The Washington Post’s media reporter, Howard Kurtz, says that a lesson of Watergate is the “burning need for original reporting” on major issues of public importance. But where is the original reporting on whether former FBI official Mark Felt is really Deep Throat? “The ‘trust me’ journalism that caused Muslim riots in the Newsweek Koran case is being accepted by the major media with regard to the naming of Deep Throat,” noted Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid. “Yet there is no independent evidence that Felt, who repeatedly denied being Deep Throat and now suffers from severe memory problems, was really this key Watergate source.”

In fact, as Kincaid noted in a column on the case, Felt was not in a position to supply information about Watergate that is attributed to Deep Throat in the Woodward/Bernstein book about the scandal.

In a recent interview, history professor and Watergate expert Joan Hoff told Kincaid that the alleged “close and fuzzy relationship” between Woodward and Felt is questionable because “Felt can’t deny it and it will be based only and exclusively on Woodward’s word.” Hoff complained, “There is no proof for it. When is the press going to hold his feet to the fire and say, ‘where is the documentation?’”

Accuracy In Media (AIM) is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.

To schedule an interview with AIM Editor Cliff Kincaid, contact Anne Tyrrell at (703)739-5920 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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