Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein to speak at Elmhurst College

Few journalists have influenced their own times as profoundly as Carl Bernstein.

When he and his Washington Post colleague Bob Woodward broke the Watergate story in the early 1970s, they helped define modern investigative journalism and changed the way a generation regarded those in power.

For 40 years, from "All the President's Men" to "A Woman In Charge: The Life of Hillary Clinton," Bernstein's books, reporting and commentary have revealed the inner workings of government, politics and the hidden stories of Washington and its leaders.

Bernstein will supply a revealing look at media and government, from Watergate to the present, when he presents "The Legacy of Ben Bradlee: Then and Now" at 7 p.m. Monday, April 13, in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center at Elmhurst College, 190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst.

The work of Bernstein and Woodward on the Watergate stories, with Ben Bradlee as their editor, led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and in 1973 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Since then, Bernstein has continued to build on the theme he and Woodward first explored in the Nixon years - the use and abuse of power: political, media, financial, cultural and spiritual.

The author of five best-selling books, Bernstein is at work on several multimedia projects: a dramatic TV series about the U.S. Congress; a feature film with director Steven Soderbergh; and a memoir about growing up at a Washington newspaper during the Kennedy era (The Evening Star, where he went to work at age 16). He also appears regularly on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," is a contributing editor of Vanity Fair magazine, and has been an on-air political analyst for CNN.

Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available by visiting www.elmhurst.edu/tix. For details, call (630) 617-3390.