A powerful, out-of-control president heading for a landslide reelection authorizes a dirty tricks unit within the White House that dispatches a group of inept burglars to break into the headquarters of the opposition party. Their arrest touches off a chain reaction that eventually unseats the president himself.

Unlikely as it sounds, this scenario actually happened, of course, almost 40 years ago, and a pair of intrepid young Washington Post reporters helped uncover the scandal. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein wrote the best-seller All the President’s Men about their work and Robert Redford turned it into a classic film in 1976, starring himself, Dustin Hoffman and Jason Robards Jr. The film is a classic political thriller as well as a wonderful introduction to the nitty-gritty work of great reporting.

On Tuesday evening, November 1, beginning at 5 pm, Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of the Washington Post, will introduce a special free showing of All the President’s Men and lead a discussion afterward about the future of investigative reporting with students from the UT School of Journalism and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. The public is invited. Please join us for a stimulating evening of film and discussion.

The Date: Tuesday, November 1
The Time: 5 pm
The Place: Studio 6A,. sixth floor, CMB building on the UT campus, corner Guadalupe and Dean Keeton

For further information, contact: Glenn Frankel, Director, UT School of Journalism,
Glenn.frankel@uatsin.utexas.edu

Hilary Turner, administrative assistant, Hilary.turner@austin.utexas.edu

(512) 471-1845

Leonard Downie Jr., a professor of journalism at Arizona State University, was executive editor of the Washington Post from 1991 to 2008. During his 44 years in the Post newsroom, he was also an investigative reporter, editor on the local and national news staffs, London correspondent, and managing editor. As deputy metro editor from 1972 to 1974, Downie helped supervise the Post’s Watergate coverage. He also oversaw the newspaper’s coverage of every national election from 1984 through 2008. During his 17 years as executive editor, the Washington Post won 25 Pulitzer prizes.