Would the Digital Media Expose Watergate?

Bob Woodward has his doubts. Via Tech President are details of responses that Yale students gave to him to his question on how Watergate would have played out in the age of the Internet.

Among the statements:

"Nixon would not have been re-elected in 1972. The Watergate cover-up would not have lasted more than a few days."

"With the advancements in the technology of the Internet it would be much easier to unravel the truth. It would have been simple to track down the $50,000 that was withdrawn from the intelligence gathering fund [i.e. Nixon's secret slush fund]."

"There would be hundreds, potentially thousands of people investigating the story. We'd learn from the Internet the details of James McCord's [the lead burglar] military records. With such readily available information, it would have been difficult for the conspirators to deny involvement for as long as they did."

Another response: "I would have Googled 'Howard Hunt' and found out that he worked for CREEP, or I would have Googled 'secret fund.'"

Woodward has long advocated the benefits of "shoe leather reporting." And that doesn't mean walking and Google-ing on mobiel devices.