If an investigative reporter finds out that someone has been robbing the store, that may be ‘gotcha’ journalism, but it’s also good journalism.
BEN BRADLEEI never believed that Nixon could fully resurrect himself. And the proof of that was in the obits.
More Ben Bradlee Quotes
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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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It is my experience that most claims of national security are part of a campaign to avoid telling the truth.
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It changes your life, the pursuit of truth.
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The first rough draft of history.
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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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To hell with news! I’m no longer interested in news. I’m interested in causes. We don’t print the truth. We don’t pretend to print the truth. We print what people tell us. It’s up to the public to decide what’s true.
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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 champagne was flowing like the Potomac in flood.
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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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The Nixon administration really put a lot of pressure on CBS not to run the second broadcast.
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Generals who can write always make me nervous.
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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.
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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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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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The 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.
BEN BRADLEE