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35 years ago, five men were caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel. The burglary would give Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein the story of a lifetime, and help change the role of the press. Alicia Shepard, author of a new book on Watergate, discusses the fact & fiction of "Woodstein."
Alicia Shepard made an excellent point comparing the Wiretapping story to Watergate. Media today could not "break" a Watergate. That seems to be the real lesson of Watergate..
http://www.apfn.net/Messageboard/06-07-05/discussion.cgi.54.html
The media today couldn't repeat Watergate because of 24 hour cable news/infotainment cycle. The story would be lead off on a tangent to no where. In the days of the dominance of three broadcast TV networks and newspapers, the story would have a relatively smooth trajectory. Unlike today, cable would interview everybody and every political spin master. Today the news consumer get subjected opinion and not objective reporting. It is more entertainment than concise delivery of information.The fourth branch of government resembles stand-up comedy than bon-a-fide news.
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