A Letter From The Publisher, Jul. 8, 1974

No profession finds self-analysis easy. This is particularly true of journalism, whose practitioners regularly evaluate the performance of others. We have been scrutinizing our colleagues—and sometimes ourselves—in our Press section since our first issue in 1923. This week in our cover story, we undertake the admittedly difficult task of examining the role of the press in the Watergate affair, a topic that arouses considerable passion among readers as well as journalists. In an accompanying Essay, we further consider the moral problems faced by the press, its future tasks and its role in the American system. It is a subject about which...