WIST Quotations

Malcolm X -- Speech, Audubon Ballroom, Harlem, New York (13 Dec 1964)

Dave — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:18:42 +0000

If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.

Malcolm X (1925–1965) American revolutionary, religious leader [b. Malcolm Little]
Speech, Audubon Ballroom, Harlem, New York (13 Dec 1964)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1807-06-11) to John Norvell

Dave — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:33:39 +0000

It is a melancholy truth that a suppression of the press could not more compleatly deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. […] I will add that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1807-06-11) to John Norvell

Hand, Learned -- United States v Associated Press, 52 F. Supp. 362, 372 (1943)

Dave — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 23:37:03 +0000

Right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues, than through any kind of authoritative selection. To many this is, and will always be, folly; but we have staked upon it our all.

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American jurist
United States v Associated Press, 52 F. Supp. 362, 372 (1943)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

Dave — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:22:05 +0000

Political or military commentators, like astrologers, can survive almost any mistake, because their more devoted followers do not look to them for an appraisal of the facts but for the stimulation of nationalistic loyalties.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

McLuhan, Marshall -- In the Montreal Gazette (16 May 1975)

Dave — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 18:31:55 +0000

Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America — not the battlefields of Vietnam.

Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian philosopher, communication theorist, educator
In the Montreal Gazette (16 May 1975)

Black, Hugo -- New York Times Co. v. United States 403 U.S. 713, 717 (1971) [concurring]

Dave — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 00:25:00 +0000

In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.

Hugo Black (1886–1971) American politician and jurist; US Supreme Court Justice (1937–71)
New York Times Co. v. United States 403 U.S. 713, 717 (1971) [concurring]

The ruling in this case held that the President Nixon could not preemptively block publication of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times and Washington Post, and that prior restraint of the press was unconstitutional unless the government could show publication would cause "grave and irreparable" danger.

Sunstein, Cass R. -- “Reinforce the Walls of Privacy,” New York Times (6 Sep 1997)

Dave — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 05:05:25 +0000

A democracy is badly served when newspapers and television focus so intensely on the personal joys and tragedies of famous people. This kind of “news” crowds out more serious issues, and there is an important difference — as the Constitution’s framers well knew, and as many people today appear to have forgotten — between the public interest and what interests the public.

Cass R. Sunstein (b. 1954) American legal scholar
“Reinforce the Walls of Privacy,” New York Times (6 Sep 1997)

Dunne, Finley Peter -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 18:20:54 +0000

There ain’t any news in being good. You might write the doings of all the convents of the world on the back of a postage stamp, and have room to spare.

Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) American humorist and journalist
(Attributed)

Burgh, James -- Political Disquisitions, Book 1 “Of Government, briefly” (1774)

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:23:10 +0000

No man ought to be hindered saying or writing what he pleases on the conduct of those who undertake the management of national affairs, in which all are concerned, and therefore have the right to inquire, and to publish their suspicions concerning them. For if you punish the slanderer, you deter the fair inquirer.

James Burgh (1714–1775) British politician and writer
Political Disquisitions, Book 1 “Of Government, briefly” (1774)

Stoppard, Tom -- Night and Day, Act 1 (1978)

Dave — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:17:15 +0000

MILNE: Junk journalism is the evidence of a society that has got at least one thing right, that there should be nobody with the power to dictate where responsible journalism begins.

Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) Czech-English playwright and screenwriter
Night and Day, Act 1 (1978)

Stoppard, Tom -- Night and Day, Act 1 (1978)

Dave — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:35:58 +0000

MILNE: No matter how imperfect things are, if you’ve got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.
RUTH: I’m with you on the free press. It’s the newspapers I can’t stand.

Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) Czech-English playwright and screenwriter
Night and Day, Act 1 (1978)

Lee, Robert E. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:08:51 +0000

It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers! In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I’m readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I’ll, in turn, do my best for the cause by writing editorials — after the fact.

Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) American military leader
(Attributed)

Variant: "We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers."

Generally cited as an 1863 statement, there are a number of variants (dating to the 1870s) and no actual writing by Lee has been found. More information here.

Sutherland, George -- Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, 250 (1936)

Dave — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:34:17 +0000

A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.

George Sutherland (1862–1942) Anglo-American jurist, Supreme Court Justice (1922–1938)
Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, 250 (1936)

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech, American Newspaper Publishers Association (27 Apr 1961)

Dave — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 22:44:05 +0000

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment — the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution — not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply “give the public what it wants” — but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech, American Newspaper Publishers Association (27 Apr 1961)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1804-06-28) to John Tyler

Dave — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:50:17 +0000

No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1804-06-28) to John Tyler

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1807-06-14) to John Norvell

Dave — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:01:10 +0000

Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. divide his paper into 4. chapters, heading the 1st. Truths. 2d. Probabilities. 3d. Possibilities. 4th. Lies. The 1st. chapter would be very short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers, and information from such sources as the editor would be willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The 2d. would contain what, from a mature consideration of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be probably true. This however should rather contain too little than too much. The 3d. & 4th. should be professedly for those readers who would rather have lies for their money than the blank paper they would occupy.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1807-06-14) to John Norvell

Black, Hugo -- New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 717 (1971) [concurring]

Dave — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:12:27 +0000

In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.

Hugo Black (1886–1971) American politician and jurist; US Supreme Court Justice (1937–71)
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 717 (1971) [concurring]

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1952-09-08), “The One-Party Press,” Portland Journal Luncheon, Portland, Oregon

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The rock-bottom foundation of a free press is the integrity of the people who run it. Our press may make a million mistakes of judgment without doing itself permanent harm so long as its proprietors are steadfast in their adherence to truth.

Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-08), “The One-Party Press,” Portland Journal Luncheon, Portland, Oregon