Helen Thomas Quotes

The back and forth between the press and government is essential to any good democracy.

The press is the only institution that is truly accountable. The founding fathers put the First Amendment first for a reason.

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.

All Americans value the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, and I believe this is essential for our continued way of life. But with this freedom comes responsibility.

Being a reporter is at the very core of a democracy, being a free person in a free society.

Democracy without a free press is inconceivable.

We as citizens should hold our government accountable for word and deed.

A free press is the cornerstone of democracy; there is no question about that.

I think it's the height of patriotism to continue to exercise your right as a citizen and to hold your government to account. Isn't that what the very essence of democracy is about?

Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating, and I challenge the American people to demand this from their representatives.

A louder government with less journalism does not enrich our democratic process.

The job of the press is to defend their institution, hold the government accountable and freely report and gather information.

As Americans, we rightfully place tremendous value on having a free and independent press. Our role as journalists is to give voice to the voiceless, and hold our leaders and institutions accountable. But the circle is only completed when that information is consumed by a free-thinking and engaged audience.

An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.

I believe that it is my right and responsibility as an American to question our government when our government is wrong.

Holding our own government to account for the use of its power is, in my view, the highest mission of a U.S. news organization.

In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.

What I'm thinking about more and more these days is simply the importance of transparency, and Jefferson's saying that he'd rather have a free press without a government than a government without a free press.

I take a grave view of the press. It is the weak slat under the bed of democracy.

I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.

All Americans value the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, and I believe this is essential for our continued way of life. But with this freedom comes responsibility. That responsibility has been abdicated here by some in the media and some in the government.

We have a right to know and a duty to discover what you think of the great constitutional issues of our time.

The press must be free; it has always been so and much evil has been corrected by it. If Government finds itself annoyed by it, let it examine its own conduct and it will find the cause.

The basis of our government's being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.

Free and open communications is the best guarantee of democracy.