National security is a really big problem for journalists, because no journalist worth his salt wants to endanger the national security, but the law talks about anyone who endangers the security of the United States is going to go to jail.
BEN BRADLEEThe biggest difference between Kennedy and Nixon, as far as the press is concerned, is simply this: Jack Kennedy really liked newspaper people and he really enjoyed sparring with journalists.
More Ben Bradlee Quotes
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Nothing’s riding on this, except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f-k up again, I’m gonna get mad.
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It is my experience that most claims of national security are part of a campaign to avoid telling the truth.
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Sure, some journalists use anonymous sources just because they’re lazy, and I think editors ought to insist on more precise identification even if they remain anonymous.
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Generals who can write always make me nervous.
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If an investigative reporter finds out that someone has been robbing the store, that may be ‘gotcha’ journalism, but it’s also good journalism.
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As long as a journalist tells the truth, in conscience and fairness, it is not his job to worry about consequences. The truth is never as dangerous as a lie in the long run. I truly believe the truth sets men free.
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You never monkey with the truth.
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The first rough draft of history.
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Those [Watergate] tapes are going to take me to my grave with a huge smile on my face.
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There will always be leaks; in Washington, everywhere.
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I never believed that Nixon could fully resurrect himself. And the proof of that was in the obits.
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I do worry about how newspapers respond to falling circulation figures. I’m not sure that the answer is for newspapers to try to cater to whatever seems to be the fad of the day.
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I think he had a strange, passionate devotion to the truth and a horror at what he saw going on.
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The champagne was flowing like the Potomac in flood.
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The Nixon administration really put a lot of pressure on CBS not to run the second broadcast.
BEN BRADLEE