2008 Woodie Awards
Bob Woodward concludes Bryan Series
Deena Zaru
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
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Woodward also held a student session in the Community Center from 1 to 2 p.m. that day, which was attended by about 20 members of the community, many of which were Political Science and English majors.
"The way he talked to the students, he came across as really wanting to connect with them," said Brian Ewing, staff writer for the Greensboro News and Record. "Anything to get more young people involved in journalism is great."
"It was a really amazing experience to be able to hear from him. In the session he treated us as contemporaries and didn't dumb it down," said junior Padraic Lehane, a staff writer for the Guilfordian. "I thought he was pretty straightforward about a lot of stuff and as honest as he could be, even though I didn't necessarily always agree with him."
Most recently, Woodward has authored three books on the Bush Administration's handling of the war in Iraq: Bush at War, Plan of Attack, and State of Denial. His fourth book in the series, Bush at Wart Part IV, will be coming out in Sept. 2008.
Woodward discussed his previous experiences, namely Watergate, and issues such as the current state of the news industry and its link to politics, the Iraq war, his 7-hour interview with George W. Bush, the current elections, and the role of journalists in a democracy.
"I don't think I was aggressive enough in the lead up to the war and I fault myself mightily for that," said Woodward. "My disappointments are greater because this war is really going to determine America's place in the world."
"I was really impressed with how he was apologetic for not putting a lot of effort in the pre-war reporting," said sophomore Amanda Pressley, an English major and Guilfordian staff reporter. "I really wasn't expecting him to say 'I failed the American people.'"
Woodward said that he had three major sources who personally believed that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but that "there's no smoking-gun intelligence."
"He took pains to admit his fault in not questioning those who believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003, which I appreciated," said senior Political Science major Malcolm Kenton. "Though I wish he would have done his journalistic duty then."
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