Journalists From The United States

"The General is a small man in his mid-fifties who moves and speaks quickly, with a vowel-mashing speech impediment that gives him a sort of folksy charm. A bold thinker, Mattis' favorite battlefield expression is "Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative." On the battlefield, his call sign is "Chaos." His plan for the Marines in Iraq would hinge on disregarding sacred tenets of American military doctrine. His goal was not to shield his Marines from Chaos, but to embrace it. No unit would embody this daring philosophy than First Recon."

"In the months leading up to the war on Iraq, battles over doctrine and tactics were still raging within the military. The struggle was primarily between the more cautious "Clinton generals" in the Army, who advocated a methodical invasion with a robust force of several hundred thousand, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his acolytes, who argued for a much smaller invasion force- one that would rely on speed and mobility more than on firepower. Rumsfeld's interest in "maneuver warfare," as the doctrine that emphasizes mobility over firepower is called, predated invasion planning for Iraq. Ever since becoming Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld had been pushing for his vision of a stripped-down, more mobile military force on the Pentagon as part of a sweeping transformation plan. Mattis and the Marine Corps had been moving in that direction for nearly a decade. The Iraq campaign would showcase the Marines' role in Iraq as a rush. While the U.S. Army- all-powerful, slow-moving and cautious- planned its methodical, logistically robust movement up a broad, desert highway, Mattis prepared the Marines for an entirely different campaign. After seizing southern oil facilities within the first forty-eight hours of the war, Mattis planned to immediately send First Recon and a force of some 6,000 Marines into a violent assault through Iraq's Fertile Crescent. Their mission would be to seize the most treacherous route to Baghdad- the roughly 185-kilometer-long, canal-laced urban and agricultural corridor from Nasiriyah to Al Kut."

"It’s better to face your fear than to run from it because running won’t make the problem go away. When you face it, you have the chance to conquer it. That was how I began to define courage."

"So we do our best with what we have: we act, and each day we iterate. (p. 257)"

"If you're lucky, you realize early on that each decision you make answers a question that all of us muddle through: how to build meaning in our lives. Meaning is not something you stumble across or what someone gives you; you build it through every choice you make, the commitments you choose, the people you love, and the values you hold dear."

"there is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice."

"My job is to hold power to account."

"Tech sucked up our personal experiences and data, organized it with artificial intelligence, manipulated us with it, and created behavior at a scale that brought out the worst in humanity."

"Democracy is fragile. You have to fight for every bit, every law, every safeguard, every institution, every story. You must know how dangerous it is to suffer even the tiniest cut. This is why I say to us all: we must hold the line."

"when President Trump called CNN and The New York Times fake news, a week later President Duterte called Rappler fake news. I think it is a bad time for the world when the former beacon of democracy, the fighter for press freedom and human rights, is noticeably absent. And I think you’re feeling that all around the world. Simultaneous to that, though, is the American technology companies that have allowed cheap armies on social media to roll back democracy, a new weapon used against journalists...Press freedom is not just for journalists. I think this is a critical time for democracy around the world, both in the Philippines and in the United States. And you must fight for your rights while you still can."

"I believe that Facebook represents one of the gravest threats to democracies around the world, and I am amazed that we have allowed our freedoms to be taken away by technology companies’ greed for growth and revenues."

"The world we once knew is decimated. Now we have to decide what we want to create."

"We are standing on the rubble of the world that was, and we must have the foresight and courage to imagine, and create, the world as it should be: more compassionate, more equal, more sustainable. A world that is safe from fascists and tyrants."

"the breakdown of the rule of law globally was ignited by the lack of a democratic vision for the internet in the twenty-first century."

"What you choose to do shapes the person you become."

"Please ask yourself the same question my team and I ask every day: What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?"

"We decided to use the power of group dynamics and social networks to do something positive: spread hope."

"What I have witnessed and documented over the past decade is technology’s godlike power to infect each of us with a virus of lies, pitting us against one another, igniting, even creating, our fears, anger, and hatred, and accelerating the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world."

"Technology has proven that human beings have far more in common than we have differences."

"[About the loss of The New York Times as an institution] I will say that I spent months mourning that. It is catastrophic. But there are things in history that have been more catastrophic. And that's the kind of perspective that I'm trying to keep. Because if I spend all day looking at the wreckage, and more than just looking at the wreckage trying desperately to try and shore up something that is so clearly rotten, I would spend my life in grief."

"[About cowardice in the leadership of institutions:] What we've seen is that you don't actually need a majority of people inside an institution to agree with these ideas for these ideas to gain force. [You need] a tiny minority and you need cowardice at the top. Cowardice at the top, that is the key ingredient. You need people at the top who are willing to sell out the authority of the institution and the values of the institution that have taken decades, sometimes centuries, to accrue. Basically for the short-term benefit of not being called a bad name."

"[About covering the story of Jamie Reed's work at a pediatric gender clinic in Missouri:] When you break a story and other publications follow it, as happens a lot of the time with The Free Press, it is very professionally gratifying. But the reason that this story was especially important and gratifying for us to have substantiated was because it is exactly the kind of story that we exist to pursue. It is exactly the kind of morally naughty story in which journalists avoid pursuing it because they know they will be punished or smeared for doing so. That is why The Free Press exists. [...] And just covering those topics, not in an histrionic way, but in a sober, fair-minded, honest, frank way that treats readers like adults."

"In the end of the day, the reason that I left The New York Times is that yes because I was being bullied, yes because I couldn't do my job, both true things, but ultimately it was because I really believe that the fight for liberalism, and I don't mean that in the partisan sense but I mean [the values], that is more important than any amount of popularity, than any amount of accolades on Twitter, than anything else. Than anything else. And so I had to leave the institution in order to fight for liberalism. And that I see as the mission of my life, I guess you can say."

"“The youth have as much to contribute as those who are old and scarred. “Sometimes we fight the battles of the past and we need the energy of the youth to anchor us and to build better forward.”"

"We need to seriously come together and fight because an attack on one is an attack on all."

"Power – and bullies – will never stop if you give in to them."

"So, how did I get here? I don’t think you can set out to get an award—I think that makes you a cartoon version of yourself. I think what you try to do is you build a life of meaning and then these things happen. It’s the same as if someone asks, “So how do I make money?”—if your goal is to make money, you will not be the best person you can be.""

"I am so curious about why certain people feel in their bones how thin the veneer of civilization is, and why other people are so nonchalant about it."

""These times present an opportunity for the youth to stand for the truth, assuring them they “have as much power as a veteran.”"

"“I don't think we have wrapped our heads around how much technology has allowed the manipulation of individuals and democracies.”"

"“What are the values that give meaning? What is the line that you will never cross, because on this side you're good, and on this side you're evil.”"

"“I think that social media platforms and technology have been the accelerator for the push for the populist-style administrations in democratically elected presidents.”"

"“If the social media platforms don't take the gatekeeping seriously they will kill the public sphere. If we don't get this right in 2020 you can open a decade or longer of a descent into fascism. And it will be global because platforms are global.”"

"“Don't be afraid - if you don't exercise your rights, you will lose them.”"

"“The mission of journalism has never been needed as much as it is now.”"

"“Press freedom is not just about journalists, right? It's not just about us, it's not just about me, it's not just about Rappler. Press freedom is... the foundation of every single right of every single Filipino to the truth, so that we can hold the powerful to account.”"

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms. Ressa and Mr. Muratov are receiving the peace prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and in Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions."

"Maria Ressa’s unerring fight for freedom of expression is an example for many journalists around the world. Her case is emblematic of global trends that represent a real threat to press freedom, and therefore to democracy."

"While Duterte’s government has attempted to silence Maria Ressa, her journalism has been praised around the world. In December, she was honored as one of Time magazine’s persons of the year in 2018, and just this week named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2019. On Wednesday, she won the 2018 Tully Free Speech Award at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University."

"she stands taller than most in her pursuit of truth."

"I think about living a life that has meaning. As a journalist, [having worked] in four different news groups, I’ve helped write standards and ethics manuals; that’s like an honour code. We each try to build our life, and we try to build it looking for meaning. In the age of social media, meaning is so much harder to find. But what I learnt really early on is that meaning isn’t something someone gives you; it’s every single little choice you make that builds meaning in your life. And I think in my case, it was journalism that made me draw lines [and understand the] golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"Journalism gave me a sense of mission, a sense of purpose; it gave my life meaning. You live the best life you think you can, and you do that by setting goals outside of yourself. You look at impact—you don’t look at gain."

"Maria's is a key voice...she is so incredible in so many ways."

"I think we’re living through a very unique moment where again it proves that information is power. It's a completely chaotic time where technology has helped make facts disputable, eroded truth, and crippled trust."

"My only crime is to be a journalist, to speak truth to power."

"For journalists, for people at the front lines of trying to fight for truth, this is an existential moment for journalism and for democracy"

"Now, please, with me, close your eyes. And imagine the world as it should be. A world of peace, trust and empathy, bringing out the best that we can be."

"What happens on social media doesn’t stay on social media. Online violence is real world violence."

"Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, no democracy, and it becomes impossible to deal with our world’s existential problems: climate, coronavirus, the battle for truth."

"We need information ecosystems that live and die by facts. We do this by shifting social priorities to rebuild journalism for the 21st century while regulating and outlawing the surveillance economics that profit from hate and lies."