This is about Watergate, the scandal that threatened America at its core. It is the second of two posts marking the 40th anniversary of two significant national developments. Part one, last Tuesday, highlighted Title IX, the federal law that bans gender-based discrimination in education programs and activities.
On this last day of June 2012, the focus is on Watergate. Imagine how many new millionaires could be minted if there were a jackpot with just one dollar for every word ever written or spoken about Watergate. The 1970s burglary and cover-up was part of a diabolical plan hatched by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP). The Republican committee, headed by men at the highest levels of the Nixon administration, sought to ensure that President Richard M. Nixon would serve another term in the White House.
The plan began to surface on a weekend. It was June 17, 1972 when security guard Frank Willis grew suspicious of tale-tale signs in and around the offices of the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in Watergate, a well-known commercial and residential complex in Washington DC. The break-in caused Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to take an even closer look at what they were discovering in their investigative examination of political rumors and suspicions, facts and fallacies.
Somewhere along the line, the team’s investigation started making connections to various events, before and after the break-in, that began to tie the break-in and the corresponding cover-up to the committee. The story that ensued evolved into a years-long scandal and reached far into the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, CIA and on to the highest levels of the White House.
With all that has been written about Watergate, there are probably a precious few written from the perspective of the journalistic warriors who man America’s newsrooms on weekends. In 1972, I was one of them. Maybe you were also, or perhaps you know one or two weekend newshounds, even now, who are accustomed to sniffing around for an attention-grabbing story to kick off the day‘s news report. If so, you may have heard them jokingly say at one time or another, “Watergate is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Except in the case of a serious emergency, or a very special planned event, most newsrooms operate at 20 to 25 percent of capacity on weekends. During the Watergate scandal, more specifically before the break-in, I was already working weekends in news in preparation for a writer/coordinator-producer position.
The person in this, or a like position, is responsible for selecting stories for the newscast, determining which stories will run and in what order, selecting what writer or reporter will cover which story, talking with the art department about pictures and graphics--all while working closely with the assignment editor regarding developments in story coverage. There is a lot going on, but even with the downward shift of newsroom activity, the weekend newsroom is still the best place for a newcomer to start.
A slow news weekend, however, is purgatory because weekends are usually a time-out for newsmakers. Watergate was the gift that kept on giving because so much of it brought fresh news to weekend newscasts. Every news producer, editor, anchor or reporter loves having fresh news of significance to report right after hello.
For example, imagine if you can, the excitement in newsrooms on the weekend of Watergate’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” Wikipedia refreshed my memory of that scathing weekend event of October 20, 1973. That is when President Nixon demanded the resignation of Attorney General Eliot Richardson, and his deputy William Ruckelshaus, for refusing to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Watergate continued gifting weekend news with primary and secondary stories for years. In all, 43 participants were charged and convicted in cases related to the scandal. President Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974. He and his family left the White House August 9, 1974. It was an intensely electric day for all news operations. On that day, I produced three television newscasts--the noon, 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The drama of seeing the president leaving the White House unfolded in real time on the noon news.
President Nixon, the man responsible for feeding volumes and volumes of news to media of every description on weekdays and weekends, was gone from public life. So far, nothing has come along to equal the strange generosity of Watergate to weekend newsrooms. And that’s a good thing, a very good thing.
### ### ###
On this last day of June 2012, the focus is on Watergate. Imagine how many new millionaires could be minted if there were a jackpot with just one dollar for every word ever written or spoken about Watergate. The 1970s burglary and cover-up was part of a diabolical plan hatched by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP). The Republican committee, headed by men at the highest levels of the Nixon administration, sought to ensure that President Richard M. Nixon would serve another term in the White House.
The plan began to surface on a weekend. It was June 17, 1972 when security guard Frank Willis grew suspicious of tale-tale signs in and around the offices of the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in Watergate, a well-known commercial and residential complex in Washington DC. The break-in caused Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to take an even closer look at what they were discovering in their investigative examination of political rumors and suspicions, facts and fallacies.
Somewhere along the line, the team’s investigation started making connections to various events, before and after the break-in, that began to tie the break-in and the corresponding cover-up to the committee. The story that ensued evolved into a years-long scandal and reached far into the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, CIA and on to the highest levels of the White House.
With all that has been written about Watergate, there are probably a precious few written from the perspective of the journalistic warriors who man America’s newsrooms on weekends. In 1972, I was one of them. Maybe you were also, or perhaps you know one or two weekend newshounds, even now, who are accustomed to sniffing around for an attention-grabbing story to kick off the day‘s news report. If so, you may have heard them jokingly say at one time or another, “Watergate is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Except in the case of a serious emergency, or a very special planned event, most newsrooms operate at 20 to 25 percent of capacity on weekends. During the Watergate scandal, more specifically before the break-in, I was already working weekends in news in preparation for a writer/coordinator-producer position.
The person in this, or a like position, is responsible for selecting stories for the newscast, determining which stories will run and in what order, selecting what writer or reporter will cover which story, talking with the art department about pictures and graphics--all while working closely with the assignment editor regarding developments in story coverage. There is a lot going on, but even with the downward shift of newsroom activity, the weekend newsroom is still the best place for a newcomer to start.
A slow news weekend, however, is purgatory because weekends are usually a time-out for newsmakers. Watergate was the gift that kept on giving because so much of it brought fresh news to weekend newscasts. Every news producer, editor, anchor or reporter loves having fresh news of significance to report right after hello.
For example, imagine if you can, the excitement in newsrooms on the weekend of Watergate’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” Wikipedia refreshed my memory of that scathing weekend event of October 20, 1973. That is when President Nixon demanded the resignation of Attorney General Eliot Richardson, and his deputy William Ruckelshaus, for refusing to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Watergate continued gifting weekend news with primary and secondary stories for years. In all, 43 participants were charged and convicted in cases related to the scandal. President Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974. He and his family left the White House August 9, 1974. It was an intensely electric day for all news operations. On that day, I produced three television newscasts--the noon, 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The drama of seeing the president leaving the White House unfolded in real time on the noon news.
President Nixon, the man responsible for feeding volumes and volumes of news to media of every description on weekdays and weekends, was gone from public life. So far, nothing has come along to equal the strange generosity of Watergate to weekend newsrooms. And that’s a good thing, a very good thing.
### ### ###