Jul 24, 2017 · 1 min read
Watergate arguably set a template for the national media that has been at the route of its demise since then, however. It incentivized journalists and media organizations to go whale-hunting in order to boost their own star power. In researching a book on the 1980 election, I saw it in the way the newspapers (before cable TV) created a drumbeat of controversy with headlines and stories day after day about Bert Lance in 1977 and Billy Carter in 1980, which turned out to be far smaller scandals than the coverage had merited. But by then the damage had been done.
