Investigative journalism is one crucial part of reporting the progress of the country under the regime of the elected president and representatives in the government. Investigative reporters or journalists play an essential role by giving news and information every single day. They write good and bad news, for people to be informed and aware of what is happening in the whole country.
The Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward discovers that the man Hunt- mentioned in the belongings of two of the Watergate building burglars- worked for the CIA. As a result of his hard work, he and Carl Bernstein, are given the story (K.M. Weiland, 2015). All the President’s Men talks about the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon’s resignation because these two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, investigated, exposed the details, and uncovered secrets of some political figures involved in the scandal way back 1972. Woodward and Bernstein work doggedly to acquire facts and reliable information from their target sources and in the end, they were able to expose the conspiracy and crack the case. As investigative journalists, they sure are expected to provide the truth and let people understand the truth about people from the government and other entities who keep illegal activities secret or their malpractices. “They show how individual wrongs are part of a larger pattern of negligence or abuse and the systems that make these possible. They examine where the system went wrong and show who suffer from the mistakes” (Coronel, n.d.). These two reporters started from scratch and only had knowledge about what they have heard from someone or somewhere, which driven their curious minds to make an in-depth investigation. Woodward as the first one to make the first step wrote an article which helped them out in finding few names. They made phone calls from several target sources but practically got rejected and denied. To get information, Bernstein even flirted with a personal assistant and tricked a secretary for him to get in the office of the Dade County Clerk. While Woodward, who was able to find an anonymous source, who goes by the name “Deep Throat” and has somehow helped their investigation eventually. This film conveys a theme which is the limitations of investigating and reporting of journalistic practices, which supports an argument where journalist should never reveal their sources even to their fellow writers and to the editors. As seen from the different scenes on the movie, Woodward and Bernstein sometimes have their own way on interviewing and sometimes join forces to interview some of their target sources. Ethically, they made interviews and gained information that they constantly checked what the facts are and for them to, of course maintain their credibility and to avoid conflict. Journalists are being shown here as persistent people, who keep asking questions even if they get denied, they’ll come back and try asking people again and again. And because of that, Woodward and Bernstein were more driven as their interviewees slowly kept on giving them bits of information and also, these sources asked for their anonymity to assure their safety.
Aside from their phones being bugged, they even got their lives on the line and received threats from people whom they are investigating. These characters really possess the skills of a great investigative journalist, from having the enough courage to conduct investigation on this phenomenal scandal in the U.S. Their passion, initiative and discretion, their good research skills, team spirit were all felt and seen in the film; the citizenship that they hold and value as people of the United States. Investigative journalism in this film would make people think that through the efforts of journalists like Woodward and Bernstein, even a single act of illegal activity by an individual who is in position in power could really change their views about the government and other entities that may be involved. The Watergate scandal is an example of the future journalists’ endeavour in investigating and solving cases that should be undertaken through an in-depth investigation.
The actors played their role effectively and conveyed strong emotions and brought the script into reality. The musical elements of the film were also effective where some actions were enhanced, like the scene where Woodward kept on minding his way— where should be his direction and he had this feeling like he’s being followed by someone. The background music was intense and has set the mood of the scenario. The visual elements took place in every scenario of the film, knowing that this was filmed in the 1970s, props way back then is simple and technology was just in the developing state. Reporters have these typewriters used for encoding their news and articles and their costumes are appropriate though they were old-fashioned.
Moreover, this just goes to show that anyone can be a criminal and not just those people. Criminals that can be from any group, no matter the color or economic background. Some try to give crime a certain color, but as we see it, it’s not always what we think.
