June marks the 50th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee

headquarters in the Watergate office building. The ensuing scandal led to the resignation of President

Nixon. This week on lectures in history, a lecture first posted in February on Watergate and the myth of heroic

journalism. American University professor Joseph Campbell argues that the unraveling of the

Watergate scandal was done by Congress and multiple federal agencies.

A very common and popular interpretation was that deep throat was not a single individual.

Deep throat was a composite of a number of different sources.

It was a literary device to project an intriguing character,

but pulling from a different range of individuals, a different, a variety of sources.

Professor Campbell also argues that Richard Nixon's presidency was not brought down solely

by the Washington Post reporting.

In the next hour, we will discuss and examine how the heroic journalist myth of Watergate took hold and why it is so tenacious.

We'll also discuss what some of the principles at the Washington Post, principles at the post at the time of the Watergate scandal have had to say about

this interpretation of Watergate. And we'll consider why it matters. We'll consider the

so what question. Why debunking this myth matters. Along the way, we'll have some time for

Q&A. Here are a few names that we'll have some time for Q&A.

Here are a few names that we'll encounter during our class today.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

These were reporters for the Washington Post, the lead reporters on the Watergate scandal for the Post.

And they teamed up in 1972 and were together through the scandal in 1974.

Together they wrote two books about the Watergate scandal.

Catherine Graham is another name that we'll encounter.

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