The Watergate Scandal marks one of the most shameful events in the history of the United States government. Yet as shocking and disappointing as the episode was, it taught us an important lesson: to look beyond the surface and question everything. Bob Woodward, one of the two journalists who played a crucial role in exposing the scandal, spoke at Tufts yesterday to remind us that although Watergate occurred over 30 years ago, it is imperative that the spirit of investigation, of finding out the truth no matter how difficult that may be, survives in the modern world.
Many people have different opinions about the perfect model of a government, but there is a common denominator among all of them. Governments should serve and protect their citizens, and that includes being honest with them. The idea of a secret government, a government that acts behind the scenes without the knowledge of its constituents, is an unsettling yet far too familiar concept. During his lecture, Woodward remarked starkly that "democracies die in darkness," meaning that these so−called secret governments have the potential to destroy democracies. The recent slew of leaked documents, from the infamous WikiLeaks to our very own Jumboleaks, are a reflection of the closed−lipped nature of the administration. While leaking classified information is not necessarily the right thing to do in every scenario, the spirit behind these organizations — to unveil the truth — is important. As citizens, we have a right and a responsibility to know what our government is up to.
Woodward's desire to find the truth and the effort he put into investigating Watergate exposed something illegal that otherwise would have gone completely unnoticed. Many others would never have gone as far as Woodward simply because of the fact that the person involved happened to be the president of the United States. It is very easy (and comfortable) for us to believe that our leaders are infallible, yet Watergate is only one of innumerable episodes that disprove this notion. If we don't have the drive that Woodward did to question our leaders, the truth is just going to get swept under the rug.
Behind this, Woodward said, lies the difference between investigative journalism and the standard stories the media puts out. "We don't know how much we don't know," Woodward said at his lecture. "The message machine is so well−tuned." Facts are too easily and too often distorted, and a number of major media outlets, such as Fox News, are notorious for a one−sided portrayal of issues. There are a plethora of powerful organizations, each with their own agendas, tuning what comes out of the message machine, that we rely on for the truth. And while it's foolish to assume that everything we hear is a lie, we should at least be skeptical.
The point behind Woodward's lecture can effectively be summed up in two words: Question everything. Watergate may be history, but the lessons that it taught us are extremely important. The truth didn't just come to Woodward; he had to find it through hard, investigative work. If we want to keep finding out the real reasons behind why things happen, if we want to make the secret government not so secret, we need to do the same.
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