Would "Deep Throat's" story be printed by the Washington Post today?

In 1972, Woodward and Bernstein and their editors at the Washington Post, published the politically charged story of the Watergate break-in. Their efforts were heroic although the men behind it were probably motivated by the same instincts that motivate us all at one time or another; the quest for recognition, the quest for fortune, and the quest to do something memorable. If you have ever seen the movie version of their efforts, "All the President's Men", then you know a variation of what they went through to get the story and more importantly to get the story published. But as I've watched the media scramble around doing everything in its power to avoid asking politicians and powerbrokers the tough questions, I have to wonder if the story would have seen the light of day in today's political climate.
Let's set aside for a moment, the prospects of legal challenge and accountability for using unnamed sources to get a major news story. After all, see what happened to Dan Rather and CBS news for failing to double and triple check their sources who did allow themselves to be named. Rather let's examine whether or not, any mainstream news organization is willing to still put itself in the jeopardy by invoking the foundation of journalistic reporting.
At the heart of journalism, is a simple command:

• Be objective
• Ask a question
• Get an answer
• Dig deeper for a more thorough answer
• Report what you find for the enlightment of society.

It sounds rather simplistic and naive but given the failure of today's media to follow this simple construct it must be more difficult than we imagine at first glance.

Ask yourself; when was the last time that you truly felt you got the whole story from the evening news? When did you last feel that you had a complete understanding of a situation or issue where the reporter and the report was unbiased? Whether you're listening to Fox News or Air America, the reporters like Woodward and Bernstein have been replaced by pundits and talking heads whose only goal is to placate the public and to advance their point of view. By their point of view, I am not referring to the individual but rather to the corporation that supports the individual.

How sad that a country that purports to stand for "Freedom", particularly freedom of the press has instead allowed the press to be bought and sold and bought again not because we don't know any better but because we (the public) are willing to accept so much less.

Since this initial posting Mark Felt has come forward (30+ years after the fact) and his decision has focused new attention on the story. But unlike the original Deep Throat story, today's story is about who will profit--who will have the best-selling book--get the biggest advance, etc. Unfortunately, the "seek the truth" journalism that inspired the original story will not be a factor this time around. Today's media can't risk seeking the truth.

The dying dream of democracy

The Democratic process relies on three elements to succeed: its citizens, its elected officials and its media. On January 6, 2005 all three let Democracy down. In a few years, I believe Americans will look back on this date as the the day that Democracy was put on life support. 

For the millions of Americans who took time away from watching television and reading the big news about the President's new puppy, they will see it as the day that the democratic process was reviled by its own leadership, cast aside in favor of partisan posturing and ignored by the press. This date is the day we became a nation that "saw no evil, heard no evil but spoke only evil. "

January 6, 2005 the debate to uphold Americans' right to vote was belittled by Republicans and abandoned by Democrats. For a small majority of Americans, people like me, it will be this generations "aha" political moment. My earliest political memory is of the Watergate scandal and of the resignation Richard Nixon. The cynicism that gripped Americans led to an apathy among voters from which we have yet to recover. Less than 50% of our citizenry bother to vote and now that the Democrats have shown themselves all but unelectable I fear the numbers will grow even smaller...but will anyone care. 

While Hilary Clinton, John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy stood on the sidelines, only Senator Barbara Boxer had the strength of her convictions to stand up and ask "why". Why is it that the world's leading democracy cannot accurately and with confidence assure that the voting process is valid for all of its citizens. One Senator out of 44.

The media covered the story with no probative journalism in evidence and simply accepted the spin put out by the majority party, the Republicans. I have seen no editorial denouncement of the comments made by members of the House and Senate about their own constituents. Comments like "X-Files, conspiracy theorists, etc" designed to marginalize the very real concerns that many of their fellow citizens were in fact denied the right to vote on November 2, 2004. Even the simple act of putting an accurate face on the charges, if only to refute them, would have been better than their real and determined decision to ignore the story outright.

I cannot imagine what will happen over the next few years if we remain silent or if we speak out. It doesn't appear that anyone is listening!