Watergate. Me Too. Black Lives Matter. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. These are arguably some of the most influential stories of the past 50 some odd years. All originated from different social climates and journalistic roots, but share a common theme. Without being the precise right time, these stories would never have taken off in the way they did.

Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting a Fire is a documentary film chronicling the investigative journalism that took place behind Watergate in order to expose it. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward are hailed as “guardians of the American public” who pioneered investigative journalism as a field. The film reflects on their actions as professionals and how their choices, if made today, may have had serious consequences. One source says “If Watergate happened today it wouldn’t have been exposed.” This was shocking to hear… until I realized today’s Watergate hasn’t been exposed. Lighting  a Fire posits that if Watergate happened today, it would be covered up by officials. Woodward and Bernstein would have been subpoenaed, forced to reveal their sources, and then be held in contempt if they refused to do so. Following those events, the story would be buried and never see the light of day. So who’s to say that isn’t happening today?

Looking beyond what may or may not come to light about today’s post-modern, almost apocalyptic state of politics, there is concrete evidence of a huge scandal being ignored. Its name: Flint, Michigan. We all know about Flint. We’re all aware. And yet, it has been ignored for years on end. The reason is because of the media’s interest in “self-censorship” wherein they don’t publish stories they don’t think will receive traction. (Lighting a Fire) John Oliver also touches upon the media’s click-hungry motives. If they see a story that is groundbreaking, but not receiving media attention, they won’t publish it. As the gatekeepers to newsworthy information, it is essentially the media’s job to inform the public of what’s going on. If our news is incentivized by our interest and our money, true news will never get made. The simple truth is that people only willingly read what interests them. Usually that isn’t high school kids dying or the bombing of countries overseas. Just because people’s interests are grounded in celebrities, adorable animals, or the latest trends, doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to know about dying children, war, and bombing. It means the media has a right to inform regardless of the financial blowback.

John Oliver showed a skit based on what can now be considered the new newsroom. A comic battle ensues between the outing of the Boston City Hall versus a cat raccoon (or is it raccoon cat?) The skit, as funny as it is, is based in reality. So many news outlets choose to cover frivolous stories that don’t inform us much of anything, but are interesting and will garner clicks and views. So is this really news? Is this investigative journalism as in the likes of the Watergate era? One can only wonder how far we’ve come over the years, especially in investigative reporting. How has attention span, media coverage, and investigative journalism progressed since Woodward and Bernstein? Would they be proud looking upon the journalists of today?