Famous investigative journalist Carl Bernstein will be this year’s guest of honor and keynote speaker at the 2016 Night with the Suncoast Tigers Tiger Bay awards April 21. Bernstein is most known for his work breaking the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Bernstein, along with icon Bob Woodward, was assigned to cover the Watergate hotel break-in in June of 1972. From there, the two journalists connected the burglars to a slush fund of money for Nixon’s re-election committee. The connection also implicated Attorney General John Mitchell, who served a prison term for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.
Bernstein, along with Woodward, co-authored the best-seller “All the Presidents Men.” In a film adapted from the book, Bernstein was played by Dustin Hoffman and Woodward by Robert Redford.
The two reporters later published “The Final Days” chronicling Nixon’s last days in office. Nixon resigned amid certain impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives and conviction in the U.S. Senate.
Since his Watergate investigations, Bernstein has continued to investigate government corruption and cover-ups. In the late ’70s, Rolling Stone magazine published a massive article researched throughout an entire year uncovering the relationship between the CIA and media during the Cold War.
Working for ABC News in the ’80s, Bernstein broke key news about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
More recently he’s guest and analyst on TV news programs aand written guest articles for several high-profile news sources. He compared the modern phone-hacking scandal to Watergate in The Daily Beast and Newsweek.
Bernstein also wrote a book about Hillary Clinton during her first presidential bid that she lost to Barack Obama. “A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton” was published in 2007.
The annual Tiger Bay Awards event follows a different timetable than its regular luncheons. This year’s event will be at the Club at Treasure Island, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. VIP reception followed by cocktails at 6 and dinner at 7.
Bernstein will speak during dinner with a question-and-answer session to follow. The event is open to members and nonmembers for $75 or $95 respectively.
Sponsorship opportunities for the event are also available on the group’s website ranging anywhere from $250 for an individual sponsor to $2,000 for a title sponsor. Entire tables are $750.