How the Watergate scandal forever changed reporting on US politics

Fifty years ago, the conviction of Gordon Liddy and James McCord Jr, both helping hands of President Richard Nixon, started the media Tsunami that went down in history as the “Watergate scandal”.

FBI officer Liddy and the CIA’s McCord were convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee, at the Watergate hotel, in Washington.

They were part of the group of seven men that broke in to the Democrats’ electoral offices to get first-hand information about Nixon’s rival George McGovern.

Former White House legal advisor John Dean said that after Watergate the media has never been the same. 

He was accused of helping to cover up the scandal and then became a key witness in the inquiries that followed.

“In the bigger picture that what happened dramatically changed and forever the coverage of a President of the USA by the media,” he said.

“Pre-Watergate, presidents were given the benefit of the doubt. Post-Watergate, presidents were not given the benefit of the doubt as they were earlier. 

“They really had to virtually prove their innocence.”

For more watch Euronews’ report in the video above.