Introduction
On June 17, 1972, Americans woke up to the news of several burglars arrested in the Democratic Nation Committee (DNC) offices located in the Watergate building. The robbery, later named the Watergate scandal, was highly linked to President Richard Nixon because he took part in protecting people suspected of committing the crime. Several media houses and bloggers covered the scandal giving different views on the issue. News coverage of the Watergate scandal impacted the views of Americans on politics and politicians differently. The following essay analyzes two articles that described the conduct of President Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal and discusses the effect of press coverage about the issue on American politics and politicians. The paper also analyzes the impact of modern technologies when it comes to covering political events.
Thesis statement: Politicizing current events in the press made the public gain negative attitudes towards American politicians and politics based on contradicting information presented by different media companies about President Nixon about his involvement in the Watergate scandal.
Summary of arguments made in articles
Dean Burch, the author of The Harvard Crimson and assistance in the president's office, wrote to the American citizens criticizing the information written by the Chicago Tribune about President Richard Nixon's connection with the Watergate scandal. The author wrote to defend Nixon from allegations that he took part in planning and execution of the Watergate scandal. According to Burch (1974), The Chicago Tribune had no right to publish the article calling for the resignation of the President because he did what any other leader would do to protect and safeguard the presidency and the name of the country. In the president's defense, Burch argued that the conclusions to have the President impeached were arrived at through a shoddy interpretation of the transcript because the Tribune only concentrated on phrases where Nixon seemed to protect the prowlers attached to the scandal. However, the author did not hesitate to criticize the Chicago Tribune for not asking for Nixon’s resignation based on other conversations that had more impact on the nation’s stability (Burch, 1974).
The second article came from the Washington Post and focused on the unfinished business of the Watergate scandal. The article analyzed Mr. Nixon's speech made on May 2, 1973; that was meant to clarify issues associated with the Watergate scandal. The author accused the Presidency of not concentrating on competencies of people holding offices but rather select bearers based on their past relationship with the President. The President's speech would test his loyalty to the nation and actions he would take to people engaged with inappropriate activities in the office. Nixon made a good decision to remove some of his close friends from the office and put others under investigation for the Watergate scandal (Anonymous, 1973). However, the author argued that the President’s speech remains the “Unfinished business” because the investigation presented in the speech lacked integrity and the public expected the president to act more than just suspending people and putting them under federal investigation (Anonymous, 1973).
The view of Burch has a great impact on the reader’s understanding of the Watergate scandal. The author makes the reader realize that the president did nothing wrong protecting criminals involved in the Watergate scandal. Moreover, the author makes the reader think that the Chicago Tribunal played politics when they asked for Nixon’s resignation since it was a long-time supporter of the President’s party. The second article from the Washington Post impacts the reader’s knowledge on the role of government officials in misusing public resources. The author terms the President’s speech incomplete because it did not fulfill expectations of the public regarding the Watergate scandal.
View of American politics and politicians in the post-Watergate era
The Watergate scandal changed the United States’ political landscape and culture to the present era. Americans viewed politics and politicians as objects of power guided by personal gains and not the interests of the people. Nixon and the Chief of Staff, Haldeman H.R. were heard conspiring with the FBI and the CIA to stop the investigation a week after the burglary took place. Moreover, the President continued to retain some of his top officials associated with the scandal despite the call by policymakers and the public to have them resign. People lost hope and trust with politicians and other public officials. Moreover, consequences of the Watergate scandal experienced during the post-Watergate era reveals that even good leaders worshiped politics and could not maintain their dignities for the purpose of re-election into power. On the other hand, the press started taking sides while covering various politicians. The type of press coverage experienced in America depends on whose side the press company likes.
The coverage of the Watergate scandal in the present age of social media and smartphones
The main reason why some media houses seemed to offer support or criticize the president's decision was that they lacked the view of the public. The coverage of the matter would be totally different today with social media and Smartphones acting as judges. People would raise concerns to either have the President impeached upon receiving news about the scandal. Moreover, the press would be more aggressive when publishing their articles using the power of the social media where everyone has a chance to view and comment on the issue. However, the coverage would not have lasted for long because people in the social media keep engaging in activities as they occur. The introduction of these technologies has their benefits and harms. Social media and Smartphone technologies tend to exaggerate events making people create negative perspectives on things written covered by the press. The type of comments made on these posts determines how readers and followers of specific social media channels understand the article.
Conclusion
The Watergate scandal represents one of the many events that demonstrated how politics and politicians manage the press. The type of information presented in two articles contradicts the leadership and actions of President Nixon. One author tries to defend him while the other reveals his leadership flaws. The information presented by the press has a significant influence on the view of citizens. Most Americans lost hope and trust with politics and politicians based on how the press presented them. However, modern communication technologies provide an avenue for the public to judge current events and present their views before being published in the media.
References
Anonymous. (1973, May 1). Editorial: Watergate: The unfinished business. The Washington
Post Co. Retrieved September 05, 2016, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/050173-2.htm
Burch, D. (1974, may 14). In defense of Richard Nixon. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved
September 05, 2016 from http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/5/14/in-defense-of-richard-nixon-pithe/?page=single
