So, here you are, especially in the Pentagon. Some guy tells you something. He says that’s a national security matter. Well, you’re supposed to tremble and get scared and it never, almost never means the security of the national government.
BEN BRADLEEThere is nothing like daily journalism! Best damn job in the world!
More Ben Bradlee Quotes
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The Nixon administration really put a lot of pressure on CBS not to run the second broadcast.
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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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As a child, one looks for compliments. As an adult, one looks for evidence of effectiveness.
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There is nothing like daily journalism! Best damn job in the world!
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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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The first rough draft of history.
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More likely to mean the security or the personal happiness of the guy who is telling you something.
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In the perfect world every source could be identified, but like the man said, “It’s not a perfect world.”
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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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It’s very hard to stand up to the government which is saying that publication will threaten national security. People don’t seem to realize that reporters and editors know something about national security and care deeply about it.
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The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.
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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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There will always be leaks; in Washington, everywhere.
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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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You never monkey with the truth.
BEN BRADLEE