May 26, 2012

And the Editor Said...

You all know what Thomas Jefferson said of the press— that given the choice of a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to choose the latter. Of course, Jefferson said that before he became President.
You know, it reminds me of a particular editor who just wouldn’t admit to any mistakes ever in his paper. Everything in his paper had the weight of Scripture. And then early one morning he received a call from an outraged subscriber who protested that his name was listed in that morning’s obituary section as having died the previous day. And the editor said, ‘And where did you say you were calling from?’  

~ Ronald Reagan, Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association at Ellis Island, New York, on May 3, 1987.





Yet another example of President Reagan’s sense of humor. Does the above editor remind you of someone in paticular? Oops, sorry, it’s not a very valuable question—I know, it’s not about someone in particular...