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.
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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.
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Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government.
Bob WoodwardRead
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When I was trained as a journalist, as a race-relations reporter in Nashville covering the end of the civil-rights movement, we were strictly forbidden to use the first-person pronoun. There was kind of an electric charge around it. To come out from hiding and use the word 'I' carried a lot of fright for me.
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I don't believe in these headline-hunting interviews. That's just not my style.
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The most important ethical issues and the most difficult ones are the human ones because a reporter has enormous power to hurt people.
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I violated, apparently, an unspoken rule that we are supposed to take care of our own. Frankly, if that invites discomfort, I welcome it. I don't think there's enough discomfort in journalism, especially in Washington.
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