In the end, Bob Woodward couldn't count on the greatest source of his career to hand him his final scoop.
At 12:10 this morning, the Times broke exclusively the death of W. Mark Felt, the Justice Department official most famous for furtive garage meetings with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward during the Watergate scandal. Dubbed "Deep Throat" by editor Ben Bradlee, Felt became one of Woodward's best sources on the scandal that brought the Nixon Presidency to an end.
Felt was also pivotal to the career of screenwriter William Goldman, who attributed to Deep Throat the most famous one-line piece of advice in journalism via the movie All The President's Men: "Follow the money."
So, where was Washington Post reporter Woodward late last night? Probably asleep in his sprawling Georgetown townhouse in his canopy bed with 600-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, paid for by Felt's assistance on the story that made his career.
Woodward's byline on a Felt obit didn't appear on the Post website until 1:02 a.m. this morning, nearly an hour after Times reporter Tim Weiner's exclusive 1,700-word Felt obituary showed up.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Woodward Forgets To Move Flower Pot On Balcony; Deep Throat Leaks Last Scoop To NYT.
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1 comment:
Uh, do you really know for certain that he has 600 thread count sheets? I would guess that the only people who know such things should recuse themselves from writing about Mr. Woodward. :-)
And you say it as if it's a smarmy, richy rich kid thing to have. But I wouldn't know 600 thread count sheets from sandpaper so I googled them. It turns out they're not too expensive. Target (Target!!!) has a section on their website devoted to them:
http://www.target.com/600-Thread-Count-Sheets/
Still, it's nice of you to crow about the NYT's successes, if only for variety. But well-placed sources can't be well-placed forever.
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