Professors revisit Watergate

BY MIKE UNGER

Deep Throat once again has Washington—and the AU community—in a tizzy.

The revelation that the FBI's former No. 2 man, W. Mark Felt, was the famed anonymous source who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein shed light on Watergate, transported those who lived through the scandal back to the early 1970s, when the country was riveted by the daily twists and turns of an epic political soap opera the likes of which has not been seen since.

Lewis Wolfson, AU professor emeritus of communication, served as the Providence Journal 's bureau chief in the capital from 1963 to 1969, becoming entrenched in official Washington. In 1974, after joining the AU faculty, he published, through the university in association with the National Press Club, a study of the relationship between President Richard Nixon's administration and the press.

“For those of us who went through this, it's really fascinating,” Wolfson said. “It was the most dramatic political story you'd ever want to see. Washington was just engulfed in this. People would rush out to get their newspapers every day to find out what was going to happen next.”

Wolfson interviewed more than 25 members of the Washington press corps and Nixon administration officials for the report, the results of which were published by the Post . Among the conclusions he came to was that the manner in which the administration dealt with the Fourth Estate contributed to its demise. In August 1974, Nixon became the only president to resign from office.

“The contempt that some members of this administration have shown for the role of a free press has in good measure visited this tragedy upon them and upon the country,” the report states. “Had there been more access to officials, more frankness in government, more honest dialogue about the press' role instead of harangues on its failings, restraints might have been set on the secretive instincts of the officials who created a web of covert political operations that led to their downfall.”

Wolfson believes that Felt's self-outing opens a fresh Watergate chapter—complete with new questions.

“I don't think [Deep Throat's identity] was personally that important to me,” Wolfson said. “It becomes important for the reasons why he did it. Now we're going to find out much more detail about the threat to the FBI Felt felt. It's very obvious to me that the immediate argument is he did it for the right reasons. There were plenty of personal feelings about that but he knew he couldn't trust anyone. He knew there wasn't anyone in the administration who could help him blow the whistle because they were all going to have the whistle blown on them.”

The shocking divulgement of Deep Throat was more than just a piece of fabulously delicious gossip to School of Communication journalist in residence Alicia Shepard. When she heard the news, she was returning from an interview for the cultural biography she's writing about the lives, friendships, and careers of Woodward and Bernstein.

“I wasn't going to believe it until Bob Woodward confirmed it,” she said. “I feel like this has been as crazy a week for me as any of the people who are closer to it. I don't know how this will affect [the book]. Now that it's out, I feel strongly that people need to make a distinction between the mythical Deep Throat and the human being. Mark Felt had a limited role in Watergate. He certainly was a good source for the Post , but there were investigations involved, judges, the Supreme Court, the Senate. He was important, but I think people are [taken] with the sexy name.”

SOC professor John Watson always uses Deep Throat as a case study when examining with students in his journalism ethics class questions surrounding confidential sources. This fall those discussions will have increased vigor.

“In ethics, perhaps maybe once or twice in your entire professional life will you come into a situation where your morality might trump your ethics,” Watson said. “I think that with Deep Throat, the ethics would say don't talk to the press about this, but his morality, looking at the subversion of justice at the highest levels, the ethics have to be set aside for the larger morality. Journalists have to make that decision too. It's a perfect example of morality trumping ethics. Of course, Deep Throat comes out a hero.”

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