14 Quotes by Alan Rusbridger

Power needs witnesses. Witnesses need to be able to speak freely to an audience. The truth can only follow on from agreed facts. Facts can only be agreed if they can be openly articulated, tested ... and contested. That process of statement and challenge helps something like the truth to emerge. From truth can come progress. In the absence of this daylight, bad things will most certainly happen. The acts of bearing witness and establishing facts can lead to positive reform.

But, in the end, we editors just pass through. We all know that you, the readers, are the real carriers of the flame.

There is this ferocious digital revolution coming along and we're in the teeth of that at the time of maximum economic disruption. There are huge opportunities there. I made the point in my supplementary statement that the Guardian is now a very considerable global player, but there are huge challenges in terms of making, of finding, the convincing business model, so I want to see Guardian journalism continue and thrive, although whether and to what extent that is in print or in digital is a sort of second order matter.

Main thing is to publish. Blog, tweet, write, photograph, tweet, video, code, play around with data - or a combination of all of the above. a) it will keep your journalistic ‘muscle’ in practice. b) if you’re any good, you’ll get noticed. And bear in mind you can do these things at other places than conventional news organisations. Many businesses, NGOs, arts organisations, public bodies, universities, etc are now publishers of extremely high quality stuff. Good places to practise your craft before moving on

So I think it is wise to be extremely cynical about what you are being told, even from your own government.

One of the things we have been experimenting with is not putting the main story at the front of the paper, but metering them out through the course of the run.

We (newspapers) used to say we had the tablets of stone with the revelation of truth. We had people talking to us exclusively for the little people down there, and the only chance for the little people to get published was to send a letter to the editor.

We urge those holding him to release him swiftly - for the sake of his family and for the sake of anyone who believes the world needs to be kept fully informed about events in Iraq today.

We urge those holding him to release him swiftly.