Michael Isikoff Quotes

Judy Miller is the most innocent person in this case. I really thought that was outrageous that she was jailed and we needed as journalists to draw a line in the sand in a strong but thoughtful way.

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

When the public's right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered.

Nobody from the administration has officially rejected my column.

We have to protect all journalists, and journalists have to be allowed to do their jobs.

It is crazy to have Judith Miller in jail.

It's always unfortunate when a reporter is sent behind bars for failing to turn over sources. There's no way to say what the long-term outcome will be.

While they shriek for "freedom of the press" when there is no slightest threat to that freedom, they deny to citizens that freedom from the press to which the decencies of life entitle them. They misrepresent, they distort, they color, they blackguard, they lie.

The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.

A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.

… no court was going to penalize a newspaper criminally for showing how the government had lied, particularly when the government’s own papers proved it.

As long as I am Attorney General, no reporter who is doing his job is going to go to jail.

Turkey still has one of the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world.

A free press is the cornerstone of democracy; there is no question about that.

Everyone, regardless of the mode of expression, has a constitutionally protected right to free speech. But when it comes to freedom of the press, I believe we must define a journalist and the constitutional and statutory protections those journalists should receive.

The ability of the press to print their stories without the government trying to get them to betray their sources is as essential to a free press as the ink it is printed with. Otherwise, who will hold accountable those who hold power over us?

I believe a journalist needs to be free to ask the questions he or she deems relevant, without constraints from others.

The First Amendment protects the news media and the news media knows how to use it. Donald Trump doesn't understand it, he's never going to understand it.

I know better than to ever attempt to get a reporter removed from covering any topic. That would never be an option.

The media can allege corruption, but if I do the same against the media, I am gagging freedom of expression.

Some of the press who speak loudly about the freedom of the press are themselves the enemies of freedom. Countless people dare not say a thing because they know it will be picked up and made a song of by the press. That limits freedom.

When you have mass surveillance, it's impossible to meet the intent of the First Amendment because reporters can't talk to sources because sources are afraid to talk.

Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government.

We need a free media, not just freedom of speech.

Although I may find the type of programming seen during the 2004 Super Bowl and the 2003 Golden Globe Awards disgusting and disturbing, we must always work hard to defend the cherished freedoms so clearly outlined in our Constitution, including a healthy and free press.