Rod Lurie Quotes

Well, a lot of people don't want to be quoted. But keep in mind that Bob Woodward did all of his Watergate reporting with anonymous sources, and we know how that turned out.

There is no higher claim to journalistic integrity than going to jail to protect a source.

I thought that was the crown jewel of the reporter's resume - to actually go to jail protecting a source.

Government has an obligation not to inhibit the collection and dissemination of news…. I’m convinced that if reporters should ever lose the right to protect the confidentiality of their sources then serious investigative reporting will simply dry up.

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

I know a lot of reporters certainly will go to jail to defend confidential sources. Some have even gone to jail for an issue like this. But I can't say that's the norm.

If Britain is going to investigate journalists as terrorists - take and destroy our documents, force us to give up passwords and answer questions - how can we be sure we can protect our sources?

Anonymous sources are a practice of American journalism in the 20th and 21st century, a relatively recent practice. The literary tradition of anonymity goes back to the Bible.

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.

Ever since Woodward and Bernstein, there's sort of been an epidemic of confidential sources in Washington, in particular where people will actually - when you call them up on the phone, they'll say, 'This is off the record,' or, 'This is on background,' or they don't even wait for you to say anything.

Wikileaks in its essence is a publisher, pure and simple. They were very much in the same position as 'The New York Times' and 'The Guardian.'

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

You know, I was at CBS News for 28 years. I may have run an unidentified source. Frankly, I don't remember.

A reporter's ability to keep the bond of confidentiality often enables him to learn the hidden or secret aspects of government.

People would know virtually nothing about their government were it not for confidential sources who can speak without fear of retaliation.

I've been in several situations where police officers and district attorneys have had the cooperation of people in the news media without either endangering the reporter or compromising their sources.

When reporters are in the business of obtaining hard facts that service the free flow of information, journalists should have a right to obtain that information without fear of personal ruin or incarceration.

The great thing about Watergate is, is that the system worked. The American system worked. The press did its job. We did what we were supposed to do.

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.

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

Some of the best stories that I've gotten, that others have written about this administration, about the previous administration, you have to rely on anonymous sources.

I grew up a child of Watergate. It gave me a good dose of skepticism about authority. One of my favorite movies is 'All the President's Men.' Woodward and Bernstein, those guys were my heroes. I have a degree in journalism.

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.

The most important responsibility we have as journalists is to question those who are in power. I honestly believe that.

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