By Linny Folau

Bob Woodward, one of America's best known journalists, believes that journalists should be persistent and relentless in pursuing the truth.

He advised the 150 international journalists visiting Washington DC under the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, to always pursue the truth. The man who is famous for reporting on the Watergate scandal, gave an inspiring speech about how freedom of the press is vital to a democracy, because without a free press, democracy would die in darkness.

As a young reporter at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward teamed up with Carl Bernstein to do most of the original reporting on the Watergate scandal, that eventually led to former President Nixon's resignation.

He said journalists serve the public, therefore they should always write the truth.

Bob, an associate editor at the Washington Post, has a distinguished 37 year reporting career at the newspaper, that has earned him nearly every American journalism award.

He said it is not always easy to get the truth, but a journalist has to be persistent and relentless, because there are people who would tell the truth. He said this was not always the situation, but that is how a journalist gets the story.

He said when they started to report on the Watergate scandal, not everyone believed what they wrote. He advised journalists to be true to oneself and to hear people out.

Bob has to date authored 11 national bestselling non-fiction books, and has interviewed several US Presidents, including Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama.

When asked how would he have reported on the Watergate scandal in this digital age, given all the social media available now, Bob answered that President Nixon would not be his friend on Facebook.

He advised that although social media is here, journalists would not find the truth on the internet. "You must find that out from human sources," he stressed.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the visiting journalists were excited to meet Bob in person.

Bob was a speaker under the Edward R. Murrow program visiting journalists held at the US Department of State Harry S. Truman Building in Washington DC, on October 25.