Rather: 'Deep Throat' showed importance of investigative journalism

DENVER (AP) _ Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Saturday he believes that Watergate whistleblower ``Deep Throat'' showed the importance of investigative journalism and the judicious use of

Sunday, June 5th 2005, 7:26 am

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Saturday he believes that Watergate whistleblower ``Deep Throat'' showed the importance of investigative journalism and the judicious use of anonymous sources.

Former FBI official W. Mark Felt revealed last week that he was the anonymous source dubbed ``Deep Throat'' who shared information with The Washington Post and helped bring down the Nixon presidency in the Watergate scandal.

Rather told about 830 journalists at the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors convention that one of the most important lessons from Watergate was that it was a reminder of the power that government officials have to manipulate the press.

``There's never been a better reason for investigative reporting,'' Rather said. ``I hope the public sees it that way.''

Rather, who left the ``CBS Evening News'' in March after drawing much of the public blame for a discredited report about President Bush's military service, also acknowledged he made some mistakes in his journalism career. He's now a correspondent for the CBS television newsmagazine ``60 Minutes.''

``I stand before you as a reporter who got lucky, very lucky,'' he said. ``I also stand before you with scars and some open wounds, many of them self-inflicted. I've had successes but I also had my failures and made my mistakes.''