That was the immediate aftermath.
The long term implications are much more lasting - every two-bit ‘reporter’ dreaming of being Woodward.
We now have the modern day journalism doctrine (’making’ news to justify the ends) and Dan Rather’s courage.
You are absolutely correct. With the advent of high-profile TV news anchors, and the celebrity afforded Woodward and Bernstein because of Watergate, journalism became an attractive career choice for those who wanted to ‘be important’, ‘become celebrities’, or to ‘change the world’. In short, it became a nice career niche for narcissists. Add to that the incredibly lopsided ideological leanings of those in the mainstream media, and you have the formula for the disaster that our media has become.