It couldn?t be, not this frail old man grinning about ?making money,? surrounded by family bent on making sure he gets ?his due?. This couldn?t be Deep Throat, the mysterious defender of democracy and constitutional niceties who was central to that ultimate in investigative journalism, Watergate, which brought down a US president and inspired journalists across the world. Watching television last week was painful. The movie was so much better.

On second thoughts, a wizened Mark Felt is a much better fit for the times than the feisty, vigorous Hal Holbrook we saw in All The President?s Men. Just look at the way Felt has been outed. The identity of Deep Throat, that Holy Grail of journalistic secrets, was revealed after 32 years, not through any reporting feat but through a phone call from his lawyer to the editor of a glossy, celebrity-driven magazine. Investigative journalism R.I.P.

In 1972, journalism was still imbued with a sense of public duty. Even a lowly break-in at the opposition headquarters was taken seriously. That was how the Watergate story began, not as something that promised glory but as a ?third-rate burglary?. And was doggedly pursued for more than two years, despite initial evidence that the public hardly cared (Nixon won the ?72 presidential elections by a landslide nevertheless) and in the face of threats and criticisms ? because it was ?important?.

Such a slow burn would be unthinkable today. Who can afford to waste time (and money) on stories that may or may not go anywhere. No, for our news bosses, stories have to be low-risk and high-eyeballs, i.e. endless Ash and Big-B.

Maybe we messed up too. There have been just too many Watergate-inspired, stop-the-democracy moments (e.g. Bofors) that collapsed in the courts. Too many Deep Throats who aired unprovable allegations like the Sonia-Manmohan divide. Too many bright young things who took short-cuts to easy fame. So much so, investigative journalism is a bad word with editors today. Maybe that is what lulled Watergate star Bob Woodward into such complacency that he got scooped on his very own mega-scoop and that too by a lawyer.

That?s our boy

Dour and taciturn, Sudheendra Kulkarni prefers a low profile. And with reason. Too many people, especially his former brethren, are too happy at the misfortunes of this erstwhile journalist.

On Tuesday, there was a lot of glee among many secularists when distraught BJP bosses tried to blame Kulkarni for Advani?s remarks on Jinnah, since he is one of the BJP president?s speechwriters (as he was earlier for the BJP prime minister).

Those who knew Kulkarni once as a CPI(M) man are saying, our boy is doing a good job there. He got Vajpayee into trouble when he penned his so-called musings from Kumarakom. And now he?s dealt a body blow to Advani too.

To be fair, Kulkarni turned colour, from red to saffron, over ten years ago. It is said he discovered the BJP through religion ? for a while he was apparently carried forward by two ideologies, Marxism and Hinduism. Hindutva won. But he has always moved with the tide ? from a supporter of the pro-Soviet Union old guard to the new guard to the BJP.

The joke doing the rounds is that the CPI(M) is now successfully wrecking both friends and foes from within, all thanks to media advisors who were once their allies. Apart from Kulkarni, there is Sanjaya Baru in the PMO, another former party loyalist who is making sure, or so the Left feels, that Manmohan Singh does not serve his full term or come back for another.

Will someone tell the nation?s leading parties: Beware of press advisors whose god died young.