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 BRADLEENational 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.
More Ben Bradlee Quotes
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Maybe some of today’s papers have too many ‘feel-good’ features, but there is a lot of good news out there.
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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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The champagne was flowing like the Potomac in flood.
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There is nothing like daily journalism! Best damn job in the world!
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Hire people smarter than you are and encourage them to bloom.
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Our best today; better tomorrow.
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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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I think he had a strange, passionate devotion to the truth and a horror at what he saw going on.
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It changes your life, the pursuit of truth.
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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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It is my experience that most claims of national security are part of a campaign to avoid telling the truth.
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Generals who can write always make me nervous.
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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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More likely to mean the security or the personal happiness of the guy who is telling you something.
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