The Process
1972 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the American people. The turmoil of the 1960’s is still fresh in the minds of the public. The Vietnam Conflict has been a long, drawn out ordeal that still raises controversy everywhere. The Cold War is running hot, The Beatles have gone their separate ways, and Nixon is up for reelection. The Democratic candidate, George McGovern, is being touted as an extreme leftist and it’s looking like the Republicans will win in November. Yes, the national climate is ripe for some scandal, and there is nothing like a sultry summer to provide.
With all of the information that your reporters bring back, it is your responsibility as the three associate Editors in Chief and lead storywriters to sift through the story and pick out what is reliable and important. As there are three of you, you will want to divide your efforts to ensure that you can produce a cohesive special report by the deadline. Once you have discovered the nature of the event, each of you will decide to focus on different aspects it. One editor should be primarily concerned with the specifics of the episode. Another should look into the events leading up to it. The final editor should look at the implications of the event; in other words, you will look at the outcomes of the event and construct an educated forecast of the consequences. (Note: As we have the advantage of reflecting on this historically, we will already know the outcomes. Thus it will be your job to take this information and represent it in the fashion of a journalistic forecast of the 1970’s. This does not mean you will necessarily lie about the history, but take the factual information you find and put it in the framework of a hypothetical prediction.)
Once you have adequately worked through the research of your field reporters, your job will be to reconvene and share your findings and conclusions regarding each area you have explored. Then it will be your task to construct a journalistic special report for publication. As editors you will want to make sure that your finished product matches with the current conventions of journalistic style. As a group you will study these stylistic trends and apply them to your composition by producing a solid and credible report that explores each of the facets of the event you have mastered.
Before you can begin to report on the event, you need to establish a grasp of what actually happen on the notorious day of June 17, 1972.
The Event:
http://www.time.com/time/80days/720617.htmlA General Overview:
http://www.watergate.info/background/
Now that you know the basic facts, divide into your three specific tasks and begin to work through the reports.
An in depth assortment of the various aspects of the scandal:
http://watergate.info/
A journalistic retrospective:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/front.htmA post-June 17th Timeline:
http://www.msnbc.com/onair/msnbc/timeandagain/archive/watergate/timeline.asp
Now reconvene and discuss your findings, look for trends and developments in each of your separate chronological fields. Use this supplemental chart to help you position various key players and ideas prior to, during and after the scandal.
Before you prepare your actual report for publication, review the following information regarding the style of journalism.
Tips on writing for a journalistic audience:
http://web.grinnell.edu/sandb/stylebook/journalism.htm