All the President's Men: Whatever Happened to Investigative Journalism in Mainstream American Media?

All the President's Men in both its book and movie form tackles an ambitious subject: the bringing down of a world leader by a free press. And yet in both media the storytelling is movie concerned with nuance and minute details. In showing how conducting such a massive accomplish as holding a President accountable to the same laws of the land that everyone else must follow, the film depicts a story of American journalism that appears to be little more than history. While today's reporters seem more interested in landing face to face interviews with celebrities, one can't help but wonder if the current President would still be in power if today's reporters engaged in the tedious and monotonous phone work that makes up what by all accounts should be a tedious and monotonous scene, but which somehow becomes one of the most memorable in the movie. Rather than glorifying the reporters by making them superheroes, the movie accurately reveals the process by which investigative journalism is conducted. One extended sequence involves nothing more than Bob Woodward making phone calls, being hung up on, being put on hold, and doodling in his notebook. Whether by accident or design, there is a small moment contained within this sequence that points out the capacity of patience that Woodward and Bernstein and all investigative reporters must have. While on the phone Woodward mistakenly refers to someone by another, then catches himself. It is either an example of a goof that works or excellent acting; regardless, it points to the maddening repetition and confusion inherent in trying to wade through the mountains of information that these two reporters were forced to deal with in attempting to piece together their story.