10 Quotes by Bill Kovach

The most fundamental change is that more of the responsibility for knowing what is true and what is not now rests with each of us as individuals. The notion that a network of social gatekeepers will tell us that things have been established or proven is breaking down. Citizens have more voice, but those who would manipulate the public for political gain or profit - be it corporations or the government - have more direct access to the public as well.

This new way of knowing is no longer a lecture by professional authorities but rather a dialogue, with all the strengths and weaknesses that implies. It is a partnership between all of us as consumers of news and information and the former gatekeepers we once relied on to verify and vet information for us.

Thought we may little understand how, we are all assuming more control over what we know about the world beyond our direct experience. We are becoming out own editors, our own gatekeepers, our own aggregators.

There are no mathematical equations for good citizenship.

Those skills [to test the veracity of news produced], however, can be identified. If we look at those who have been in the business of empiricism - people in journalism, law, intelligence, science, medicine, and elsewhere - we will see a set of common concepts and skills that have developed over generations.

In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art.

If we’re going to live as we are in a world of supply and demand, then journalists had better find a way to create a demand for good journalism.

Journalism is the closest thing I have to a religion, because I believe deeply in the role and responsibility the journalists have to the people of a self-governing community.

The credibility of the work depends on copy editors. I would argue with the copy desk, but I would thank them more.