Post Reporter Woodward Hails Press, Says Watergate Reveals U.S. Naivete

Bob Woodward, reporter for The Washington Post and co-author of a series of articles which uncovered the Watergate break-in, said yesterday that Watergate marked the first time the American public had "to accept the inconceivable."

Fountain of Truth

American newspapers had never reported that the White House was corrupt, Woodward said at a Mather House Journalists Seminar. "People believed before that the White House was the fountain of truth," he said.

Woodward also said yesterday that Post reporting indirectly contributed to the decision of Sen. Sam J. Ervin (D-N.C.) to form the Senate Watergate Committee.

Woodward stated that James C. McCord, convicted Watergate burglar, also admitted to him that Post articles on the break-in influenced his choice to divulge information on the Watergate affair.

Before a crowd of about 35 persons, Woodward commended the objectivity of Post reporting concerning the Watergate break-in.

"Newspapers cannot be judicial, but they can be judicious," Woodward said yesterday. "The only stake that we have in the Watergate stories is what is accurate," Woodward said.