Watergate proved that it was worth the effort to dig deeply and spend sufficient time on stories in order to ensure you're presenting the truth as completely and honestly as possible. Hopefully that will continue and not be diminished by the impact of instant Internet news and 24-hour cable news programming, which tends to focus on breaking news rather than detailed reporting.

Carl Bernstein and I probably did not have enough self-doubt... Benjamin C. Bradlee is a great editor because of what he kept out of the paper as much as for what he allowed in. Bradlee believed what we had. The problem was proving it and publishing stories that were as credible as possible.

It is the responsibility of reporters to be aggressive, as long as they are fair and accurate. The media has a responsibility to question the actions of our leaders and to investigate any concentration of power. But reporters have an equal responsibility to prevent their own biases from influencing coverage. The media today probably does not dig deeply enough or spend sufficient time on stories. The best way to ensure that sources will be open and honest is to treat them fairly.