Lawrence O'Donnell Quotes

The crusades of Vietnam and Watergate seemed like a good idea at the time, even a noble one, not only to the press but perhaps to a majority of Americans.

I remember being a kid and the Vietnam War was huge and looking at Watergate.

The media has become more forceful, has begun to recognize its traditional historic role and act on it, and truth is infectious.

Indeed, it was largely the clubbiness of the Washington village press corps that let Nixon get away with Watergate and still win his landslide in 1972.

The fact is, the media never gets off the interstate unless there's a major explosion.

I've always been a big consumer of American journalism over the years and had an interest in the history of it and of the press in America; how it has changed.

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.

One big, glaring difference I can think of between Iraq and Vietnam is the news coverage. During the Vietnam War era, you had TV coverage of the war saturating the airwaves every night, and that coverage wasn't put through a military filter at all.

It I talked about Watergate, I was described as struggling to free myself from the morass. If I did not talk about Watergate, I was accused of being out of touch with reality.

I grew up in the era when Dan Rather hated Richard Nixon. He was a newsman, but you knew what his opinion was.

Surveys have shown going back as far as you and I can remember that people have perceived a leftward tilt in the basic coverage that they get on TV news.

We're not going to have another Watergate in our lifetime. I'm sure.

I respect the press. The press and the media are a very useful watchdog to check the power of the government.

How united would the United States be without its newspapers?

The media can make or break an administration.

The force of the newspaper is the greatest force in civilization.... [Newspapers] declare wars ... make and unmake statesmen.

People constantly complain to me about news coverage of criminal cases. 'What happened to the presumption of innocence?' they ask at almost every turn. Well, I'm tired of it.

I've never seen anyone say, 'Let's go get this person today; let's really ram it into him.' I've never seen it. If a Democrat or Republican commits some horrendous story, the story will run. The networks will cover it.

The papers feed the public interest but then the public interest demands more in the press and speculation can look like fact.

The most important newspapers in this country need to exist. Our democracy needs them. Life as we know it would be unthinkable without them.

Media outlets do not exist in a vacuum.

The daily coverage of the Vietnamese battlefield helped convince the American public that the carnage was not worth the candle.

There is nothing more important to a democracy than an active and engaged press.

I don't pay attention to the media. You guys can say whatever you want. At the end of the day, at the end of the season, if we're doing well, you guys are going to be there.

Newspapers are what matter in this country, not magazines.