NYTimes Bill Keller executive editor questions from me
dear Bill
i would first like to start as i end with a quote from Thomas Jefferson that echoes my question
“We are to guard against ourselves; not against ourselves as we are, but as we may be; for who can imagine what we may become under circumstances not now imaginable” – Thomas Jefferson 1822
my question: what is the responsibility of the press in times like these in economic, social and political crisis which at the core a crisis of trust… what is role of trust in the media both in a state of distrust that we have now and in building a new state of trust from the ashes and what responsibility is the new york times willing to accept for this, is the real question
fyi i am an independend nyc doc filmmaker doing a doc called “Who’s Wearing The Emperor’s New Clothes” if so many people believe in how can it be wrong
NYTimes Bill Keller executive editor questions from me readers
fyi its only for one week askthetimes@nytimes.com subject line Question for Bill Keller
i enclose some excerpted quotes i have gathered from Thomas Jeffersons writings
you can also reference this link for more
http://emperorsnewclothesproductions.com/jefferson
=Freedom of the Press=
“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 to Edward Carrington, 1787.
“Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” –Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816.
“Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.” — Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786
“I am… for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents.” –Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1799.
“Lethargy is the forerunner of death to the public liberty.” – -Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787.
“The art of printing secures us against the retrogradation of reason and information.” –Thomas Jefferson to Pierre Paganel, 1811.
“Considering the great importance to the public liberty of the freedom of the press, and the difficulty of submitting it to very precise rules, the laws have thought it less mischievous to give greater scope to its freedom than to the restraint of it.” –Thomas Jefferson to the Spanish Commissioners, 1793.
“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.” –Thomas Jefferson to John Tyler, 1804.
“This formidable censor of the public functionaries [the press], by arraigning them at the tribunal of public opinion, produces reform peaceably, which must otherwise be done by revolution. It is also the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man and improving him as a rational, moral, and social being.” –Thomas Jefferson to A. Coray, 1823.
“Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light.” –Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart. 1799.
“The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood.” –Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Seymour, 1807.