I don't think there will ever be a permanent truce, but I believe the media needs to be more careful and be willing to count to 10 before rushing on the air or into print.
Bob WoodwardRead
Newspapers that are truly independent, like The Washington Post, can still aggressively investigate anyone or anything with no holds barred.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of independent journalism in holding power accountable without restrictions.
Bob Woodward highlights the critical role of independent newspapers, such as The Washington Post, in conducting fearless investigations. This independence allows them to scrutinize individuals and institutions rigorously, ensuring that the truth prevails and that the public remains informed without bias or censorship.
Themes
IndependenceJournalismInvestigationTransparencyAccountability
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be cited in a speech about the importance of press freedom.
More from Bob Woodward
All quotes βThere's hostility to lying, and there should be.
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The legislator learns that when you talk a lot, you get in trouble. You have to listen a lot to make deals.
Bob WoodwardRead
The central dilemma in journalism is that you don't know what you don't know.
Bob WoodwardRead
I'm not going to name some of my colleagues who are very well-known for their television presentation, but they wouldn't know new information or how to report a story if it came up and bit them.
Bob WoodwardRead
Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government.
Bob WoodwardRead
Similar quotes
My inclination, as an old-school, classically trained journalist, is not to go with a story unless I have it hard. It's not good enough to say something based on rumors that were flying around.
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I suppose, in the end, we journalists try - or should try - to be the first impartial witnesses of history. If we have any reason for our existence, the least must be our ability to report history as it happens so that no one can say: 'we didn't know - no one told us.'
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I kept thinking, I'm not going to do political journalism, because there's no way to keep my principles and be a political journalist, so I'll edit a popular science magazine. This will be my salvation, and I'll emerge with my integrity intact. That didn't even happen.
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The difference between Rappler and other newsgroups in the Philippines is that journalists control Rappler both editorially and commercially. We make decisions that are bad for business but protect the public sphere.
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If youre a reporter, the easiest thing in the world is to get a story. The hardest thing is to verify. The old sins were about getting something wrong, that was a cardinal sin. The new sin is to be boring.
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Helping set the day's agenda and deciding what we used and editing it, that was a journalistic high point. I liked reporting as well. Just doing the news - the live performance - wasn't important. Working on the desk was.
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