Michael Wolff Quotes

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

Nothing is more idealistic than a journalist on the defensive.

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

Journalists are supposed to be skeptical, that's what keeps them digging rather than simply accepting the official line, whether it comes from government or corporate bureaucrats.

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

I like BuzzFeed, and I understand the pressure that online reporters are under. But I think everyone agrees that, despite all the awesome kitten gifs, they're still obligated to be skeptical of government officials and ask the right questions.

We in the media should be breaking the news and not making the news.

Journalists prize independence - not teamwork.

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

The media's job is to question a premise.

Journalism: A profession whose business is to explain to others what it personally does not understand.

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.

As journalists, we keep pushing and pushing.

All of journalism is a shrinking art. So much of it is hype. The O.J. Simpson story is a landmark in the decline of journalism.

One of the most important disciplines in journalism is to challenge your working premises.

I went into journalism to do journalism, not advertising.

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.

I can't think in terms of journalism without thinking in terms of political ends. Unless there's been a reaction, there's been no journalism. It's cause and effect.

Media is just a word that has come to mean bad journalism.

If journalism is good, it is controversial, by its nature.

It is the role of good journalism to take on powerful abusers, and when powerful abusers are taken on, there's always a bad reaction. So we see that controversy, and we believe that is a good thing to engage in.

God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a function of the New Journalism.

Journalism is a giant catapult set in motion by pygmy hatreds.

The essence of American journalism is vulgarity divested of truth.