Stephen Harper Quotes

The function of government is to provide you with service; the function of the media is to supply the Vaseline.

Th' newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, conthrols th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward.

On the whole, it seems to me that probably the American press is doing a better job of this mediation, so to speak, between the people and the administration than the press of any other country.

Relationships with the media are really important. The media has a more important voice today than it has ever had. We don't advertise. We only have one marketing vehicle, which is editorial, and our ability to get our message out and communicate it effectively.

The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm.

I respect very much the role of the media in our society; I think they can be very, very helpful. They serve as a very useful check, sort of a watchdog over the actions of the government, and I respect that.

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

I am satisfied that all politicians were meant to be journalists and all journalists meant to be politicians.

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

The newspapers, magazines and other journals of the country, it is safe to say, have shed and continue to shed, more light on the public and business affairs of, the nation than any other instrumentality of public; and since informed public opinion is the most potent of all restraints upon misgovernment, the suppression or abridgment of the publicity afforded by a free press cannot be regarded otherwise than with grave concern.

A good government can no more exist without propaganda than propaganda can exist without a good government.

The media can act like a barrier. We often are communicating with people through the media and not via the media.

Burke said there were three estates in Parliament; but in the reporter's gallery yonder, there sat a fourth estate more important far than they all.

It’s always a danger when an institution like the press becomes disconnected from the people.

The media can make or break an administration.

Arab media is market driven like the American media. It does not so much shape public opinion as much as it reflects it.

Television is the medium through which 80 percent of the people see their leaders….They get all their information about their government and their leaders from television.

It is far from a coincidence that the rise of the popular press spelled eventual doom for monarchs of all types. Once the news becomes democratized, governance is sure to follow.

Listen, in the same way that politics and government allow people to engage in large issues, media does the same.

I hate to speak for the whole society, but I will. I'm a journalist, it's my job. There's been something of a reaction against political correctness. Needless to say, the government hasn't caught up yet.

The media is news gatherers. Why in the world are the media a factor?

For those who govern, the first thing required is indifference to newspapers.

The media, far from being a conspiracy to dull the political sense of the people, could be viewed as a conspiracy to disguise the extent of political indifference.

The media is either our salvation or our death.

The media is terribly worried that Donald Trump is going to influence people. The media will tell you, I mean, crazy Mika, Ms. Brzezinski, actually said that she worries that Trump may actually end up controlling what people think on jobs and the economy. And it's not the president's job, it's the media's job to tell people, to determine people exactly what they think.