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Last Update: 000916. |
1. Trivia Quiz
1.23. Presidents versus the Press.
Identify the following United States Presidents:
1 He wrote that he was tired of being “buffited in the public prints by a set of infamous scribblers.”
2. He ordered his Attorney General to prosecute an opposition newspaper editor.
3. His administration succeeded temporarily in preventing the press from publishing some information it found objectionable.
4. He wrote: “ ... even the least informed of the people have learnt that nothing in a newspaper is to be believed . . . the press ought to be restored to its credibility if possible.”
5. He had Joseph Pulitzer and his New York World indicted for criminal libel.
6. When asked how he felt about the press he said “Well, I am reading more and enjoying it less.”
7. An American Civil Liberties Union study reported about his administration, “Attacks on the press by officers of the government have become so widespread and all-pervasive that they constitute a massive federal-level attempt to subvert the letter and spirit of the First Amendment.”
8. He wrote an irate letter to a music critic, saying that if he ever met up with the critic, he would “need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak.”
9. He canceled all White House subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune.
10. He wrote, “I am so accustomed to having everything reported erroneously that I have almost come to the point of believing nothing that I see in the newspapers.”
1.23. Presidents versus the Press.
Identify the following United States Presidents:
1 He wrote that he was tired of being “buffited in the public prints by a set of infamous scribblers.” George Washington [POL 458] Quoted from a letter of June 26, 1796 to Alexander Hamilton. [POL581]
2. He ordered his Attorney General to prosecute an opposition newspaper editor. John Adams. William Duane was prosecuted under the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts. [POL 458]
3. His administration succeeded temporarily in preventing the press from publishing some information it found objectionable. Richard Nixon. “For fifteen days in 1971, until the Supreme Court acted, The New York Times was prevented by a federal court order from publishing the Pentagon Papers. ... It was the first time in the nations history that newspapers had been barred in advance from printing information that the government found objectionable.” [POL 24-25]
4. He wrote: “ ... even the least informed of the people have learnt that nothing in a newspaper is to be believed . . . the press ought to be restored to its credibility if possible.” Thomas Jefferson [POL458] The quote is from a letter to Thomas McKean of February 19, 1803 [POL 581]
5. He had Joseph Pulitzer and his New York World indicted for criminal libel. Theodore Roosevelt, after “the newspaper charged that corrupt promoters had made millions in connection with the digging of the Panama Canal. Pulitzer cruised offshore in his yacht, appropriately named the Liberty, to avoid arrest. Ultimately the case was dismissed.” [POL 458]
6. When asked how he felt about the press he said “Well, I am reading more and enjoying it less.” John. F. Kennedy [POL 460] May 9, 1962 at a news conference.
7. An American Civil Liberties Union study reported about his administration, “Attacks on the press by officers of the government have become so widespread and all-pervasive that they constitute a massive federal-level attempt to subvert the letter and spirit of the First Amendment.” Richard Nixon. The report was written in 1971. [POL 334]
8. He wrote an irate letter to a music critic, saying that if he ever met up with the critic, he would “need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak.” Harry Truman. The critic was Paul Hume of the Washington Post, who did not appreciate Margaret Truman’s singing ability. [POL 459-460]
9. He canceled all White House subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune. John F. Kennedy [POL479] When a copy of the Trib was used to line a box for newborn puppies in the White House, JFK reportedly commented “It’s finally found its proper use.” [DDWH 14]
10. He wrote, “I am so accustomed to having everything reported erroneously that I have almost come to the point of believing nothing that I see in the newspapers.” Woodrow Wilson [POL 459] in a March 28, 1914 letter to Senator W. J. Stone of Missouri [POL 582]