Word: woodwarding
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...They checked every fresh fact against at least two different sources. But the pressure of keeping one scoop ahead of the competition?notably TIME's Sandy Smith?inevitably led to slips in the pair's failsafe procedure. A hasty conversation with Hugh Sloan resulted in a misunderstanding and a Woodward-Bernstein story containing the erroneous assertion that Sloan had told the grand jury that Haldeman was involved in funding the political espionage scheme. It was a serious mistake, giving critics of the reporters an opportunity to challenge the credibility of their previous stories. Sloan's lawyer brusquely denied the story...
Their story apparently also had dramatic repercussions in the White House. Woodward learned from Deep Throat that the President, infuriated over news leaks, had told aides that some $5 million in leftover campaign funds might as well be used "to take the Washington Post down a notch. Nixon was wild, shouting and hollering that 'we can't have it and we're going to stop it [the leaks]. I don't care how much it costs.' " Not long afterward rival Florida broadcasting companies filed a challenge through the Federal Communications Commission to the Post's ownership of two Florida television...
Fearful of possible retribution from the President's men, sources began avoiding the reporters and new leads dried up. For five weeks after the Haldeman story, the reporters were unable to provide another Page One expose. In desperation Woodward and Bernstein tried to reach Watergate grand jury members for information, a rash move that outraged Federal Judge John Sirica and nearly landed the pair in jail for violating the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. A warning from Deep Throat that the two might be targets of Government surveillance?or worse?plunged them into fears for their safety. Both suspected their...
Hard Work. It was only in March 1973 that Watergate Burglar James Mc-Cord confirmed much of Woodward and Bernstein's reporting, when he implied to Judge Sirica in his celebrated letter that the case had wider ramifications. Up till then, other publications?with the exception of TIME and the New York Times?had been slow to respond to the Post team's lead, perhaps because neither reporter enjoyed national prestige. After McCord's bombshell, the rest of the press turned more aggressive. By then, Woodward and Bernstein, dubbed "Woodstein" by their colleagues, were hard at work on their book?...
...Bernstein and Woodward, the rewards have been substantial. Before they began reporting on Watergate, the two earned together less than $30,000 a year. Now, from raises and book advances, magazine, paperback and movie rights (Robert Redford wants to play Woodward), each reporter stands to earn more than $500,000 before taxes from the book, a sum that could surpass President Nixon's net worth?after he pays all his back taxes...