When I was reading some famous quotes about newspapers, I came across Jefferson‘s famous line that, “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.”
Literally speaking, I agree with this quote, but most people interpret it as an ode to newspapers. So I was surprised to learn that all of Jefferson’s other famous newspaper quotes are extremely critical:
Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.
And best of all:
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
Wow, Ansolabehere, Snowberg, and Snyder should have put that quote at the head of their paper.
READER COMMENTS
Mason
Mar 28 2008 at 1:59pm
Strange quotes from a man who became president.
But as I recall he spoke out strongly against slavery as well….
On a related note to what degree do blogs = newspapers?
And something that’s been bothering me, what kind of horrible selection bias is going in the comments? Who is available to read and post comments in the middle of the day? I’m going to go out on a limb; not the most productive people. (Unfortunately throwing myself in that pile, new job starts in June 🙂
Troy Camplin, Ph.D.
Mar 28 2008 at 2:09pm
Not strange at all. It showed how contemptuous of government he (rightly) was, and his becoming President only showed that he was a true statesman — and probably the last one we ever had — since he thought it too important to make sure his opponent not be in office than that he do what he truly wanted in remaining a private citizen. I would love it if we only ever elected people who didn’t want to be in office. I just don’t know how to pull that off.
TGGP
Mar 28 2008 at 4:59pm
Jefferson was a great champion of liberty out of office. He was not a very good President though.
Troy Camplin, Ph.D.
Mar 28 2008 at 8:11pm
We typically think of great Presidents as those who DO something. But think about most of our so-called great Presidents. Andrew Jackson — the White House was trashed during his inauguration party and he’s responsible for the Trail of Tears. FDR — whose governmental actions made the Great Depression continue for years longer than it had to and caused unemployment to jump from 8% (the year he finally passed the New Deal) to 25% (the year we entered WWII). Kennedy got us into Vietnam. Johnson brought us the disaster known as the War on Poverty that has nearly bankrupted this country and did nothing to actually help the poor.
I wish that more Presidents would do like Jefferson and not just do something, but sit there!
Unit
Mar 28 2008 at 9:37pm
Troy,
what do you mean by Jefferson just sat there? And the Louisiana purchase? And the very first mid-east intervention to Tripoli? and the Lewis and Clark expedition? Maybe he did nothing in his second term, but my understanding was that despite his rhetoric against Adams, once in power he pursued many of Adams programs to reinforce central federal powers.
SheetWise
Mar 28 2008 at 11:52pm
I remember being dumbfounded when reading Nassim Taleb write that the more newspapers you read, the less informed you are. That one took me a while to process. It also eased my guilt at having gone from three a day in the ’80’s to less than one at present. I think a lot of us traded newspapers for the Internet — and I don’t think the “more-is-less”, hotel journalism homogeny is nearly as evident online. It’s just as dangerous a place to be drown in confirmation, but it’s more likely to inform us if we’re truly doing research.
Jefferson was a real cutting-edge sort of guy 😉
Troy Camplin, Ph.D.
Mar 29 2008 at 12:35am
Getting a good deal to expand the country considerably was a good thing. The Tripoli expedition eliminated a piracy problem. So what was the problem? First there was the complaint that he did nothing, and now there’s the complaint that he did things. Make up your mind (and also recognize a joke when you see one — I reversed “Don’t just sit there do something!”).
Personally, I would love it if Presidents did so much good doing so little. Give me a President that expands our country through a peaceful purchase and whose military excursion was to solve a piracy problem any election cycle.
Unit
Mar 29 2008 at 1:07am
I hadn’t caught the joke. Sorry.
But to summarize: J did things, he didn’t just sit there. But you think they were good things. I’m inclined to agree, but I don’t know. What about the war of 1812? Was any of that due to J’s policies?
After all Jackson came pretty close to losing the battle of New Orleans. Things could have turned out differently.
Niclas Berggren
Mar 29 2008 at 9:43am
Bryan: On this very theme, and relating to your book, see the new paper “Press Coverage and Political Accountability.” Abstract:
Matt
Mar 29 2008 at 1:14pm
Nothing at all? Thomas was prone to exaggerations. Any attempt at pure libertarianism come with a bit of anxious humor.
Snark
Mar 29 2008 at 2:04pm
Why do you find this surprising? It seems perfectly consistent to me for Jefferson to have been critical of newspapers, but even more so of government (which I’m sure he considered the worst of the two evils).
waldo
Mar 29 2008 at 5:51pm
Unit,
Jefferson appeared oblivious of a scheme by the French ambasador, to purchase ships here and use American coastal ports as a staging areas for attacks on British shipping. No proof of his party to that scheme, but he made little effort to mask his anti-British sentiments.
SheetWise
Mar 30 2008 at 8:53pm
I believe it was Mark Twain who said —
“If you do not read a newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read a newspaper, you are misinformed.”
Among many other things about newspapers.
Tim
Mar 31 2008 at 6:49am
I did find it interesting that he said the only
truths to be found were in the advertisements.
I wonder if that view had any connection to his ongoing financial problems?
Comments are closed.