The passing yesterday of W. Mark Felt , the man who was the infamous secret source for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during their investigation of the Watergate scandal , marks the end of a life that brought about both the good and the bad of anonymous sources in political journalism .
Bob Woodward
pass yesterday w. mark felt man infamous secret source washington post reporter bob woodward carl bernstein investigation watergate scandal mark end life bring good bad anonymous source political journalism
The passing yesterday of W. Mark Felt , the man who was the infamous secret source for Washington Post reporters <m> Bob Woodward </m> and Carl Bernstein during their investigation of the Watergate scandal , marks the end of a life that brought about both the good and the bad of anonymous sources in political journalism .
Deep Throat is dead .
The passing yesterday of W. Mark Felt , the man who was the infamous secret source for Washington Post reporters <m> Bob Woodward </m> and Carl Bernstein during their investigation of the Watergate scandal , marks the end of a life that brought about both the good and the bad of anonymous sources in political journalism .
Without Felt 's information , the full scale of the Nixon administration 's corruption would likely never have come to light , he would n't have resigned in disgrace , and it might have set a precedent that the president of the United States is above the law .
Deep Throat also gave us a new archetype in popular culture : the shadowy insider in a trench coat , calling up reporters for secret meetings in parking garages to spill the dirt , often with gravely voices and cautious looks over the shoulder .
It 's been employed in entertainment ever since , from Hal Holbrook 's performance as Deep Throat in All the President 's Men , to Fox Mulder 's informant in The X-Files , to even the Caped Crusader giving Vicki Vale the cure for the Joker 's poison gas in Batman .
But the downside of Felt 's legacy is the increased willingness of modern day journalists to grant anonymity to sources at the drop of a fedora .
I 've been an avid reader of political news for ten years now and lost count of how many stories are attributed to someone , `` who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the matter , '' or , `` who declined to be named for fear of angering the President . ''
It 's become a lazy reporter 's default setting to allow people to talk on `` deep background , '' and as a result we 've slipped into a rut where accountability in government has become a rare , almost non-existent concept .
All journalists should pore over the many obits of Felt today and think long and hard about their duty to the public the next time someone asks to go off the record .