There have been quite a few threads on these boards talking about possible goverment censorship, and those who are worried about censorship should say a prayer for Katherine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, who passed away today.
Graham took over the paper when her husband, who was the publisher, committed suicide. Not the best way to step into the top job at what wasn't an especially good newspaper. Under her leadership the Post became arguably the best paper in the country, and it broke two of the biggest stories of the century-- the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate. With the Pentagon Papers the Nixon White House managed to block the New York Times from publishing them, but Graham gave the OK to print them anyway, risking government retaliation in order to show the American people what the military really thought about the Vietnam War. With Watergate, the Post exposed the criminal activities within the Nixon Administration and eventually brought about his resignation.
Graham could have played it safe, but she didn't, she had the courage to publish and take the consequences. She didn't allow the government to intimidate her when she knew she was right. With jouralism's reputation around the same level as contract killer's, her death couldn't have come at a worse time.
Graham took over the paper when her husband, who was the publisher, committed suicide. Not the best way to step into the top job at what wasn't an especially good newspaper. Under her leadership the Post became arguably the best paper in the country, and it broke two of the biggest stories of the century-- the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate. With the Pentagon Papers the Nixon White House managed to block the New York Times from publishing them, but Graham gave the OK to print them anyway, risking government retaliation in order to show the American people what the military really thought about the Vietnam War. With Watergate, the Post exposed the criminal activities within the Nixon Administration and eventually brought about his resignation.
Graham could have played it safe, but she didn't, she had the courage to publish and take the consequences. She didn't allow the government to intimidate her when she knew she was right. With jouralism's reputation around the same level as contract killer's, her death couldn't have come at a worse time.
