Berl Falbaum
When I was teaching journalism ethics at Wayne State University for many years, I did not use a textbook.
Instead, I used the work of Bob Woodward, the reporter of Watergate fame. He provided me with more material than I could handle in any one semester.
In my view, Woodward, associate editor at The Washington Post, is the most ethically challenged journalist in modern media history. But, instead of being ousted from the journalistic community, he was put on a pedestal.
Throughout the years, only Newsweek Magazine — as far as I know — criticized Woodward. In 2013, it published a story under the headline, “The Myth of Bob Woodward: Why Is This Man an American Icon?”
Woodward, of course, made his name, with his partner, Carl Bernstein, investigating the Nixon Watergate scandal and many credit their revelations with leading to the resignation of the president.
Regardless if that is true or not, Newsweek, in its story, said even the Watergate stories contained serious ethical problems.
For instance, the magazine reported that there are a number of inconsistencies between notes in Woodward’s papers stored at the Ranson Center in Austin, Texas, and how the conversations were rendered in “All the President's Men,” the 1974 book that chronicles the Watergate investigation.
The magazine noted that phrases not enclosed in quotation marks in the notes were presented within quotes in the book, giving the impression that their source spoke those exact words. Occasionally, the meaning of what was said was substantially altered, and the book also contained information not present in the notes at all, Newsweek said.
The magazine also added that Woodward, before Watergate, had been guilty of “…a long string of questionable journalistic episodes.”
This column is prompted by the soon-to-be released (November 24) of a 592-page book by Woodward: “Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir” (Simon & Schuster).
Libraries might consider placing this memoir in the fiction section.
I stopped reading Woodward long ago when he consistently reported on what officials were “thinking” at meetings decades earlier and used quotation marks for conversations he did not attend nor did any transcripts exist of those exchanges. Every page raised questions of credibility.
Now, in this memoir, he commits, arguably, the most despicable journalistic offense, according to early book reviews. He reveals sources, which is condemnable on its own.
But, even worse, he reveals sources, many who have died, sources who may not have wanted to be outed and who cannot speak to the truth or falsity of Woodward’s reporting. And Woodward knows that the information he claims he received from these anonymous officials cannot be checked.
While an entire book can be written on Woodward’s tainted work, we’ll cite just a couple of biggies as examples.
In 1987, Woodward reported in his book “Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987” that William J. Casey, CIA director, confessed on his deathbed that he had known about the illegal diversion of Iran arms sale money to the Contras.
But Casey’s daughter, Bernadette Casey Smith, said it was “unfathomable” that Woodward interviewed her father and that Woodward “fabricated” the story. Moreover, her father was in-and-out of consciousness and heavily medicated. Casey’s doctors said it was “medically impossible” for Casey to answer any of Woodward’s questions.
Now, early book reviews of Secrets report that Woodward claims one guard greeted him personally with a “Hi, Bob,” and took him into Casey’s hospital room. He had never made this claim before. Presumably, that guard is deceased as well.
In a 2021 book, “Peril,” written with Robert Costa, Woodward reported the “bombshell” that then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark A. Milley, called Li Zoucheng, his counterpart in China, telling him if the U.S. planned an attack, he would notify China in advance.
Before you read on, do you believe a four-star general who devoted 44 years of his life to the U.S. military would undermine the president of the United States and the country by making such a phone call?
That’s what I thought.
Here is what Milley said in sworn testimony to Congress: He would never “tip off the enemy” about an actual U.S. attack plan.
Then came more Woodwardese: After Milley hung up, Woodward wrote, Zoucheng, chief of the Joint Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, remained “unusually rattled.”
And Woodward would know that how? Perhaps he had Chinese sources who also have passed. He doesn’t tell us.
Years ago, when the late Ben Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post and Woodward’s boss, spoke at the defunct Detroit Press Club, I asked him about Woodward’s questionable journalistic practices.
Bradlee did not duck; he acknowledged that Woodward, as he put it, took some “liberties.”
According to the early reviews, in “Secrets,” Woodward also takes some shots at his present boss, Jeff Bezos, of Amazon fame and owner of The Washington Post. Woodward decries the layoffs and other cost-cutting measures that are hurting the quality of The Post’s reporting. He is quoted as follows:
“It is not too late for media owners to prioritize moral courage over financial gains.”
If only Woodward had applied this mantra to himself, particularly the part about “moral courage.”
It also would not be unfair to speculate that Woodward felt free to criticize the hand that feeds him because at 83 he might be planning to retire. If fired, a severance package would also serve him well; he has worked at The Post for 55 years.
The New York Times labeled the book a “long-awaited” memoir. I am not one of those who waited for this book because I retired from teaching journalism ethics at Wayne State years ago.
Instead, I used the work of Bob Woodward, the reporter of Watergate fame. He provided me with more material than I could handle in any one semester.
In my view, Woodward, associate editor at The Washington Post, is the most ethically challenged journalist in modern media history. But, instead of being ousted from the journalistic community, he was put on a pedestal.
Throughout the years, only Newsweek Magazine — as far as I know — criticized Woodward. In 2013, it published a story under the headline, “The Myth of Bob Woodward: Why Is This Man an American Icon?”
Woodward, of course, made his name, with his partner, Carl Bernstein, investigating the Nixon Watergate scandal and many credit their revelations with leading to the resignation of the president.
Regardless if that is true or not, Newsweek, in its story, said even the Watergate stories contained serious ethical problems.
For instance, the magazine reported that there are a number of inconsistencies between notes in Woodward’s papers stored at the Ranson Center in Austin, Texas, and how the conversations were rendered in “All the President's Men,” the 1974 book that chronicles the Watergate investigation.
The magazine noted that phrases not enclosed in quotation marks in the notes were presented within quotes in the book, giving the impression that their source spoke those exact words. Occasionally, the meaning of what was said was substantially altered, and the book also contained information not present in the notes at all, Newsweek said.
The magazine also added that Woodward, before Watergate, had been guilty of “…a long string of questionable journalistic episodes.”
This column is prompted by the soon-to-be released (November 24) of a 592-page book by Woodward: “Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir” (Simon & Schuster).
Libraries might consider placing this memoir in the fiction section.
I stopped reading Woodward long ago when he consistently reported on what officials were “thinking” at meetings decades earlier and used quotation marks for conversations he did not attend nor did any transcripts exist of those exchanges. Every page raised questions of credibility.
Now, in this memoir, he commits, arguably, the most despicable journalistic offense, according to early book reviews. He reveals sources, which is condemnable on its own.
But, even worse, he reveals sources, many who have died, sources who may not have wanted to be outed and who cannot speak to the truth or falsity of Woodward’s reporting. And Woodward knows that the information he claims he received from these anonymous officials cannot be checked.
While an entire book can be written on Woodward’s tainted work, we’ll cite just a couple of biggies as examples.
In 1987, Woodward reported in his book “Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987” that William J. Casey, CIA director, confessed on his deathbed that he had known about the illegal diversion of Iran arms sale money to the Contras.
But Casey’s daughter, Bernadette Casey Smith, said it was “unfathomable” that Woodward interviewed her father and that Woodward “fabricated” the story. Moreover, her father was in-and-out of consciousness and heavily medicated. Casey’s doctors said it was “medically impossible” for Casey to answer any of Woodward’s questions.
Now, early book reviews of Secrets report that Woodward claims one guard greeted him personally with a “Hi, Bob,” and took him into Casey’s hospital room. He had never made this claim before. Presumably, that guard is deceased as well.
In a 2021 book, “Peril,” written with Robert Costa, Woodward reported the “bombshell” that then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark A. Milley, called Li Zoucheng, his counterpart in China, telling him if the U.S. planned an attack, he would notify China in advance.
Before you read on, do you believe a four-star general who devoted 44 years of his life to the U.S. military would undermine the president of the United States and the country by making such a phone call?
That’s what I thought.
Here is what Milley said in sworn testimony to Congress: He would never “tip off the enemy” about an actual U.S. attack plan.
Then came more Woodwardese: After Milley hung up, Woodward wrote, Zoucheng, chief of the Joint Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, remained “unusually rattled.”
And Woodward would know that how? Perhaps he had Chinese sources who also have passed. He doesn’t tell us.
Years ago, when the late Ben Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post and Woodward’s boss, spoke at the defunct Detroit Press Club, I asked him about Woodward’s questionable journalistic practices.
Bradlee did not duck; he acknowledged that Woodward, as he put it, took some “liberties.”
According to the early reviews, in “Secrets,” Woodward also takes some shots at his present boss, Jeff Bezos, of Amazon fame and owner of The Washington Post. Woodward decries the layoffs and other cost-cutting measures that are hurting the quality of The Post’s reporting. He is quoted as follows:
“It is not too late for media owners to prioritize moral courage over financial gains.”
If only Woodward had applied this mantra to himself, particularly the part about “moral courage.”
It also would not be unfair to speculate that Woodward felt free to criticize the hand that feeds him because at 83 he might be planning to retire. If fired, a severance package would also serve him well; he has worked at The Post for 55 years.
The New York Times labeled the book a “long-awaited” memoir. I am not one of those who waited for this book because I retired from teaching journalism ethics at Wayne State years ago.
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