Watergate Scandal Reassessed: Mass Media’s Watchdog Role and Its Impact on American Political System

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Abstract: Having  successful  first  term,  President  Nixon  and  his  advisers  worried  about reelection.  They  organized  strategy  to  win  the  1972  reelection.  The  tactics  he constructed brought him to get involved in the one of the biggest US constitutional crises,  the  Watergate  Scandal.  Bob  Woodward  and  Carl  Bernstein  performed media  muckraking  concerning  the  issue.  This  led  to  the  final  judgment,  his presidential  impeachment  in  1974.  Forty  years  after  President  Nixon’s resignation, there remain questions on how important  was the  role of journalism in  bringing  him  down  and  how  have  journalism  and  politics  changed  after  the scandal.  Undeniably  the  case  has brought significant  impacts  on  journalism  and how journalists work today. This paper aims to reassess the scandal and provide the  impacts  on  media  and  journalism  and  public’s  perception  of  American government  which  play  part  in  defining  the  U.S.  political  system.  Finally  the author  calls  for  the  United  Nation  to  encourage  initiatives  to  strengthen  the capacity building of investigative journalism throughout the world. 
Keywords: President  Nixon,  the  Watergate  Scandal,  impeachment,  journalism, Bob  Woodward  and  Carl  Bernstein,  media  muckraking,  the  U.S. political system, investigative journalism
Author: Salieg Luki Munestri
Journal Code: jpkomunikasigg140002

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