The Jeremiad Over Journalism

To Schierbeck the book describing Woodward and Bernstein‘s journalistic experience during
Watergate was as exciting as anything a journalist could get his or her hands on. The British Sunday
Times was mentioned as a forerunner in investigative reporting along with the American magazine
Newsday. At Columbia University the School of Journalism had begun offering classes in
investigative journalism, ―and now we have a document in Denmark which is well-written and
meticulously depicts how one goes about toppling a president.‖ Any reference to Danish
counterparts was lacking in Schierbeck‘s review, and thereby indicate that investigative reporting
was not yet associated with any Danish news- or educational institution. 454
Passionately Schierbeck described the methods behind investigative reporting as ―protracted
research,‖ leaving no stone unturned, no statement unchecked and accounted for the detail-oriented
approach utilized by Woodward and Bernstein. With a certain sense of admiration, Schierbeck
wrote that the story would not have been possible without support of publisher Katharine Graham,
who ―believed firmly,‖ in her two journalists, ―even when the Post‘s shares fell 50 percent at the
stock market,‖ and with the trust exhibited by ―editor Braddle [sic] that brave American man,‖ at a
time when the foundation of the Watergate-story was shaking. 455 With an eye to the differences in
scale between Denmark and the United States, Schierbeck concludes that ―All The President‘s
Men,‖ is a ―text book that any journalist should read. Its principles can be used anywhere – also in
Denmark. Read it before your mayor.‖ 456
Despite Schierbeck‘s great review of ―All The President‘s Men,‖ and the methodology behind it,
only a few Danish newspaper picked up on the possibilities of investigative journalism during the
1970‘s and when Journalisten broached the topic again in 1978 it was to describe a guest lecture by
an American journalist and an academic. The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, Clark
Mollenhoff, visited the Danish School of Journalism to talk about investigative reporting together
454 Ibid. Page 12. Incidentally, 1974 was also the year that Berendt introduced Journalisten‘s readers to New
Journalism, and Henrik Døcker wrote excitedly about new American technology after the Danish Union of Journalists
study tour to the United States.
455 Schierbeck‘s statements are an early example of the enthusiasm among journalists which Watergate created. In
scholarly circles, it has subsequently been remarked that Woodward and Bernstein did not single-handedly topple
President Nixon, and that Katharine Graham did express doubts as to why the newspaper‘s coverage was not picked up
by other outlets. Schudson, Watergate in American Memory: How We Remember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past.
Page 104-105.
456 Schierbeck, "Rapport Fra En Mudderpøl [Dispatch from a Puddle of Mud]." Page 12.
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