Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american journalist who”. Today it says “american investigative journalist and author”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Carl Bernstein (born February 14 , 1944 ) is an American journalist who, as an investigative reporter for The Washington Post along with Bob Woodward , broke the story of the Watergate break-in and consequently helped bring about the resignation of US president Richard Nixon . Bernstein quit the The Washington Post in 1976 . He worked as a senior correspondent for the ABC network , taught at New York University , and contributed to Time . In 1981 , he returned to the Post as assistant managing editor for investigations. Bernstein authored two books with Woodward: All the President's Men , which detailed the successes and failures of the men's journalistic efforts against the backdrop of the unfolding scandal, and The Final Days , a recounting of the concluding months of the Nixon presidency. He co-authored the book His Holiness: John Paul II & the History of Our Time with Marco Politi . He is said to be working on a biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton , though the May 2005 revelation of the identity of Deep Throat has led to speculation that he would contribute to a book that Woodward has written on Mark Felt . Carl Bernstein's second wife was Nora Ephron ; a character from her book and movie Heartburn was a thinly-veiled portrayal of him. He was also portrayed in the film based on All the President's Men and in the 1999 comedy film Dick . v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16179132.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Carl Bernstein ( BURN -steen ) (born February 14, 1944) is an American journalist who, at the The Washington Post , teamed up with Bob Woodward ; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal.These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of White House Officians such as H.R.Haldeman , John Ehrlichman , Charles Colson , and John Mitchell , and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon .In a 1977 Rolling Stone article, Bernstein revealed that over 400 US journalists had been employed by the CIA, secretly carrying out assignments and publishing news stories for them.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369770528.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Carl Bernstein ( / ˈ b ɜːr n s t iː n / BURN -steen ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author.Along with Bob Woodward at The Washington Post , he did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal .These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon .Bernstein's career since Watergate has continued to focus on the theme of the use and abuse of power "through books, magazine articles, television reporting and commentary".He is the author or co-author of six books: All the President's Men , Final Days , and The Secret Man , with Bob Woodward; His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time , with Marco Politi; Loyalties ; and A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton .Additionally, he is currently a Visiting Presidential Professor at Stony Brook University .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667172805.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American journalist Carl Bernstein ( / ˈ b ɜːr n s t iː n / BURN -steen ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward ; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal . These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon . The work of Woodward and Bernstein was called "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time" by longtime journalism figure Gene Roberts . Bernstein's career since Watergate has continued to focus on the theme of the use and abuse of power via books and magazine articles. He has also done reporting for television and opinion commentary. He is the author or co-author of six books: All the President's Men , The Final Days , and The Secret Man , with Bob Woodward; His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time , with Marco Politi ; Loyalties ; and A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton . Additionally, he is a regular political commentator on CNN .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962805150.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American journalist (born 1944) Carl Milton Bernstein ( / ˈ b ɜːr n s t iː n / BURN -steen ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author . While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward , and the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal . These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon . The work of Woodward and Bernstein was called "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time" by longtime journalism figure Gene Roberts . Bernstein's career since Watergate has continued to focus on the theme of the use and abuse of power via books and magazine articles. He has also done reporting for television and opinion commentary. He is the author or co-author of seven books: All the President's Men , The Final Days , and The Secret Man , with Bob Woodward; His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time , with Marco Politi; Loyalties ; A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton ; and Chasing History , a memoir of his early years in journalism. Additionally, he is a regular political commentator on CNN .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1166591681.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American journalist (born 1944) Carl Milton Bernstein ( / ˈ b ɜːr n s t iː n / BURN -steen ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author . While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward , and the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal . These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon . The work of Woodward and Bernstein was called "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time" by long-time journalism figure Gene Roberts . Bernstein's career since Watergate has continued to focus on the theme of the use and abuse of power via books and magazine articles. He has also done reporting for television and opinion commentary. He is the author or co-author of six books: All the President's Men (1974) and The Final Days (1976), both with Bob Woodward; Loyalties: A Son's Memoir (1989); His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time (1996) with Marco Politi; A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton (2007); and Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom (2022), a memoir of his early years in journalism. Additionally, he is a regular political commentator on CNN .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1283818275. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american journalist who”. Today it says “american investigative journalist and author”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american journalist who
Now
american investigative journalist and author
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.