Publisher's Thoughts for the Week

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. ~ Chinese Proverb 

   

"Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand."~ Chinese Proverb  

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."  ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

The secret of successful journalism is to make your readers so angry they will write half your paper for you. ~  C.E.M. Joad

 "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." ~  Thomas Paine 

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt." ~  Samuel Adams 

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." ~ Abraham Lincoln 

USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population. ~ David Letterman

All successful newspapers are ceaselessly querulous and bellicose. They never defend anyone or anything if they can help it; if the job is forced on them, they tackle it by denouncing someone or something else. ~ H. L. Mencken



There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.~ John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA  

Free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.~ Albert Camus (1913-1960) French novelist, essayist and dramatist





The basis of our governments 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 a moment to prefer the latter. ~ Thomas Jefferson letter to Edward Carrington, 1787.


It will be my earnest aim that The New York Times give the news, all the news, in concise and attractive form, in language that is permissible in good society, and give it as early if not earlier, than it can be learned through any other reliable medium; to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interest involved; to make of the columns of The New York Times a forum for the consideration of all questions of public importance, and to that end to invite intelligent discussion from all shades of opinion. ~  Adoph Ochs August 18, 1896, New York Times






Money is the great power today. Men sell their souls for it. Women sell their bodies for it. Others worship it. The money power has grown so great that the issue of all issues is whether the corporation shall rule this country or the country shall again rule the corporations. ~ Joseph Pulitzer  December 1878, St. Louis Dispatch






There is room in this great and growing city for a journal that is not only cheap but bright, not only bright but large, not only large but truly democratic--dedicated to the cause of the people rather than that of the purse potentates--devoted more to the news of the New than the Old World--that will expose all fraud and sham, fight all public evils and abuses--that will sever and battle for the people with earnest sincerity. ~ Joseph Pulitzer May 1883, New York World







And with the lessons learned last week, I leave you with this gem...




Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.~ Joseph Pulitzer