Deep Throat speaks out
Well, the Deep Throat has been unmasked. Interestingly, it was the Deep Throat itself who did it. To quote an article from yesterday's edition of NYT:
The Vanity Fair article, written by a Felt family friend and lawyer, John D. O'Connor, portrays a polite but persistent dialogue between the Felt family and Mr. Woodward in recent years over who should control the rights (and benefits) to such a sensational story.
In encouraging her father to tell his own story, Mr. Felt's daughter, Joan, spoke of the money it might make to help pay tuition bills for her children. For his part, the article says, Mr. Woodward, who has built a lucrative career as a best-selling author, had expressed repeated concerns about whether Mr. Felt, his memory fading and faculties diminished, was really in a position to understand what he was doing.
Woodward must have felt real bad at not being given the opportunity to reveal the identity of Deep Throat, but he was cornered by his own promise to Deep Throat to maintain his anonymity.
Reminded me of an interesting point raised in a book I recently read - The New New Journalism (Thanks Adi - for the book). The point being debated was whether a journalist should be willing to pay a source in return for the scoop. On the one hand, it would be tantamount to bribing the source - and hence undermining his credibility - while on the other hand, it can be seen as an exploitation of the source by the journalist. For instance, in the case of Deep Throat, Woodward became a world-wide celebrity and champion of journalism by his expose; and also promptly wrote a book about the same. Agreed that it was Deep Throat's own wish to remain anonymous, but the following sentence from an article in Washington Post today made me wonder if Deep Throat would've made a lot more money if he wasnt anonymous.
In his own memoir, "The FBI Pyramid: From the Inside," which received almost no attention when it was published in 1979, five years after President Richard M. Nixon's resignation, Felt angrily called this a "White House-Justice Department cabal."
*Emphasis mine*
Read the full article here. (link might require registration)
So in effect, Deep Throat lost quite a lot of money! And so he is now convinced by his daughter to claim his rightful 15 minutes of non-anonymous fame. Not to be outdone, Woodward publishes an article on the history of his relation with Felt in today's WP (Link same as above). Now that the shackles of anonymity have been removed, maybe Woodward would write another book and make more money. :p
I'd guess that Woodward had written this article quite some time ago, and was waiting for Felt to die so that he could come out with yet another scoop. So sad that things didnt turn out the way he had planned.
Btw, Felt might just make up for the lost money. :))
The Vanity Fair article, written by a Felt family friend and lawyer, John D. O'Connor, portrays a polite but persistent dialogue between the Felt family and Mr. Woodward in recent years over who should control the rights (and benefits) to such a sensational story.
In encouraging her father to tell his own story, Mr. Felt's daughter, Joan, spoke of the money it might make to help pay tuition bills for her children. For his part, the article says, Mr. Woodward, who has built a lucrative career as a best-selling author, had expressed repeated concerns about whether Mr. Felt, his memory fading and faculties diminished, was really in a position to understand what he was doing.
Woodward must have felt real bad at not being given the opportunity to reveal the identity of Deep Throat, but he was cornered by his own promise to Deep Throat to maintain his anonymity.
Reminded me of an interesting point raised in a book I recently read - The New New Journalism (Thanks Adi - for the book). The point being debated was whether a journalist should be willing to pay a source in return for the scoop. On the one hand, it would be tantamount to bribing the source - and hence undermining his credibility - while on the other hand, it can be seen as an exploitation of the source by the journalist. For instance, in the case of Deep Throat, Woodward became a world-wide celebrity and champion of journalism by his expose; and also promptly wrote a book about the same. Agreed that it was Deep Throat's own wish to remain anonymous, but the following sentence from an article in Washington Post today made me wonder if Deep Throat would've made a lot more money if he wasnt anonymous.
In his own memoir, "The FBI Pyramid: From the Inside," which received almost no attention when it was published in 1979, five years after President Richard M. Nixon's resignation, Felt angrily called this a "White House-Justice Department cabal."
*Emphasis mine*
Read the full article here. (link might require registration)
So in effect, Deep Throat lost quite a lot of money! And so he is now convinced by his daughter to claim his rightful 15 minutes of non-anonymous fame. Not to be outdone, Woodward publishes an article on the history of his relation with Felt in today's WP (Link same as above). Now that the shackles of anonymity have been removed, maybe Woodward would write another book and make more money. :p
I'd guess that Woodward had written this article quite some time ago, and was waiting for Felt to die so that he could come out with yet another scoop. So sad that things didnt turn out the way he had planned.
Btw, Felt might just make up for the lost money. :))
posted by eV at 8:04 PM
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