William Gaines (professor)

: For William Gaines (a.k.a. Bill Gaines), founder of MAD Magazine, see: William Gaines.

Related Topics:
MAD Magazine - William Gaines

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William Gaines is a professor of journalism who led a study with several of his students in 2003 to determine the identity of Watergate informant Deep Throat. Soon after the study, he set up a website, labeled presumptuous and arrogant by some, about the way in which he "solved" one of the great enduring mysteries of modern U.S. Politics.

Related Topics:
Watergate - Deep Throat

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He came to the conclusion that Fred F. Fielding, currently a senior partner at Wiley, Rein, & Fielding, a Washington, D.C. law firm. At the time of the Watergate scandal, Fielding was Associate Counsel for President Nixon from 1970 to 1972, where he was the deputy to John Dean during the Watergate scandal.

Related Topics:
Fred F. Fielding - Watergate scandal - Counsel - President Nixon - 1970 - 1972 - John Dean

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On May 31, 2005, the actual Deep Throat, W. Mark Felt, acknowledged his identity in an article in Vanity Fair, exonerating Mr. Fielding.

Related Topics:
May 31 - 2005 - Deep Throat - W. Mark Felt - Vanity Fair

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On his website, boldly titled Deep Throat Uncovered, Gaines has written of a confrontation with John Dean about the identity of Deep Throat:

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: He declined to respond to Smithsonian Magazine. John Dean has been steadfast in arguing Fielding would not have lied to him about being a source for the Post, and Dean bet Professor Gaines $100 that Gaines was wrong. Gaines took the bet.

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In an article at the journalism websitehttp://poynteronline.org/dg.lts/id.45/aid.31424/column.htm|PoynterOnline, Carl Bernstein has said that William Gaines' study seeking to out Deep Throat was not appropriate: "The last thing students in a journalism class should be doing is trying to find out who other reporters' sources are. They should be learning how to protect sources," and that Gaines "should be spanked."

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