No more gagging

The mystery is over. Deep Throat, the man who shared his insights into the Watergate break-in with two Washington Post reporters in the 1970s, has finally come forward. W Mark Felt, 91, second-in-command at the FBI in the early 1970s, admits in the latest edition of Vanity Fair that he was the source for reporter Bob Woodward’s story that eventually led to the fall of the Nixon administration. Felt’s grandson, Nick Jones, said today that he hoped his grandfather would be seen as a “great American hero who went well and above the call of duty at much risk to himself.”

The Washington Post has confirmed Felt’s role.

The revelation merely highlights the degree to which Bob Woodward’s journalism has fallen since his big break in the 1970s. He’s now content being fed “insider” information by the Bush administration. His importance today is highly questionable. Moving from a journalist who worked the inside to gain vital information to becoming part of the establishment and arguably more able to be played by his new government masters.

His reputation will always be sealed with Watergate, however. The latest revelations may well reignite debate around his work since Nixon. The Guardian Newsblog wishes the revelations had been more salacious, revealing Henry Kissinger or former President George Bush as “Deep Throat”.