WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN

Scott, Foreign Editor: It's a dangerous story for this paper.
Ben Bradlee: How dangerous?
Scott, Foreign Editor: Well, it's not that we're using nameless sources that bothers me. Or that everything we print, the White House denies. Or that no other papers are reprinting our stuff.
Howard Simons: What then?
Scott, Foreign Editor: Look, there are two thousand reporters in this town, are there five on Watergate? When did the Washington Post suddenly get the monopoly on wisdom? Why would the republicans do it? McGovern's self-destructed just like Humphries, Muskie, the bunch of them. I don't believe this story. It doesn't make sense.

The story and the dialogue emanate from All the Presidents Men (the 1976 Oscar winning movie) based on the same book title by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Woodward and Bernstein are considered to be two of the finest investigative reporters of all time. When the Watergate burglary occurred in 1972, most of the American media downplayed the event. Bernstein and Woodward took the matter seriously and persevered with the investigation. And, just as the movie dialogue indicates, their actions did not make a lot of sense. However, their efforts paid off as they uncovered one of the biggest scandals in American politics.

Last night, I had the honor of meeting Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Woodward at a charity event. Our dialogue had nothing to do with investigative reporting, but the conversation was lively and engaging. Our individual takes on White House "going-ons " comes from a collective view of both inside domestic (mine) and outside observations and interviews. This is one conversation I will not soon forget.