WIST Quotations

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1987-03), “Killing the Messenger,” The Progressive

Dave — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:11:50 +0000

The odd thing about these television discussions designed to “get all sides of the issue” is that they do not feature a spectrum of people with different views on reality. Rather, they frequently give us a face-off between those who see reality and those who have missed it entirely. In the name of objectivity, we are getting fantasy-land.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1987-03), “Killing the Messenger,” The Progressive
(Source)

Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1990-02), “Mimic Men,” Mother Jones

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 19:00:23 +0000

The most disturbing development among the Washington press corps is a collective amnesia about the purpose of a newspaper — which is to gather news. The mortal sins of the press have always been our sins of omission, not our sins of commission, no matter what you may have heard about bias, hubris, or anything else. It is the stories we don’t get, the ones we miss, pass over, fail to recognize, don’t pick up on, that will send us to hell.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1990-02), “Mimic Men,” Mother Jones
(Source)

Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review

Dave — Wed, 28 May 2025 15:14:32 +0000

There’s no excuse for spreading misinformation just because it comes from someone in a high place.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review
(Source)

Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review

Dave — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:44:22 +0000

That’s why it’s called Establishment journalism. You concentrate on the people at the top, the people with power; you watch, you study how they make their moves, you get fascinated by it, and pretty soon you can’t see anything else — just the top, just the power. And the others, the people, the readers, matter so little that you don’t even bother to let them know what’s going on. You start to think like the people you cover. It can happen on any beat — business, police, politics, education. The stuff you want is from the top — you want to quote the chief, the superintendent, the chairman of the board. There are no reliable sources who earn less than $10,000 a year.

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
(Source)

Connolly, Cyril -- Enemies of Promise, Part 1, ch. 3 “The Challenge of the Mandarins” (1938)

Dave — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 20:08:53 +0000

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once, and they require separate techniques.

Cyril Connolly (1903-1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
Enemies of Promise, Part 1, ch. 3 “The Challenge of the Mandarins” (1938)
(Source)

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)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

Dave — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 18:53:17 +0000

The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed?

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
(Source)

Other parts of this interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06.

This portion of the interview was published in The New York Review of Books (1978-10-26).

Chesterton, Gilbert Keith -- “The Purple Wig,” The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914)

Dave — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 20:36:56 +0000

I know that journalism largely consists in saying, “Lord Jones Dead” to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
“The Purple Wig,” The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914)
(Source)

While the quoted phrase uses a headline style, omitting the article, the vast majority of copies of it read "Lord Jones is dead." Other paraphrases:

"Journalism is there to tell us Jones is dead, even though it didn’t tell us he was alive."
"Journalism is the art of making interesting the fact that Lady Jones is dead , even to those who had never known that she was alive."
"Our business of news is telling the world that Lord Jones is dead when most of us did not even know he was alive."

Sinclair, Upton -- The Brass Check, ch. 38 “Owning the Press” (1919)

Dave — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:02:45 +0000

The methods by which the “Empire of Business” maintains its control over journalism are four: First, ownership of the papers; second, ownership of the owners; third, advertising subsidies; and fourth, direct bribery. By these methods there exists in America a control of news and of current comment more absolute than any monopoly in any other industry.

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) American writer, journalist, activist, politician
The Brass Check, ch. 38 “Owning the Press” (1919)
(Source)

Thomas, Helen -- Acceptance speech, Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award, White House Correspondents Dinner, Washington, DC (25 Apr 1998)

Dave — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 23:09:23 +0000

You’re only as good as your last story.

Helen Thomas (1920-2013) American reporter and author
Acceptance speech, Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award, White House Correspondents Dinner, Washington, DC (25 Apr 1998)

That was the full speech.

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)

Fairlie, Henry -- “Can You Believe Your Eyes?” Horizon (Spring 1967)

Dave — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:55:58 +0000

Life is not made up of dramatic incidents — even the life of a nation. It is made up of slowly evolving events and processes, which newspapers, by a score of different forms of emphasis, can reasonably attempt to explore from day to day. But television news jerks from incident to incident. For the real world of patient and familiar arrangements, it substitutes an unreal world of constant activity, and the effect is already apparent in the way which the world behaves. It is almost impossible, these days, to consider any problem or any event except as a crisis; and, by this very way of looking at it, it in fact becomes a crisis.

Henry Fairlie (1924-1990) British journalist and social critic
“Can You Believe Your Eyes?” Horizon (Spring 1967)

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]
(Source)

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)

Sullivan, Andrew -- “A Blogger’s Creed”, Time (27 Sep 2004)

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 14:26:10 +0000

The critics of blogs cite their lack of professionalism. Piffle. The dirty little secret of journalism is that it isn’t really a profession. It’s a craft. All you need is a telephone and a conscience, and you’re all set. You get better at it merely by doing it — which is why fancy journalism schools are, to my mind, such a waste of time.

Andrew Sullivan (b. 1963) Anglo-American author, editor, journalist, blogger
“A Blogger’s Creed”, Time (27 Sep 2004)

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)
(Source)

Keillor, Garrison -- “Post to the Host” (Jul 2005)

Dave — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:53:40 +0000

Journalism is a good place for any writer to start — the retelling of fact is always a useful trade and can it help you learn to appreciate the declarative sentence. A young writer is easily tempted by the allusive and ethereal and ironic and reflective, but the declarative is at the bottom of most good writing.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
“Post to the Host” (Jul 2005)
(Source)

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)

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)
(Source)

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

Dave — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:37:20 +0000

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary.

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

Marr, Andrew -- My Trade (2004)

Dave — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 14:23:43 +0000

If the headline asks a question, try answering “no.” Is This the True Face of Britain’s Young? (Sensible reader: No.) Have We Found the Cure for AIDS? (No; or you wouldn’t have put the question mark in.) Does This Map Provide the Key for Peace? (Probably not.) A headline with a question mark at the end means, in the vast majority of cases, that the story is tendentious or over-sold. It is often a scare story, or an attempt to elevate some run-of-the-mill piece of reporting into a national controversy and, preferably, a national panic. To a busy journalist hunting for real information a question mark means “don’t bother reading this bit.”

Andrew Marr (b. 1959) Scottish journalist and political commentator
My Trade (2004)

See Betteridge.

Betteridge, Ian -- Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Dave — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:50:04 +0000

Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.

Ian Betteridge (contemp.) British technology journalist
Betteridge’s Law of Headlines
(Source)

Common paraphrase of the following, on a TechCrunch article with the headline "Did Last.fm Just Hand Over User Listening Data To the RIAA?": "This story is a great demonstration of my maxim that any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no.' The reason why journalists use that style of headline is that they know the story is probably bullshit, and don’t actually have the sources and facts to back it up, but still want to run it." ("TechCrunch: Irresponsible journalism" (23 Feb 2009). More information here.

Twain, Mark -- Letter to Henry Alden (11 Nov 1906)

Dave — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:56:47 +0000

How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember, with charity, that his intentions were good.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Letter to Henry Alden (11 Nov 1906)

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review

Dave — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:19:01 +0000

I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth. I believe that the people is not dumb. Ignorant, bigoted, and mean-minded, maybe, but not stupid. I just think it helps, anything and everything, if the people know. Know what the hell is going on. What they do about it once they know is not my problem.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review
(Source)

Her journalistic credo. Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).

Lippmann, Walter -- “Journalism and the Higher Law,” Liberty and the News (1920)

Dave — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:17:45 +0000

There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil.

Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) American journalist and author
“Journalism and the Higher Law,” Liberty and the News (1920)
(Source)

See Rabelais.

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 25, The Truth [Lord Vetinari] (2000)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:16:07 +0000

Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things … well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds … Not news but olds, telling people that what they think they already know is true.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 25, The Truth [Lord Vetinari] (2000)

Murrow, Edward R. -- Speech, The Family of Man Award, The Protestant Council of New York (Oct 1964)

Dave — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:52:12 +0000

The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue. The most sophisticated satellite has no conscience. The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem of what to say and how to say it.

Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) American journalist
Speech, The Family of Man Award, The Protestant Council of New York (Oct 1964)
(Source)

His last public speech. Reprinted in Alexander Kendrick, Prime Time: The Life of Edward R. Murrow (1969).

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]
(Source)

Rockefeller, Nelson -- Speech to the Anti-Defamation League, Syracuse, NY (29 Nov 1972)

Dave — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:22:10 +0000

Government has an obligation not to inhibit the collection and dissemination of news…. I’m convinced that if reporters should ever lose the right to protect the confidentiality of their sources then serious investigative reporting will simply dry up. The kind of resourceful, probing journalism that first exposed most of the serious scandals, corruption and injustice in our nation’s history would simply disappear …. And let me tell you, reading about one’s failings in the daily papers is one of the privileges of high office in this free country of ours.

Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979) American politician
Speech to the Anti-Defamation League, Syracuse, NY (29 Nov 1972)
(Source)

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 (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-08), “The One-Party Press,” Portland Journal Luncheon, Portland, Oregon
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Hamlet, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 366ff (2.2.366) (c. 1600)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

ROSENCRANTZ: Many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 366ff (2.2.366) (c. 1600)
(Source)

Rodriguez, Paul -- Comic Relief (1987)

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

Sometimes I think war is God’s way of teaching us geography.

Paul Rodriguez (b. 1955) Mexican-American comedian
Comic Relief (1987)

Earlier variations exist. Often attributed to Ambrose Bierce, but unverified. Rodriguez citation in the LA Times. Further discussion and citation here, here, and here.