, vouches for the journalists. \u201cHoward, they’re hungry. You remember when you were hungry?\u201d This is the heart of Woodward and Bernstein\u2019s efforts. It boils down to delivering the truth, while protecting the freedom of speech that whistleblowers like Deep Throat exercise. Bernstein and Woodward build rapport and trust among their sources. Otherwise, they cannot prove themselves worthy of the story. And the American people would not understand the fraud happening right under their noses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They work at the story for weeks. Rumpled suitcoats, stale cigarettes and black coffee underscore the process. They work against the clock and external forces to polish their story. They take notes on napkins and receipts. They hunt down accuracy. They cannot afford to be wrong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The team knows that incriminating documents were shredded. They go door to door seeking a source to confirm. Bernstein stumbles into the company of a reluctant bookkeeper. She had direct access to the slush fund they\u2019ve scrupulously uncovered. She\u2019s afraid of retribution. The energetic pair coaxes creative yes or no answers from her. Their tireless rapport divulges major information. All the while they remain calm and courteous. They protect their sources and appeal to public interest as they hurtle towards justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chief editor Benjamin Bradlee trusts them to get the story right. It\u2019s why he has lofty standards. The profession demands their accountability, or bust. Their insistent devotion to human detail proves them to be worthy journalists. Their work is about people. Connecting with them, collaborating with them and providing an essential service. American people need government transparency. Woodward and Bernstein safeguard the press. They deliver a story that demands attention and justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A peer journalist, Sally Aiken, provides them with crucial information. When they ask her why she took so long to inform them she said, \u201cI guess I don\u2019t have the taste for the jugular like you guys have.\u201d Our two reporters retain their laser focus to the end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The U.S. is tainted by political conspiracy. The media is often conflagrated by it. Corruption exists among the rich and powerful. It is far more sophisticated in the modern technological age. Illicit activity is often discovered through money trails. Fraud is woven with obstruction of justice, secret tapes and congressional hearings. We see this in the most recent presidential election. The alleged involvement of Russia under the Trump Administration. Similar thought processes occurred in both of these scandals. Sophisticated hacking parallels what occurred in \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men.\u201d But all methods of spyware and infiltration disrupt the country. They influence major political and economical events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Knowledge is a powerful tool in the human arsenal. Conspiracy, corruption and status quo all bleed into the moral structure of our country. Extraordinary journalists bring the truth to the American public. There are powerful people who undermine democracy. They bury covert operations. There are others who boldly deliver the truth. Often at no small cost to their careers and lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This movie portrays the real-life investigation of a decade. It is a genuine message that reverberates through the bones of Americans to this day. The dangers of unchecked power still come boiling head to head with the Constitutional First Amendment. \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men\u201d defines the journalists who stood between the two in the not-so-distant past.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What lengths will a journalist go in order to expose fraud? Deliver justice? Equal parts drama, mystery and history, \u201cAll the President\u2019s Men\u201d chronicles the chaotic lives of two rookie journalists for the Washington Post. Set in 1976, it is based on real events in American history. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are the duo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"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-7201","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\/7201","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\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8140,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7201\/revisions\/8140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}