What Role did the press play in the downfall of the Nixon Administration?

Question

It's been suggested that the press is the 4th Branch of the government.

Answer 1

The press broke the story about what really happened at Watergate and who was involved. So it was a major contributor. Watch the movie "All The President's Men"

Answer 2

Nixon did something very wrong and did it very poorly, that is why he was found out. The press merely did the finding out and making sure the American public knew about it. They aren't so much the 4th branch of government as they are another check and balance deal. They are what the American public is supposed to rely on to know what their government is doing so that the power remains with the people and not an eventual dictator.

Answer 3

The press kept the pressure on the Nixon adminstration during the Watergate years. Nixon's people tried to shove the whole issue under the rug, but Woodward and Bernstein (and others) kept the issue front and center until it couldn't be ignored anymore.

The Nixon administration didn't fall because of the press - it fell because they were a bunch of crooks.

Answer 4

Of course it is. They try the people and tell the public what to do with them. The Press convicted Nixon.

Answer 5

The effects of the Watergate scandal did not by any means end with the resignation of President Nixon and the imprisonment of some of his aides. Indirectly, Watergate was the cause of new laws leading to extensive changes in campaign financing. It was a major factor in the passage of amendments to the Freedom of Information Act in 1986, as well as laws requiring new financial disclosures by key government officials.

While not legally required, other types of personal disclosure, such as releasing recent income tax forms, became expected. Presidents since Franklin Roosevelt had recorded many of their conversations, but after Watergate this general practice ended, at least as far as the public knows.

Watergate led to a new era in which the mass media became far more aggressive in reporting on the activities of politicians. For instance, Wilbur Mills, a powerful congressman, was in a drunken driving accident. The incident, similar to others which the press had previously never mentioned, was reported, and Mills soon had to resign. In addition to reporters becoming more aggressive in revealing the personal conduct of key politicians, they also became far more cynical in reporting on political issues. A new generation of reporters, hoping to become the next Woodward and Bernstein, embraced investigative reporting and sought to uncover new scandals in the increasing amounts of financial information being released about politicians and their campaigns.

Since Nixon and many senior officials involved in Watergate were lawyers, the scandal severely tarnished the public image of the legal profession.[1] In order to defuse public demand for direct federal regulation of lawyers (as opposed to leaving it in the hands of state bar associations or supreme courts), the American Bar Association, (ABA) launched two major reforms. First, the ABA decided that its existing Model Code of Professional Responsibility (promulgated 1969) was a failure, and replaced it with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in 1983. The MRPC has been adopted in part or in whole by 44 states. Its preamble contains an emphatic reminder to young lawyers that the legal profession can remain self-governing only if lawyers behave properly. Second, the ABA promulgated a requirement that law students at ABA-approved law schools take a course in professional responsibility (which means they must study the MRPC). The requirement remains in effect.

The Watergate scandals left such an impression on the national and international consciousness that many scandals since then have been labeled with the suffix "-gate" — such as Koreagate, Contragate, Whitewatergate, Travelgate, Rathergate, "Zippergate" or Filegate in the U.S., Tunagate in Canada, Dianagate/Squidgygate and Thatchergate in the UK, and even Pemexgate and Toallagate in Mexico and Narcogate in Argentina. The judging scandal in the pairs event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in which a controversial double gold medal was awarded to Russians Yelena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze and Canadians Jamie Salé & David Pelletier was termed "Skategate". In 2003 a scandal involving a group of Poland's key political figures and a Polish media magnate Lew Rywin was frequently referred to in Polish media as "Rywingate". Other impressions included Colegate, Sheikgate and Edgate.

Answer 6

Hey! They did a great job in exposing that Nut Nixon for what he did in Watergate...Im glad we have our Press to report to us all that is happening ...what we cant see for ourselves..THANK YOU PRESS!!

Answer 7

At that time, the press wanted to inform the people of an injustice that was perpetrated.

Any more, well;(

Answer 8

There's a great article on this topic on this site:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/1999/080499a2.html

Hope that helps!