The Introduction
With regard to the significance of news media coverage and the impacts that it has within a given society, the “Watergate” scandal is one of the epitomic and prominent examples which speak to the thought.
To provide proper background information, the Watergate scandal was an incident in which a group of men illegally encroached upon the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters to acquire information and sabotage the efforts of Democratic Presidential Candidate, George McGovern, to aid the current President at the time, Richard Nixon. During the time, there were a plethora of news outlets and sources which dispersed information and narratives that ultimately spoke in President Nixon’s support or opposition as to his involvement in the crime. This resulted in large numbers of people of all groups promoting and believing his innocence or emphatically supporting the notion that he was also guilty.
Due to the circulation of evidence, Nixon became the first President since Andrew Johnson to be the subject of impeachment by Congress. Although he was not voted out by the Senate, he did resign in the midst of the controversy before he could formally be impeached. He also became the first President to have been removed in the wake of an impeachment.
To better define and determine the presence of the effect of the coverage on this event, there will be further elaboration on the actual crime event and the implications of the news media, through a strain theoretical approach, disseminating the idea that President Nixon was guilty and spreading the idea that he was innocent.
The Strain Theoretical Analysis of The Crime Event
Before elaborating onto the factor in which the media played within the Watergate scandal, the actual crime event is something that must be further dissected.
When taking into consideration the crime committed in this instance, the strain theory is the key concept of interest at hand. In June 1972, 5 men were arrested by the police after having been discovered placing bugging devices at the Democratic National Convention’s headquarters in the Watergate office complex (Feldstein, 2007). Not only that, but these same men were, as stated within the same source, “…turned out to be part of a wide-ranging political espionage and sabotage operation run by the Nixon campaign—eventually unraveled a much larger White House cover-up directed by the President himself, one that would lead to his resignation in disgrace twenty-six months later.” (Feldstein, 2007).
Both of these pieces of information are critical, with regard to strain theory, because the crimes of burglary and conspiracy within the scandal were pertaining towards reaching a desired outcome without less focus on the conduct being legal.
In fact, given that there were several people caught placing bugging devices, there was a deliberate attempt from those involved in achieving the desired outcome(s) through illegal means. Furthermore, the crimes (which include the bugging and planning behind the event) line up directly with the description of strain theory.
How did the news media promote President Nixon’s innocence?
Now that the crime event, itself, has been discussed, it is pertinent and necessary to talk about the impact of the news media. There were many different ideas, thoughts, and beliefs held in regard to the Watergate scandal. The fact that there were some news media sources that promoted the narrative of Nixon’s innocence, some which spoke to his guilt, and some that spoke to the news not being as great of a factor later on in time are evidence of the degree of the pluralism theory involved within the equation.
However, let’s take the narrative of President Nixon’s innocence to first start. The main point or overall line of interest in his defense, provided within the news stories, was that Watergate was a means of removing Nixon from presidency, despite having not committed any crimes.
One of the notable figures within the news media to help push this concept was a columnist by the name of Victor Lasky. Throughout his work(s), he promoted the idea of a “rampaging media” and the charges brought against him were attempts at “political assassination. He also went on to state that, “The press “sought to disembowel” Nixon and blow Watergate “into hysterical proportions,” Lasky asserted, a conspiracy that successfully culminated in “regicide.” (Feldstein, 2007).
This particular quote is something to keep in mind because it is evidence and speaks to a proposed agenda present at the time to expand the magnitude of Watergate beyond what may or was actually the case. It must also be noted that the term “regicide” is of interest because it speaks to the consideration that the author of the statement has for Nixon; and this same regard, as well as the belief that he was innocent and the issue was expanded beyond reason, was promoted to the greater public.
Although those were the words of one particular source (or person rather), these same considerations and sentiments were shared by another like-minded author and figure in the media, Paul Johnson.
Similar to Lasky, he went on to also say, “This “Watergate witch-hunt” was “run by liberals in the media” and became “the first media Putsch in history, as ruthless and anti-democratic as any military coup.” (Feldstein, 2007). Like the last quote, this is worthy of noting because it speaks to the support of Nixon’s innocence and the idea that there is a malicious intent to remove him from office. Even further, Johnson is promoting the idea that liberals, specifically, are leading a wrong charge and are no less dangerous or detrimental than a blatant and outright takeover.
As to speak to the impact that the news sources that disseminated the message of Nixon’s innocence had on the larger society, it becomes evident, to some degree, through a particular graph (Figure 1) within the larger study explained within “The Impact of Watergate on the Public’s Trust in People and Confidence in the Mass Media”. Within Figure 1, it appears that the Presidential vote for all Nixon voters and college-educated Nixon voters initially start off really high at 61% and 72% respectively (Zimmer, 1979).
While the percentage decreases over time to 49% for the total population and 59% for the college-educated population, there is a period following that in which they ascend back up to the high points.
This is also something of importance because it is an indication that, at the very least, a certain amount of the society believed Nixon was innocent (61% of the total and 67% of the college-educated population). Even after there was some doubt to this claim, there was enough reaffirmation on the part of the news sources speaking in favor of Nixon to the point that there was an increasing consideration that he was innocent.
How did the news media spread President Nixon being guilty? How did this affect the U.S society?
Though there were some sources within the news media which sought to spread Nixon’s innocence amongst the public, this is very much the case for those expressing Nixon’s guilt in relation to the Watergate crimes. This same side also had its fair share of notable figures which advanced this claim and idea through many works and stories.
Two standout examples to this particular event are Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The reporter duo became essential during the time because they were the first ones to report on the scandal, even before most of the other news outlets did the same.
One of their more prominent works was a book titled “All the President’s Men” which was so profound that it eventually became a movie. Nonetheless, the content is the real focus because it was about and placed emphasis on connecting the burglary to the Nixon Administration and the re-election campaign (Feldstein, 2014).
The efforts of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are very significant because they were the initial voices for the idea that Nixon was related and also guilty of the crimes committed at Watergate. Furthermore, it led the way for other outlets in the media to also report on the matter (whether in support or opposition of Nixon) and fostered the information and narratives for the greater society.
Although Woodward and Bernstein’s efforts were important when considering the news media and the society, there is another way of consideration in which the narrative of Nixon’s guilt was valuable. As mentioned within the previously, these two lead the charge for the focus of the news media throughout the country on the Watergate incident. However, perhaps, even beyond these impacts, “The news media’s most important accomplishment in the first five months after the break-in was simply keeping the story alive, via the fitful disclosure of fragments from the FBI’s investigation.” (Holland, 2012).
It isn’t definite or set in stone as to whether the news media (those that focused on Nixon’s guilt) influenced the Watergate trial. At the same time, it must be noted that, in the midst of all the details and information being divulged to the public and throughout the country, all 5 men pleaded guilty with 2 of them being convicted by the jury. (Select committee on presidential campaign activities.). All of this is important to the topic because, even though there were news media outlets on both sides, President Nixon’s connection to the 5 men severely affected the public trust.
With all the information that became known through FBI investigations, coupled with the entire group pleading guilty, it became very unlikely that he was innocent.
At the time, this was very evident due to the fact that, after Nixon resigned, “Only 38 percent of eligible voters went to the polls in 1974, the lowest turnout in more than thirty years. According to Republican pollster Robert Teeter, the party ended the year with the allegiance of only 19 percent of voters.” (Nevin, 2017).
The greater significance when considering the loss of support, which impacted the entire Republican Party within the quote, is that this converted to loss of public faith and trust within the government as a whole. In fact, the repercussions were so impactful that the public skepticism about the government has carried over and exists to this very day.
The Conclusion
In conclusion to the elaboration on the crime within Watergate scandal and the news media coverage throughout time, it is evident that the news media played a vital role. As far as the crime in itself goes, it is an example within strain theory because of the fact that there were illegal means of trying to attain the desired goals.
With regard to the coverage, the news media was able to reach out to many within society. As a result (speaking based on the outlets which advanced Nixon’s innocence), there were a plethora of people, even after the details of the burglary and the release of information from the investigation, who believed that Nixon was innocent; which speaks to the influence of media presence.
On the flip side, the news media which promoted Nixon’s guilt also was a factor because it prevented the occurrence from being swept under the table by placing more and more light on it. As there was more and more condemning evidence available and the results of the trial were made known, it negatively implicated Nixon within the scandal. It’s difficult to say if the media had a direct influence on the case; however, all 5 men arrested pleaded guilty and Nixon resigned (making him the first President having been removed from office in the presence of an impeachment).
This implication, coupled with his resignation, ultimately cultivated a new or, at the very least, greater sense of skepticism and mistrust of the public for the government.
It is this same sense of skepticism and mistrust which we see in the present day, which speak to the profound impact on news media and their coverage within the Watergate scandal.
Works Cited
- Feldstien, M. (2007). Media Coverage and a Federal Grand Jury: Publication of the Secret Watergate Transcripts (1973). American Journalism, 24(2), 7–33.
- Feldstein, M. (2014). Wallowing in Watergate: Historiography, Methodology, and Mythology in Journalism’s Celebrated Moment. American Journalism, 31(4), 550–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2014.968946
- Holland, M. (2012). Watergate reconsidered: the press’ role was important in unearthing the scandal, but it wasn’t nearly as overarching as earlier assessments suggested. American Journalism Review, 34(2), 40.
- NEVIN, M. (2017). Nixon Loyalists, Barry Goldwater, and Republican Support for President Nixon during Watergate. Journal of Policy History, 29(3), 403–430. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0898030617000173
- Select committee on presidential campaign activities. (2020, November 23). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/watergate.htm#:~:text=On%20January%2010%2C%201973%2C%20the,were%20convicted%20by%20a%20jury.
- Zimmer, T. A. (1979). The Impact of Watergate on the Public’s Trust in People and Confidence in the Mass Media. Social Science Quarterly (University of Texas Press), 59(4), 743–751.
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