Hubert Burda Quotes

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

It is beyond dispute that President Obama and his aides have an extreme, even unprecedented obsession with concealing embarrassing information, controlling the flow of information, and punishing anyone who stands in the way. But, at least theoretically speaking, it is the job of journalists to impede that effort, not to serve and enable it.

In a film muddied by fictional detail, the new Spielberg production 'Fifth Estate''s portrayal of the 'Guardian''s work with Wikileaks is accurate in describing the running dispute between journalists who wanted to redact documents to make them safe and Julian Assange, who wanted no such restraint.

Freedom of the press is not questioned when investigative journalism unearths scandals, But that does not mean that every classified state document should be made available to journalists.

I think it's wrong for the government to subpoena records from journalists involved in national-security reporting (particularly since I do it myself). I do believe it has a chilling effect on the ability to gather news about potential abuses masked by inappropriate classification.

Whistle-blowing and publishing should not be seen as a crime, and certainly not as terrorism.

The Snowden leaks were important – a legitimate scoop – and we might never have known about the NSA’s law breaking if it had not been for them.

What someone doesn't want you to publish is journalism; all else is publicity.

We don't have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets.

To newspapers and publishing houses I urge the use of fact over fiction, freedom of the press, and responsibility at all times.

Most reporters who come to me get their stories directly from press releases. Very few do what one would consider to be their professional duty.

We don't go into journalism to be popular. It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.

Journalism has a special, hallowed place for stories of its practitioners' persecution.

I thought it was a classic David and Goliath story, and I was fully onboard Team WikiLeaks. I was very pro the leaks, barring the redaction issue. But I see WikiLeaks as a publisher.

In real danger sometimes even a democracy can really keep a secret.

Nothing is more idealistic than a journalist on the defensive.

Whenever you're reporting, there's always something you can't say or write, but the questions, you always want to get as close to that line as possible. You want to ask the tough questions.

Clearly independent journalists - domestic journalists - run a high risk if they dare to take on serious investigative work.

I'm in the business, as a journalist, of asking tough questions.

I pine for a return to the type of old-school journalism and the tough newspapermen and women of the Thirties.

I have always thought it morally unacceptable to kill stories, not to run stories, that people have risked their lives to get.

The second is the damage to the credibility and independence of a free press which may be caused by covert relationships with the U.S. journalists and media organizations.

As a journalist, one tends to think there's nothing off limits.

I have heard Obama officials say more than once, 'You will have blood on your hands if you publish this story.'

Every war has seen unscrupulous reporters who are willing to hurt the national effort, even betray secrets, for the sake of a story…but it did no good to treat the press as enemies.