The Manship School of Mass Communication will be kicking off the spring portion of its Civic Cinema Series with a presentation of “All the President’s Men” tonight at 6:30.
The film, widely regarded as a classic among journalists, portrays Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and Robert Redford as Bob Woodward, the two reporters who broke President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.
Melissa Moore, adviser to The Daily Reveille and host of tonight’s presentation, said the movie is a great example of what reporters go through when covering a story.
“What I like about the movie is it shows how hard they worked to get the story,” Moore said. “But it’s not just a great journalism movie — it’s a great movie.”
Moore said the Civic Cinema Series is a way for the School of Mass Communication to make connections among issues discussed in the films and the ethical and journalistic issues reporters face.
“The Manship School sent out a message asking for suggestions for movies,” Moore said. “I suggested ‘All the President’s Men’ because it’s what made me want to be a reporter.”
Moore said the film is being shown at a particularly relevant time because of the continued speculation on the identity of Woodward and Bernstein’s anonymous informant — Deep Throat.
“The University of Texas has recently archived all of Woodward and Bernstein’s notes from their Watergate work,” Moore said. “Also, in recent years there is a lot of speculation that Deep Throat is ill, and after he dies, the reporters have permission to reveal his identity.”
The identity of Deep Throat has baffled and intrigued people since he made his shadowy appearance in 1972.
“Everyone from Pat Buchanan, Diane Sawyer and George H. W. Bush has been accused of being Deep Throat,” Moore said.
Moore said the movie shows students the amount of work necessary to be a successful journalist.
“A lot of journalism students think that if something isn’t on Google, it doesn’t exist,” Moore said. “That’s a problem. Woodward and Bernstein literally had to go out and knock on doors to get the information they needed.”
Jay Perkins, a mass communication professor who worked in Washington during the Watergate era, said the film has remained a classic for a variety of reasons.
“It’s a great movie — it has historical value and the good guys won,” Perkins said. “It’s a little stylized, but it’s pretty accurate in how reporters work.”
Dean of the Manship School Jack Hamilton said the movie series offers students access to facets of education outside the normal classroom setting.
“Education is not just about going to class — it’s about creating a thought-provoking environment,” Hamilton said. “[The series] is a place on campus that is about more than just drinking beer.”
The program is sponsored by University alumnus Rick Richard in memory of his brother-in-law Mark Scott Guzman.