QUOTES

THIS IS JOURNALISM

A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.

–Murray Gurfein

US District Judge, 1971

The theory of a free press is that the truth will emerge from free reporting and free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account.

–Walter Lippmann

The best newsrooms are places where people live in fear of being wrong. Good journalists can’t stand errors.

–Caesar Andrews

editor, Garnet News Service

Journalists, by their very nature, represent the ultimate strength of an open society as well as its ultimate vulnerability.

–Judea Pearl

father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, 2003

If I see a stuffed shirt, I want to punch it. If it’s big, hit it. You can’t go far wrong.

–Bill Maudlin (1921-2003)

cartoonist

Good reporters never become numb to the feelings, baggage, hopes and dreams of their sources.

–Linda Goldston

San Jose Mercury News

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

–Patrick Henry

1787

If a person goes to a county and finds the newspapers filled with nothing but good news, there are good men in jail.

–Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003)

US Senator

It is important to demand respect from the government for the First Amendment.

–Louis D Boccardi

former president and CEO, The Associated Press

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

1963

“[W]ere it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Letter to Colonel Edward Carrington (January 16, 1787)