Joseph Pulitzer Quotes

In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.

We in the press have a special role since there is no other institution in our society that can hold the President accountable. I do believe that our democracy can endure and prevail only if the American people are informed.

Holding our own government to account for the use of its power is, in my view, the highest mission of a U.S. news organization.

I think that the press has a duty and an obligation to report on local government, state government, federal government - to be aggressive, to do its job. And its job is to report on whatever it's covering.

We, as citizens, are the true owners of government.

Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government.

Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people

This role is designed to question the behavior of government officials on behalf of the public. I think people who have done this and all jobs in journalism have believed that.

The job of media is the accountability of government.

I'm not a critic, I'm a journalist. I'm doing my job holding the government to account.

Journalism is the protection between people and any sort of totalitarian rule. That's why my hero, admittedly a flawed one, is a journalist.

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.

Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together.

The task of the media in a democracy is not to ease the path of those who govern, but to make life difficult for them by constant vigilance as to how they exercise the power they only hold in trust from the people.

The value of government to the people it serves is in direct relationship to the interest citizens themselves display in the affairs of state.

The media does play a vital role in our democracy, and if we cannot depend on journalistic ethics, the nation's in trouble.

I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose interests in good government is less.

The media is absolutely essential to the functioning of a democracy. It's not our job to cozy up to power. We're supposed to be the check and balance on government.

All Americans value the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, and I believe this is essential for our continued way of life. But with this freedom comes responsibility. That responsibility has been abdicated here by some in the media and some in the government.

Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls.

It is our duty to watch over the actions and activities of this government and to insist that, in words as well as in deeds, the interests of our constituency primarily and of the Nation ultimately are served.

A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.

The government serves the people - not vice-versa.

The first duty of the Press is to obtain the earliest and most correct intelligence of the time, and instantly, by disclosing them to make them the common property of the nation.

The function of a newspaper in a democracy is to stand as a sort of chronic opposition to the reigning quacks.