Veteran journalist Alex Ben Block writes about his experience as a reborn and unrepentant journalist: “The great engine of investigative reporting, the independence that made Watergate a counter to Nixon’s Nazis, has stalled.”
First of all, the comparison of Richard Nixon to the Nazis is repugnant. Unless you can show me the death camps where Richard Nixon purposefully murdered millions of innocent people solely because of their race or religion, please don’t make these comparisons.
Second, the belief that journalists brought down Richard Nixon is a delusion. Richard Nixon was brought down by law enforcement. Journalists such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein got to freeride on the work of law enforcement and make a name for themselves because of their ability to get law enforcement to give them scoops.
Journalists don’t have the power to subpoena people. They don’t have the tools of law enforcement and prosecutors. Journalists didn’t bring down Richard Nixon. The American legal system did.
