Events
October 22, 2011
Woodward and Bernstein on campus for Watergate at 40
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, legendary news reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are speaking at Emory for the annual Goodrich C. White Lecture. "Watergate's Impact on Current Day Politics" will be Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Glenn Memorial Auditorium.
A question-and-answer session will follow the discussion, which is free and open to the public. Books with autographed bookplates will be available for purchase at Glenn.
In the early 1970s, Woodward and Bernstein broke the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post, which ultimately brought down Richard Nixon's presidency. Their work set the standard for modern investigative reporting, for which they and the Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Together, Woodward and Bernstein wrote two classic best sellers: "All the President's Men," about their experience covering the Watergate story and "The Final Days," about the denouement of the Nixon presidency.
Bernstein is currently a political analyst for CNN and a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, and is the former Washington Bureau Chief and correspondent for ABC News. He has continued to publish several critically acclaimed books on politics and the American press.
Woodward has remained at The Washington Post since 1971 where he is currently the associate editor. In 2002, he was the lead reporter on the Washington Post team that received the National Affairs Pulitzer Prize for coverage on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Woodward also was awarded the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2003. He has authored or coauthored 15 books, 11 of which have been nonfiction national bestsellers.
Game-changing journalists
"Woodward and Bernstein brought a new energy, a new intensity and a new standard to investigative reporting and had an enormous impact on journalism and on audience expectations of journalists," says Hank Klibanoff, James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism and co-author of "The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation," winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History.
"The immediate impact was to remind journalists at the time that old-fashioned gumshoe investigative reporting, while not glamorous, could have positive social and political impact."
"Less remembered and appreciated is the impact Woodward and Bernstein have had on the national news audience," adds Klibanoff. "Audiences want and expect sophisticated investigative and watchdog reporting. They want accountability and they expect their sources of news to provide it. That's a conditioning we developed in the Woodward and Bernstein era of reporting."
While on campus, Woodward and Bernstein will participate in a student-led discussion with Journalism co-majors and minors.
As is the custom for the Goodrich C. White lecture, they will also be meeting with student and alumni members of the DVS Senior Society, and a small number of faculty members and others.
Endowed by the DVS Senior Society, and cosponsored by the President's Office, the Goodrich C. White Lecture was established in memory of Emory's 14th president, a 1908 graduate of Emory College and later dean of the College and vice president of the University. White served as president from 1942 until retiring in 1957.
