B. J. Cooper Quotes

Even the Intelligence agency has an office of public affairs which may seem like an oxymoron.

A secret is powerful when it is empty.

Like ministers of information, consultants condense the message, smooth out the dissonances, unify the rhetoric, and then repeat and amplify it ad nauseam through the client's rank and file.

Other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming. It's about coordination.

Nothing is so tantalizing to journalists as some answer they can't get. If you want to appeal to political journalists,…you hide something from us …

There will be no more blabbing secrets to the media.

Marvel's very secretive, and I'm not hiding anything, I'm not lying; it's just the way they are.

For me, I felt bad for people asking the questions, cause you know their boss sent them out saying, 'Get me something on Mission Impossible.' And you ask the question, and it's just a polite, 'I'm not going to tell you.' Then, every so often, they'd go, 'Well, can't you just tell us a little bit?' I have to say, 'You know what guys, I'm under contract and I'm not going to tell you anything.' So you keep asking the questions and I'm just going to keep smiling. And it's hard, cause I don't want to seem rude, but it's part of my job just like it's part of their job to keep a secret.

People ought to quit talking to the press.

Any unveiling is also veiling. No matter how transparent our governments want to be, governments will be selectively transparent.

I've heard rumors that the Petersons are writing a book. It will be very interesting to see what they have to say, but I don't know anything about the Rochas.

Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.

Those who talk don't know what is going on and those who know what is going on won't talk.

I've discovered that the less I say, the more rumors I start.

I don't talk about my personal life with the press.

There is so much misinformation out there. If you give people even a little bit, it gets blown out of proportion then you have to go put out fires. So it's much easier to say, 'No comment.'

The gossip mill on tour is always turning. I have to be a little careful about what I tell guys who I don't consider close friends, because even though they might not spread it to other players, they'll usually tell their wives. And once the wives get it, it's gone.

What we say privately we say publicly.

You can take a position with the media, but don’t necessarily get in their face.

Every politician higher up than assistant water commissioner knows how to avoid tough questions [from reporters]: Don't answer them.

Tell never thy counsel to thy foe.

If you move up the timetable of when we disclose the transcript of our Open Market Committee, … you will affect what is said and the way that it is said.

They put out statements to make themselves look good.

As much as possible, you simply don't give out information to the public, that is the first principle.

Our job [White House press secretaries] is to serve the interest of the President while recognizing the interests of the press.