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Its chairman. Ladies and gentlemen,
I appreciate very much your generous invitation to

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be here tonight. You bear heavy
responsibilities these days, and an article I

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read some time ago reminded me of
how particularly heavily the burdens of present day

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events bear upon your profession. You
remember that in eighteen fifty one New York

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Carol Tribune, under the sponsorship and
publishing of Horace Greeley, employed as its

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London correspondent an obscure journalist by the
name of Carl Marx. We are told

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that foreign correspondent Marks Stone, broke
and with a family ill and undernourished,

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constantly appealed to Greeley and managing editor
Charles Dana for an increase in his munificent

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salary of five dollars per installment,
a salary which he an ingalls ungratefully label

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as the lousiest petty bourgeois cheating.
But when all his financial appeals were refused,

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Marx looked around for other means of
livelihood and fame, eventually terminating his

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relationship with the Tribune and devoting his
talents full time to the cause that would

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bequeath to the world the seeds of
Leninism, Stalinism Revolution, and the Cold

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War. If only this capitalistic New
York newspaper hetched had treated him more kindly,

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If only Marx had remained a foreign
correspondent, history might have been different.

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And I I hope all publishers will
bear this lesson in mind the next

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time they receive a poverty stricken appeal
from a small increase in the expense account

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from an obscure newspaper man. I
have selected as the title of my remarks

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tonight, the President and the Press. Some may suggest that this would be

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more naturally worded the President versus the
press, but those are not my sentiments

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tonight. It is true, however, that when a well known diplomat from

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another country demanded recently that our State
Department repudiate certain newspaper attacks on his colleagues,

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it was unnecessary for us to reply
that this administration was not responsible for

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the press, for the press had
already made it clear that it was not

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responsible for this administration. Nevertheless,
my purpose he had a night is not

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to deliver the usual assault on the
so called one party press. On the

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contrary, in recent months, I
have rarely heard any complaints about political bias

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in the press, except from a
few Republicans. Nor is it my purpose

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tonight to discuss or defend the televising
of presidential press conferences. I think it

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is highly beneficial to have some twenty
million Americans regularly sit in on these conferences

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to observe, if I may say
so, the incisive, the intelligent,

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and the courteous qualities displayed by your
Washington correspondence. Nor, finally, are

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these remarks intended to examine the proper
degree of privacy which the press should allow

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to any president and his family.
If in the last few months your White

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House reporters and photographers have been been
attending church services with regularity, that has

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surely done them no harm. On
the other hand, I realize that your

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staff and wire service photographers may be
complaining that they do not enjoy the same

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green privileges the local golf courses which
they once did. It is true that

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my predecessor did not object as I
do, to pictures of one's golfing skill

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in action, but neither, on
the other hand, did he ever been

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a secret service man. My topic
tonight is a more sober one of concern

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to publishers as well as editors,
I want to talk about our common responsibilities

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in the face of a common danger. The events of recent weeks may have

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helped to illuminate that challenge for some, but the dimensions of its threat have

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loomed large in the horizon for many
years. Whatever our hopes may be for

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the future, for reducing this threat
or living with it, there is no

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escaping either the gravity or the totality
of its challenge to our survival and to

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our security, a challenge that confronts
us in unaccustomed ways in every sphere of

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human activity. This deadly challenge imposes
upon our society two requirements of direct concern,

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both to the press and to the
President, two requirements that may seem

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almost contradictory in tone, but which
must be reconciled and fulfilled if we are

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to meet this national peril. I
refer first to the need for far greater

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public information, and second to the
need for far greater official secrecy. The

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very word secrecy is repugnant in a
free and open society, and we are

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as a people inherently and historically opposed
to secret societies, to secret oaths and

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the secret proceedings. We decided long
ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted

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concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the
dangers which are cited to justify it.

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Even to day, there is little
value in opposing the threat of a closed

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society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions.
Even to day, there is little value

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in insuring the survival of our nation
if our traditions do not survive with it.

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And there is very grave danger that
an announced need for increased security will

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be seized upon by those anxious to
expand its meaning to the very limits of

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official censorship and concealment that I do
not intend to permit to the extent that

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it is in my control. And
no official of my administration, whether his

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rank is high or low, civilian
or military, should interpret my words here

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to night as an excuse to sense
of the news, to stifle dissent,

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to cover up our mistakes, or
to withhold from the press and the public

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the facts they deserve to know.
But I do ask, But I do

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ask every publisher, every editor,
and every newsman in the nation to re

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examine his own standards and to recognize
the nature of our country's peril in time

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of war. The government and the
press have customarily joined in an effort,

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based largely on self discipline, to
prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In

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times of clear and present danger,
the courts have held that even the privileged

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rights of the First Amendment must yield
to the public's need for national security.

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To day, no war has been
declared, and however fierce the struggle may

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be, it may never be declared
in the traditional fashion. Our way of

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life is under attack. Those who
make themselves our enemy are advancing around the

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globe. The survival of our friends
is in danger, and yet no war

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has been declared. No borders have
been crossed by marching troops, no missiles

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have been fired. If the press
is awaiting a declaration of war before it

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imposes the self discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no

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war ever posed a greater threat to
our security. If you are awaiting a

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finding of clear and present danger,
then I can only say that the danger

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has never been more clear, and
its presence has never been more imminent.

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It requires a change in outlook,
a change in tactics, a change in

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missions by the government, by the
people, by every business man or labor

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leader and by every newspaper. For
we are opposed around the world by a

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monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily
on covet means for expanding its sphere of

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influence, on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on

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intimidation, instead of free choice,
on guerrillas by night instead of armies by

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day. It is a system which
has conscripted vast human and material resources into

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the building of a tightly knit,
highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic,

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intelligence, economic, scientific, and
political operations. Its preparations are concealed,

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not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are

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silenced, not praised. No expenditure
is questioned, no rumor is printed,

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no secret is revealed. It conducts
the Cold War in short, with a

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wartime discipline no democracy would ever hope
or wish to match. Nevertheless, every

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democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national
security, and the question remains whether those

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restraints need to be more strictly observed
if we are to oppose this kind of

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attack as well as outright invasion.
For the facts of the matter are that

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this nation's foes have openly boasted of
acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise

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hire agents to acquire through theft,
bribery, or espionage. That details of

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this nation's covert preparations, the count
of the enemy's covert operations have been available

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to every newspaper reader, friend and
foe alike. That the size, the

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strength, the location, and the
nature of our forces and weapons, and

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our plans and strategy for their use
have all been pinpointed in the press and

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other news media to a degree sufficient
to satisfy any foreign power. And that

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in at least one case, the
publication of details concerning a SEAKO mechanism whereby

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satellites were followed, required its al
oration at the expense of considerable time and

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money. The newspapers which printed these
stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible and

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well meaning. Had we been engaged
in open warfare, they undoubtedly would not

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have published such items. But in
the absence of open warfare, they recognized

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only the tests of journalism and not
the tests of national security. And my

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question tonight is whether additional tests should
not now be adopted. That question is

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for you alone to answer. No
public official should answer it for you,

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No governmental plan should impose its restraints
against your will. But I would be

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failing in my duty to the nation
in considering all of the responsibilities that we

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now bail and all of the means
at hand to meet those responsibilities, if

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I did not command and this problem
to your attention and urge its thoughtful consideration.

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On many earlier occasions, I have
said, and your newspapers have constantly

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said, that these are times that
appeal to every citizen's sense of sacrifice and

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self discipline. They call out to
every citizen to weigh his rights and comforts

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against his obligations to the common good. I cannot now believe that those citizens

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who serve in the newspaper business consider
themselves exempt from that appeal. I have

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no intention of establishing a new Office
of War Information to govern the flow of

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news. I am not suggesting any
new forms of censorship or new types of

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security classifications. I have no easy
answer to the dilemma that I have posed,

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and would not seek to impose it
if I had one. But I

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am asking the members of the newspaper
profession and the endustry in this country to

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re examine their own responsibilities, to
consider the degree and the nature of the

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present danger, and to heed the
duty of self restraint which that danger imposes

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upon us. All every newspaper now
asks itself, with respect to every story,

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is it news? All I suggest
is that you add the question,

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is it in the interests of national
security? And I hope that every group

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in America, unions and businessmen,
and public officials at every level, will

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ask the same question of their endeavors
and subject their actions to this same exacting

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test. And should the Press of
America consider and recommend the voluntary assumption of

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specific news steps or machinery, I
can assure you that we will cooperate wholeheartedly

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with those recommendations. Perhaps there will
be no recommendations. Perhaps there is no

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answer to the dilemma faced by a
free and open in society in a cold

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and secret war. In times of
peace, any discussion of this subject and

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any action that results are both painful
and without precedent. But this is a

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time of peace and peril which knows
no precedent in history. It is the

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unprecedented nature of this challenge that also
gives rise to your second obligation, an

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obligation which I share, and that
is our obligation to inform and alert the

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American people, to make certain that
they possess all the facts that they need

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and understand them as well the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our

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program, and the choices that we
face. No president should fear public scrutiny

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of his program, for from that
scrutiny comes understanding, and from that understanding

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comes support or opposition, and both
are necessary. I am not asking your

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newspaper is to support an administration,
but I am asking your help in the

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tremendous task of informing and alerting the
American people. For I have complete confidence

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and the response and dedication of our
citizens whenever they are fully informed. I

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not only could not stifle controversy among
your readers, I welcome him. This

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administration intends to be candid about its
errors, for as a wise man once

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said, an error doesn't become a
mistake until you refuse to correct it.

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We intend to accept full responsibility for
our errors, and we expect you to

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point them out when we miss them. Without debate, without criticism, no

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administration and no country can succeed,
and no republic can survive. That is

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why the Athenian lawmaker sol decreted a
crime for any sin to shrink from controversy,

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and that is why our press was
protected by the First Amendment, the

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only business in America specifically protected by
the Constitution. Not primarily to amuse and

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entertain, not to emphasize the trivial
and the sentimental, not to simply give

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the public what it wants, but
to inform, to arouse, to reflect,

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to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our

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choices, to lead, mold,
educate, and sometimes even anger public opinion.

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This means greater coverage and analysis of
international news, for it is no

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longer far away and foreign, but
close at hand and local. It means

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greater attention to improved understanding of the
news, as well as improved transmission.

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And it means finally that government at
all levels us meet its obligation to provide

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you with the fullest possible information outside
the narrowest limits of national security, and

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we intend to do it. It
was early in the seventeenth century that Francis

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Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already
transforming the world, the compass, gunpowder,

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and the printing press. Now the
links between the nations. First forged

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by the compass, have made us
all citizens of the world, the hopes

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and threats of one becoming the hopes
and threats of us all in that one

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world's effort to live together. The
evolution of gunpowder to its uliment limit has

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one mankind of the terrible consequences of
failure. And so it is to the

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printing press, to the recorder of
man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience,

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the courier of his news, that
we look for strength and assistance,

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confident that with your help man will
be what he was born to be,

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free and independent,