Ira Flatow Quotes

How do you know the news is reliable if you didn’t gather it yourself?

I don't really trust politicians, and our job is to call them out. It's old-school journalism.

In journalism it is simpler to sound off than it is to find out. It is more elegant to pontificate than it is to sweat.

Once we thought, journalists and readers alike, that if we put together enough 'facts' and gave them a fast stir, we would come up with something that, at least by the standards of short-order cooks, could be called the truth.

'Reality' is a notion that journalists take for granted.

In this Day the secrets of the earth are laid bare before the eyes of men. The pages of swiftly-appearing newspapers are indeed the mirror of the world. They reflect the deeds and the pursuits of diverse peoples and kindreds. They both reflect them and make them known. They are a mirror endowed with hearing, sight and speech. This is an amazing and potent phenomenon. However, it behooveth the writers thereof to be purged from the promptings of evil passions and desires and to be attired with the raiment of justice and equity. They should enquire into situations as much as possible and ascertain the facts, then set them down in writing.

Investigative reporting is not a way to make friends.

Find out what happened and put it in the paper

In journalism the gold standard has become punditry rather than reporting.

Journalism is not an exact science. At best it i a crude art.

Americans deserve journalists who provide responsible, objective reporting.

Journalism is not a precise science, it's a crude art

I know that from the days of Watergate... the notion of two sources on a story has become the popular dogma about how you confirm something. And there is a lot of truth to that, but there are all kinds of ways to check to the extent that you can, a story that you get.

Great questions make great reporting.

I must be out of it, but I don't know any good journalists who have excused Clinton's problems.

I'm in the reporting part of journalism.

Everything that people say is testable.

I don't think journalism changes. It's about digging into stories and telling them well. The basic tenets of great reporting stay the same while things around it change. Technology has made reporting easier, but it has also caused job loss. Social media has increased discussion around topics, but it has its own challenges at times.

I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are.

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.

Scepticism is as important for a good journalist as it is for a good scientist.

I think of myself as a journalist and a storyteller.

I respect and empathize with reporters and editors who must compete in today's environment. And I know full well that when I've been covering campaigns, which I still do, I've made my mistakes and have been far from perfect.

I feel like, in some ways, I'm just a journalist.

It's all storytelling, you know. That's what journalism is all about.